Guest Writer - Kerri McOscar

"You're Fired!"

Hello Everyone

I must start the blog this week by mentioning that I attended Legal-Island's 'Essentials of Employment Law' conference in Dublin, as a delegate. I found the event top class with regards to the content of the sessions and the speakers; Paul Joyce and Marian Jennings. I would highly recommend this conference and I promise I am not being bias.

There is another chance to go over some of the topics discussed at the essentials conference at our Annual Review of Employment Law. Check out our websites for further information!

Now, enough from me, let's take a look at staff movements this week...

Our CEO, Barry Phillips is currently off on leave but will return to the office on Tuesday. Barry will be meeting Grainne Cochrane on Tuesday. On Wednesday, alongside the marketing team he is travelling to Liverpool to meet the well known Mr Andy Bounds. Here Legal-Island staff will be trained on highly effective communication techniques and more. Barry has in house meetings the rest of the week.

* Scott hopes to review the expected changes in NI employment law in a meeting with Mark McAllister of the LRA and Tom Evans of DEL on Tuesday. Scott hopes to work from home on Wednesday and Thursday but will be in the office on Friday after completing the weekly review of developments email.

Scott in the office on a Friday? Something special must be on. That’s right, lovely readers, Scott’s BFF, Peter, is arriving from Scotland and they’re going to see the mighty Dexys perform their fantastic new album at the Cathedral Quarter Festival thingamajig. In a tent. How cool is that? Hopefully, Scott’s lovely and terribly kind wife, the sainted Avril, will offer to drive home. Come on, Avril... you mean everything...

Our Managing Director, Jayne is away with Barry and the marketing team to meet Andy Bounds and is in the office the rest of the week.

Heather & Kerry will be holding a mock interview with Peter Owen on Thursday. Other than that they are in the office all week.

Debbie is meeting with Denis Rush from Articast 3D Ornamental Sculptures & Props.  Denis will be involved in a exciting new project at Legal Island. The aim of the art project is to promote local artists in a way they may not have originally considered and to open up their exhibitions to a different audience. For ourselves it is to add something of interest into the office that will stand out and create a talking point.  The outstanding pieces of work will be on display for the month of May in our reception area.

Training Centre this week:   

Tuesday: Belfast Trust  

Wednesday & Thursday: Department of Health

Challenge: Also this week, The Boys v Girls penalty shoot out will take place on Tuesday. Good Luck Boys, you are falling behind and you won't hear the end of it if we beat you this week... AGAIN! :)

* Legal-Island would like to point out, particularly to Avril, that Scott wrote the above summary of his movements. Avril, your too good to him, definately a saint!

Have a great week!

Guest Writer - Julie

This weeks Boys v Girls Challenge - "The Penalty shoot" out is temporarily postponed due to the threat of vampires and also injury in the boys camp !! To be Confirmed at a later date......


It's looking like a busy week ahead across most departments and staff movements for the week are as follows:

Our CEO, Barry Phillips, has a busy week mainly out of the office. He is attending Innovation seminars today and tomorrow at Queen’s University. Wednesday is more or less devoted to sales training whilst Thursday and Friday will be taken up by a two day residential course at Slieve Donard Hotel. Nice way to wind down at the end of the week Barry!

Jayne is meeting Patricia O’Rourke from BITC on Wednesday morning, Hayden Hayden Kinley from Career Academies UK on Thursday and out all day Friday at the Association for Coaching event in Belfast with Kerry and team

Scott is helping out at our pensions auto enrolment event at Riddell Hall on Tuesday. Pensions is not Scott’s forte but he says this one looks interesting because, as well as pension specialists, there will speakers from Asda and Tayto giving delegates the benefit of their experiences in putting in place auto enrolment requirement in the workplace.

Scott will also be meeting Tom Evans from DEL and will be leaving off our travelling chickens with a tattoo artist.

Scott hopes to work from home on Wednesday and will be travelling to Dublin for meetings on Thursday before getting back to Lurgan for his evening class in land navigation skills. Having mastered map reading and taking compass bearings in previous weeks, Scott hopes to learn how to pace himself this week. Too fast for us, we suggest he slows down and enunciates more clearly. Everyone’s a winner.

On Friday Scott will be attending the launch of the findings of the Thinkpeople/CBI survey into the abolition of the default retirement age in Northern Ireland.

Heather is making her way down to Dublin this week to host both ‘Essentials of Employment Law ’ and ‘Dealing with Teacher Underperformance ’ in the Radisson Hotel at Dublin Airport.

Kerry is hosting the Auto Enrolment Pensions event at Riddel Hall, Belfast tomorrow and she will also be hosting the Association for Coaching Annual Conference along with Jayne, Donna, Peter F and Peter G on Friday in the Belfast MET, Titanic Quarter.

