Workplace flexibility is increasingly under the spotlight in 2025, with a recent Fair Work Commission decision raising the stakes for employers. In this special episode of The Legal Brief, produced by HR Leader in partnership with national workplace law firm Kingston Reid, we unpack the commission's recent decision to grant an employee a permanent work-from-home arrangement.

Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Kingston Reid Managing Partner Alice DeBoos about why the commission found Westpac's refusal lacked "reasonable business grounds" and ruled in favour of the worker, as well as the headline implications and lessons for employers as a result of the decision. The conversation also explores what can go wrong for employers when dealing with requests for flexible working arrangements and outlines practical steps that businesses need to take right now.

To learn more about Kingston Reid, click here.

Today (19 November) is International Men's Day. Here, we unpack the myriad challenges faced by men across the board and what employers need to do to better cater to those specific needs.

In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with former banker and self-described "manbassador" Tim Hewson, who is now the founder of mental health charity Mongrels Men and Betterment Consulting, about his career to date, experiences with daily panic attacks and broader struggles with mental health issues, what motivates him about his current work, and the specific challenges being faced by men regarding mental health across Australia.

Hewson also delves into the professional and workplace challenges that exacerbate the struggles faced by men nationwide, the impact of evolving social and cultural expectations and norms, his observations from speaking with men on the ground, what's working and not working from an employer standpoint in addressing such issues, the role of HR in improving the situation, the work he is doing to combat men's health struggles, and his advice for men to take the steps they need to help themselves and those around them.

In the face of worker uncertainty about not just how to embed and utilise new and emerging technologies, but also why such changes are necessary, it is incumbent upon businesses to create comfort for employees to learn and thrive.

In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Qualtrics global chief people officer Julia Anas about the work she undertakes, the increasing need to focus on the "people experience" in the current climate, why it's so necessary to address employee's trust gap with AI, why workers are uncertain or fearful, and whether such feelings should be viewed in isolation or in a broader context.

Anas also delves into the challenges being presented for HR professionals in the wake of this trust gap, the approaches needed to address these challenges, the overwhelming scope of the task before HR, whether workers are even willing to offer trust on this front, and what excites her about overcoming such challenges and the work more broadly of the HR function in the future.