HR briefing - November

Covid-19

Lockdown

In the wake of the new national lockdown, further regulations have been passed setting out the restrictions under which we all now live. For full details of the lockdown as it affects office work, read our article.

Furlough

In a few short, chaotic days, the Government has made substantial changes to its support packages for business. The Job Support Scheme and Job Retention Bonus scheme have now been shelved, and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (or “CJRS” or “furlough”) has been extended. The extension was initially for a month, to line up with the lockdown. It has now been extended further until the end of March 2021. For more details, read our article.

In the news

Data protection – subject access requests

One of the most significant aspects of the UK and EU’s data protection regime is the right of data subjects (i.e. individuals, including employees) to check their personal data is being properly managed. The Information Commissioner’s Office has recently published new guidance on this right, particularly the approach organisations should take if they receive a subject access request or SAR. The new guidance includes some helpful clarifications – for full details, read our article.

New UK Immigration Rules

The UK Government has finally published the rules which will govern the UK immigration system after the end of the Brexit transition period.  Coming into force on 1 December 2020, the new rules confirm that all EEA nationals (except Irish citizens) will require immigration permission to work in the UK after 31 December 2020 and include a significant lowering  of the skills threshold for the Skilled Worker category which enables UK employers to sponsor migrants to work in the UK.

For further details, please read our article.