Pamela and the marketing team will be meeting with Paula Milligan from Sales Solutions at 2pm on Wednesday to review and discuss a book called ' The Jelly Effect ' ahead of their upcoming training with the author of this book, Andy Bounds.

Have a Good Week!

Guest Writer - James

That's me...

...heading off on a daredevil flight around Scrabo Tower over Easter.

I'm glad to report no fatalities despite Kerri's doom mongering!

It's harder than it looks when you're only 20 feet off the ground - not much room for error!  It's a lot more fun at 800 feet - where I spent most of my time.


Last week was literally back to earth with a bump after a week's all-inclusive sunshine break.  I can recommend it for your wallet but not your waistline! 

Sadly last week the 'Boys' were once again smashed in our weekly 'Boys v Girls' Challenge.  We are leaving it late to make a run for glory - currently trailing 2 - 5.  I think the girls are feeling sorry for us by allowing a penalty shootout next time.  Let's hope we are more like Basel than Tottenham - in more ways than one... being an Arsenal supporter.  3rd is the new 1st in my book!

Anyway, here's the winning team displaying great
proficiency in that vital life skill of balloon tower
building.  Well done girls! (L2R Jayne, Donna,
Allison, Jenny)






The proper work this week:

We have the last of our 8 day Mediation days today which had to be rescheduled due to the heavy snow all those weeks ago.  The last of the snow in my neighbour's drive disappeared yesterday only as a result of the heavy rain.  Let's hope we're finished with that until winter 2013 at the earliest.

Barry, our CEO, has an easy enough week planned by his standards.  He has meetings all day today and a business lunch with a representative from Linkubator on Wednesday.  For the rest of the time he'll be doing R&D work and getting ready for our trip to see Andy Bounds in Liverpool at the end of the month.

Jayne, along with some other staff, will be attending the Employers for Childcare Annual event on Thursday at the Ramada Hotel, Shawsbridge.  Tomorrow, Heather will be attending 'The Big Tent Event: Corporate Volunteering in the Global Age' in association with Business in the Community and Volunteer Now.

Next week:

We have an important event for all businesses large and small dealing with auto enrollment requirements.  For details click here.

That's all Folks!

Guest writer - Scott

 

Scott is on the blog today. He writes:

Three years on from this photo and I haven't changed a bit. Still rubbish at bowling.

 

I will be delivering in-house training in Derry on Tuesday. As a native of Strabane for many years, I was shocked to hear that the DLA (Derry Living Allowance) is to be replaced by a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan). How could Derry improve?

I have my own PIP to work on this Wednesday, in my regular one-to-one meeting with the Chief Executive. On Thursday, assuming I can find my way back from the North West, I start the first of my land navigation skills course at the Southern Regional College in Lurgan. Given I live there (Lurgan, not the college), I should have no difficulty in finding it.

I hope to work from home on Friday.

 

Barry is at Bizcamp Belfast all day Monday at Queen's University Belfast. On Tuesday he's in Dublin meeting David Fagan, Clive Byrne and Liz Ryan, before heading back to NI.
 

Jayne will be in the office all week ,except for Thursday when she’ll be in Belfast for the HR Network meeting at Arthur Cox

 

Pamela will be meeting John Cunningham, Lecturer in Printing and Journalism and Phil Roddy, Lecturer in Creative Media Production from the Belfast Metropolitan College on Wednesday.  She hopes to get lots of answers on how to shoot good videos to promote Legal-Island events.

Jamie is just back from the Canary Islands and, quite frankly, looks a bit browned off. Shouldn't have gone all-inclusive. But fags are just £20 a carton on Lanzarote, so the bad boys back home love his little island escapades. By chance, or so he says, Peter G was there as well. Stalker Pete doesn't look quite so brown as Jamie. Must've been all that hiding in the bushes with binoculars.

Back at work, Jamie meets with Bank of England Agent, Frances Hill, this week.

Training Rooms:

 

Certified Mediation course continues this week and on Friday the Public Health Agency will be using the facilities for their own training purposes.

External

Essentials of Employment Law takes place on Wednesday in the Holiday Inn Belfast.



Guest writer: Debbie

Welcome back to Legal Island, I do hope you had a wonderful Easter break!!  I had great fun hunting for eggs with my son Joshua and his cousins Sophie and Lucie, we had even more fun eating them all!

It is a quiet week here on the 'island' with many staff still off on annual leave, lucky them! 

The movements for this week are:

Jayne is in the office all week catching up with staff and internal meetings.

Pamela and Heather have a Splashette meeting tomorrow.

Arnold and I have a meeting today with Massereene Golf Club to discuss an upcoming charity event.

All in all and quiet week ahead to recover from eating too much chocolate!

Onwards...