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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1. Home office employers toolkit The Home Office has published an employer toolkit (available here) which provides information for employers to be able to support EU citizens and their families when applying to the EU settlement scheme during the public test phase. The toolkit includes a leaflet, poster and briefing pack in order to ensure…
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1. POST-BREXIT IMMIGRATION POLICY The Home Office has published the White Paper on its post-Brexit immigration policy, available here.  The White Paper sets out the proposed immigration regime that would apply from 1 January 2021, whether the UK leaves the EU with a deal or no deal. The starting point is that EU free movement…
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What do we already know? All organisations that process personal data must pay a fee to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner (ICO) unless they are exempt under new UK data protection regulations. The ICO has produced a fee calculator tool (available here) and guidance on the data protection fee, available here. Organisations…
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