Sexual harassment claims in the workplace are on the rise, and any employee who feels as though they have experienced harassment in a sexual manner, should be made aware of the process for making a complaint.

The legal definition of sexual harassment includes the following:

“A person (A) harasses another (B)”

“A engages in unwanted conduct of a sexual nature”

And “the conduct has the purpose or effect referred to in subsection (1)(b)”

Experts believe that the greatest threat to an organisation is not its lack of cybersecurity, it is actually the employees who tend to cause the most damage.

This comes after 77% of survey respondents indicated that regardless of training and adherence to company policies, it is actually employees that are the main source of cyber-attacks, as they may be unaware of the warning signs. Therefore, it is vital that companies improve cybersecurity training by implementing ways for staff to protect, as well as how to conduct themselves online, especially on social media.

As social media is an integral part of engagement - and with that comes an inherent level of trust - meaning it is vital that everybody is aware of what is safe when positing content. This is particularly the case for employees who are responding to their customers, as they must be aware of online actors who utilise fake accounts in order to pose as customers and purposely target staff and the organisation.

A former employee of the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC), Zaffir Hakim, has recently been successful in his race discrimination case against the STUC, with the assistance of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Ultimately, the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that Mr Hakim had been unfairly dismissed by STUC, after 11 years of service working under a Scottish Government-funded scheme. This scheme was actually targeting workplace racism, although ultimately decided to allow Mr Hakim’s white colleague to stay on in a similar role.

Zaffir Hakim started work under the STUC in 2003, working as a Development Officer for the One Workplace Equal Rights Project, which was launched by STUC in order to “challenge discrimination in the workplace and promote good practice”. Although, Mr Hakim actually made several complaints regarding racial discrimination under STUC, stating:

Redundancy is the process in which an employee is dismissed for the following reasons:

• Relocation - if the organisation relocates to an inconvenient location for the employee then they qualify for redundancy.
• Cessation – when an employer decides to cease business or close part of the business where an employee works.
• Surplus labour – when employers’ need to downsize their staff for various reasons including the introduction of labour-saving devices or re-organisation of the business.

• THE NEW GENERAL CONDITIONS OF ENTITLEMENT

  

  Ofcom have amended and implemented the new General Conditions of Entitlement, which were enforced from the first of this month (01/10/2018).

  The General Conditions are in place in order to regulate all providers of “electronic communications networks” and services within the UK. Although there is actually no law in place that permits these providers to obtain a specific license, the General Conditions must be adhered to.

  Talks of amendments first began in December 2016, with the new rules focusing closely on simplification and Ofcom’s current concerns regarding communication providers.

  Changes include the following:

• WHAT EVERY WOMAN ON MATERNITY LEAVE SHOULD KNOW

  

  According to the Office for National Statistics, Autumn is the most popular season to give birth, therefore it is important that all expectant mothers are aware of their maternity rights.

  Most expectant mothers know that they are entitled to 12 months maternity leave, taking in to consideration their length of service. However, many do not know that they can actually share their time off with their partner, if they wish to do so, in accordance with the shared parental leave regulations.

  This is becoming more common, with a 50% rise in women with children who work, and therefore they may want to return to work before the end of the 12 months, which will allow their partner to extend their leave.