ACAS has updated its guidance on the following: Vaccine: getting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine for work (available here).  The Guidance now includes advice on: how to offer support to staff that are getting the vaccine; what employers should do if they feel it is important for staff to receive the   vaccine; and how to resolve…
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What do we already know? More than 112 organisations across almost 500 sites are offering rapid, regular workforce testing, and more than 2.5 million lateral flow tests have been distributed by the Government. Lateral flow is an established technology, adapted to detect proteins (antigens) that are present when a person has COVID-19. The test kit…
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What do we already know? We updated you in our January 2020 Newsletter Data Protection: ICO Data Hub & Subject Access Requests  that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) had opened a consultation on its new, more comprehensive, draft guidance on dealing with subject access requests. The right to make a subject access request, broadly, allows…
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The Government has published guidance (available here) to help employers understand the regulations and legal obligations that apply if they wish to introduce their own testing programmes outside the NHS Test and Trace. Such testing programmes may, for example, give confidence to employees and customers in the workplace and to help protect business continuity.  However, there is…
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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published advice (available here) for organisations regarding the use of personal information as businesses begin to reopen; including six data protection steps for organisations (available here). Overall, the ICO has confirmed that data protection does not prevent organisations from asking employees whether they are experiencing Coronavirus symptoms so long…
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The post lock-down journey has begun as businesses start to re-open their offices and other workplaces.  This raises a number of concerns for employers and we consider some of the key issues below. Working safely On 11 May, the Government issued eight separate workplace guides (available here) on working safely during the Coronavirus pandemic. These…
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Summary: This is an important judgment which effectively returns the law of employers’ vicarious liability for the criminal acts of their employees back to the state it was in prior to the January 2018 High Court decision.  This decision is, in essence, that the employer will not be liable if the criminal act was not…
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1. Data Hub The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a data protection web hub (available here) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The hub contains: an assessment SMEs and sole traders can use to measure their businesses’ standard of data protection; FAQs related to data protection; hot topics for small businesses; guidance and tools…
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What do we already know? The GDPR singles out some types of personal data as likely to be more sensitive, and gives them extra protection. This includes personal data revealing an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, their political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or their trade union membership. It also covers genetic data and biometric…
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Summary: Did covert surveillance of employees under suspicion of theft breach their Article 8 right to private life? No, held the European Court of Human Rights in López Ribalda and others v Spain available here. Background:  Organisations often want to check systems are being used correctly and employees are behaving properly. Some want to use…
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