Cyber hack leaves Equifax facing a $70 billion class-action lawsuit
Equifax faces a huge class action lawsuit after revelations that the credit reporting agency had suffered a huge data breach. Two women in Oregon U.S. filed the lawsuit on behalf of all affected consumers. It followed an extensive data breach that could see personal information of 143 million American’s compromised. Accused of negligence The company […]
Barclays installs motion sensors to monitor how often their bankers use their desks
Staff working for Barclays plc in London arrived at work to discover black boxes underneath their desks. Their bank bosses had installed tracking devices to monitor how often staff used their desks. The devices, known as OccupEye, use heat and motion sensors to log how long people remain at their posts. Their purpose is to […]
Traveller family sentenced for forcing vulnerable people into slavery
Eleven members of a Lincolnshire traveller family have received convictions for forcing vulnerable people to work for them. The gang targeted homeless people and those with learning disabilities or drug and alcohol problems. The 18 victims had to work for the Rooney family for little or no wages. They also had to live in shocking […]
Man wins tribunal over sacking for Facebook post
A man sacked from his job for sharing a rival butcher’s special offers on Facebook, has been awarded a pay out of £6,091, after winning an employment tribunal against his former bosses. Michael Hayward had worked for Wigan-based butchers Noel Chadwick, for seven and a half years before being fired for recommending a discount from […]
Tackling Obstacles for Young Minds
Young Minds are the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the mental health and wellbeing of children. Help us help Young Minds Ten of us from HR Solutions under the team name #HRmy are committed to the muddy challenge of tackling over 30 obstacles along a 6Km run organised by Uventure, to raise £1000 […]
Trust me – the importance of background checks
HR Solutions Webinar: “Trust me” – the importance of background checks All employers have a legal obligation to check the right of all new employees to work in the UK. In addition to this, it is worth considering other pre-employment checks to ensure that you take sensible steps to protect your organisation. There have been […]
Comment to secretary costs defence firm £360,000 compensation
A court has ordered BAE systems to pay out £360,000 to a secretary after a manager told her that women are more emotional about things than men. A tribunal hearing had instructed the arms manufacturer to make the compensation payment to Marion Konczak in 2014. However, the firm lodged an appeal claiming the judgement was […]
Hopes for paid bereavement leave for parents
Grieving parents could receive statutory paid bereavement leave if a new law introduced to Parliament gets the green light. The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill will provide working parents with paid time off from work to grieve for the loss of their child. The government says the new Bill delivers on its pledge to […]
Does the BBC top earners’ salaries list reveal its gender pay gap?
The BBC finds itself accused of discrimination, following the recent publication of its top earners salaries. The publication revealed a significant gender pay gap across that level within the organisation. This year is the first time the BBC has published the salaries of those who earned at least £150,000 last year. Radio 2 presenter Chris […]
Managing personal relationships at work
We all want our employees to get along, but what happens when close working friendships develop into full-blown personal relationships? Strong working relationships can result in loyalty, determination to pull together and succeed, and increased productivity. Personal relationships are great when they are going well. When they go wrong, things can get complicated and the relationship […]
The Taylor Review: what you need to know
Finally published a year after its announcement, “Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices” runs to 116 pages and contains many recommendations for change, including several that are of particular interest to employers and HR teams. ‘Worker’ status scrapped The Taylor Review proposes that a new category, ‘dependent contractor’, should replace the current […]
The impact of GDPR on HR and personal data
It’s impossible to have escaped the fact that next year, new stricter rules on data protection will come into force that will introduce more stringent rules on how companies handle personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will replace the current Data Protection Act. From 25 May 2018, GDPR will change how organisations store and […]
School’s Out for Summer
HR Solutions Webinar: School’s out for summer Summer immediately brings to mind sunshine, sand, Pimms, strawberries and cream, holidays, festivals and Wimbledon. But for many managers it is also a period of juggling tight resources, as employees submit competing requests for annual leave because they need time off for childcare, to attend summer festivals and […]
How will the GDPR affect offshoring?
Organisations who obtain services or products from another country shouldn’t expect to escape the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when it comes into force next year. Some offshoring involves outsourcing or contracting out manufacturing to another company. However, it also includes relocating certain parts of a business to another country; for […]
Seven out of 10 UK workers go to work even when sick
Workers in the UK believe their employers value the company’s performance ahead of the health and wellbeing of the workforce.Research has found that millions of employees still go to work despite being ill, with workers worrying about taking time off sick because of heavy workloads and employers’ expectations. The survey by insurance company, Aviva, […]
Equal pay dispute sees £50m awarded to female council workers
Thousands of female Glasgow City Council employees will share a pay out of up to £50million. The Court of Session determined that the women had missed out on large bonuses for a number of years. Furthermore, the employees suffered discrimination for three years while they attempted to resolve their equal pay claims. Unfair discrimination Approximately […]
Preparing for the GDPR
Data protection laws aim to protect the privacy of individuals whilst giving businesses the right to use that data. But our previous Data Protection Directive dates from 1995 – so was set in a different technological context to today’s world. Many tools and devices that are commonly used today (such as smartphones, fitness trackers, sat […]
Employment status and the gig economy
In this webinar we look again at gender pay statements. Next month sees the first “snapshot” date – 5 April 2017 – this is the date upon which private and voluntary sector employers will determine whether they meet the 250 “employee” threshold for gender pay gap reporting, and upon which their first pay data report […]
Managing long term sickness absence
HR Solutions Webinar: Managing Long-Term Sickness Absence In this webinar recording, we look at managing long-term sickness absence. When you are managing long-term sickness absence at what point do you have to make the decision that the employee is potentially unfit to return? This is a very delicate area to manage and you can’t get it wrong as it […]
Update on gender pay statements
In this webinar we look again at gender pay statements. Next month sees the first “snapshot” date – 5 April 2017 – this is the date upon which private and voluntary sector employers will determine whether they meet the 250 “employee” threshold for gender pay gap reporting, and upon which their first pay data report […]