Exploring the ways that Human Resources practice can embed and reinforce inequity within organisations, and sit out of alignment with the mission, values and social justice goals of our cultural organisations.

We will be exploring the ways in which HR (Human Resources) sits in tension with HR (Human Rights) by hearing from individuals, organisations and experts who have taken human-centred approaches to HR practices… and seeking to understand the flexibility and margin for influence over how HR law is implemented within an organisational setting.

We’ll be exploring how to create the practices that our organisational values require, and how we can use HR colleagues (wherever that function sits in our companies) to be in service to those values, and manage any risks that implies.

Chaired by Sandeep Mahal, Director of Sector Change at people make it work, we’ll be joined by Immigration and Employment Barrister, Eva Doerr, sharing her legal insights and wealth of experience related to hiring within the hostile environment, LIFT’s Executive Director, Stella Kanu and General Manager, Tom Brocklehurst who will be talking about their hiring and contracting experience, Zannah Chisholm, freelancer and former Artistic Director/ CEO at Pavilion Dance, who will talk about the more equitable practices she introduced at Pavilion informed by insights and advice she gathered from Freelance cultural workers, and Richard Watts, Founding Director at people make it work who will talk through their people centred contracts and universal package of care and support for all workers across the team.

READ: HR vs HR: A blog post by Dr Diana Damian Martin