We had Macy Bates, a Year 12 student from The Priory City of Lincoln Academy join our People team for a week of work experience. At the end of the week ,we asked Macy to reflect on her time with us.
It’s been a really interesting week and I have observed a number of the different processes involved in Employment Tribunals. I have learnt new laws dealing with employment and discrimination within a workplace, and enjoyed reading past judgments and discussing these. This week has really helped me clarify what I want to continue with further when studying law at A-Level and in the future (hopefully) University.
I spent a lot of time with Head of People and Employment Judge Kate Hindmarch where I learnt about the process, from the outset of a claim being made, all the way through to a resolution. Learning about the whole Employment Tribunal process, from what occurs at the point the claim is made up until the hearing was really insightful. I learnt about how and what a Claimant can make a claim, the Respondent’s response to the claim, providing any evidence that’s required including witness statements, any settlement options that could be reached between the two parties, the preliminary hearing process and then finally preparing for an Employment Tribunal Hearing.
This expanded my knowledge of the entire process, learning about the various stages and evidence that can be presented to the judge to persuade them that a claimant should be compensated. The level of detail that I learnt during my week is what really stood out.
Whilst working with both Kate and Georgia (Barber, Legal Assistant) we observed a public Remedy Hearing. A Remedy Hearing is the final stage in the Employment Tribunal process which is when the compensation is awarded to the claimant if they’ve been successful. When observing the Remedy Hearing I assisted Kate with the sums for compensation awarded to the claimant. I learnt about the different factors of where the money was awarded and why, including lost wages, loss of future earnings and injury to feelings.
During my time at Nicholsons, I have read a number of past judgments, which was interesting as I learnt of the many different types of discrimination that can take place in the workplace and issues created from this. Alongside the protected characteristics, I also learnt that any Claimant that has evidence for an unfair dismissal due to discrimination can claim compensation for injury to their feelings, something I did not know before.
Towards the end of the week, I researched gender reassignment for Kate’s upcoming HR forum on being transgender in the workplace that a number of local business professionals will attend. It opened my eyes to the challenges that both transgender people and businesses face and was a really interesting subject to delve into.
My week at Nicholsons gave me a great understanding of what working within a legal department is really like and the variety that exists within the job. It’s certainly helped me to clarify my future path and I’d always recommend work experience to anyone so they can get a taste of what it’s really like outside of the education setting.