International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, has set out how the government’s Trade Bill will benefit businesses and consumers, as the UK progresses towards leaving the EU and shapes its own trade policy for the first time in 40 years. Dr Fox explained during the second reading in Parliament on 9 January how the bill will provide continuity and stability for businesses and consumers by creating the powers necessary to replicate existing EU trade arrangements in UK law. It will also establish a Trade Remedies Authority to take back powers fro... Continue reading

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a finding of disability discrimination by perception in the case of Chief Constable of Norfolk v. Coffey, which clarifies that it is unlawful to reject a non-disabled job applicant because of a perception that a condition could become a disability in future. The judgment, delivered on 19 December 2017, showed that the EAT will consider such decisions as direct disability discrimination and that employers should avoid drawing conclusions about disability where conditions exist. The claimant, Lisa... Continue reading

The UK government’s apprenticeships reform and the introduction of the apprenticeship levy has brought new implications for how employers interact with the apprenticeship system. A report from the CIPD indicates that employers would, in fact, prefer a broader training levy. Starting in April 2017, all UK employers in the public and private sector with a pay bill of over £3m have had to contribute to the apprenticeship levy (0.5% of their annual pay bill). The levy was designed to counteract the long-term decline in employer investment in tr... Continue reading

Carphone Warehouse has been issued with one of the largest fines by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), after one of its computer systems was compromised as a result of a cyber attack in 2015. The company’s failure to secure the system allowed unauthorised access to the personal data of over three million customers and 1,000 employees, and has led to a fine of £400,000. The compromised customer data included names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, marital status and, for more than 18,000 customers, historical payment ca... Continue reading

Chris Stephens, MP for Glasgow South West, has proposed a Bill to define the status of workers in law; to refine the current definitions in light of recent Supreme Court judgments; and to provide greater protection from day one of a person’s employment, eliminating zero-hours contracts and providing greater protection for those in precarious work, such as in the hospitality sector. The Workers (Definition and Rights) Bill 2017-19 was introduced to Parliament on 18 October 2017 and underwent its second reading on 19 January 2018. Its introduc... Continue reading