Key employment law developments: February 2020

DSARs: ICO amends guidance on time limit for complying with DSARS where further information requested

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has amended its guidance for complying with Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) where the data controller requests further information from the data subject (for example, details of relevant individuals, timeframes etc to refine the scope of the request).

Previously, the one-month time limit for compliance was paused until the controller receives the requested information. Now, the clock starts ticking from receipt of the DSAR (or upon receipt of proof of identification if later). This is the same for the extended time limit for responding to complex or multiple requests. The change could be a headache for employers, particularly where the data subject delays in providing the requested information.

The ICO is also currently consulting on its draft right of access guidance, which is due to close on 12 February 2020. That draft reflects the amended guidance on time limits. The outcome is awaited.

Parental Bereavement Leave: draft regulations laid before Parliament

The Government announced back in September 2018 that it would introduce a new right to leave and pay for parents who suffer the loss of a child. Since then, it has carried out a consultation and the details of the new scheme were to be set out in regulations. This month, the Government has now laid those draft regulations before Parliament (the draft Parental Bereavement Leave Regulations 2020 and the draft Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (General) Regulations 2020) before parliament, and issued a press release confirming that the new law will come into force on 6 April 2020.

Under the new law, employees will be entitled to take two weeks’ statutory leave if they suffer the loss of a child under 18 (including a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy). There is no minimum service requirement, so it is a “day 1 right”. It can be taken as two continuous or separate week blocks, but must be used within 56 week – the idea being that the second week may be taken around the anniversary of the child’s death. Employees with at least six months’ service and a minimum level of weekly earnings may also be entitled to statutory parental bereavement pay, at the same rate as statutory paternity leave or shared parental pay.

Employers may wish to consider updating their Staff Handbook or relevant policies.

New EHRC Guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work

The EHRC has published its new technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work, alongside a letter to the CEOs of top employers in a call to action to protect workers from sexual harassment. Read the letter and full guidance here. Whilst the guidance is not yet a statutory code, it may still be used as evidence in legal proceedings and the letter states that the guidance is expected to become statutory in due course.

The guidance is a useful reference for employers (as well as workers, advisers and the tribunal), setting out a comprehensive guide to the law in this area with helpful examples to demonstrate how it works in practice. Importantly, it sets out best practice for employers in tackling harassment, identifying specific practical steps to prevent and respond to harassment, including:

• develop an effective anti-harassment policy: this should be well-communicated, monitored and its success regularly reviewed;
• proactively seek to be aware of what is happening in the workplace and give staff the opportunity to raise issues with regular one-to-ones, an open-door policy, exit interviews etc; and
• train all staff specifically on the different types of harassment;
• assess and mitigate risks in the workplace (such as power imbalances, lone working, the presence of alcohol, and particular events etc).

Although the guidance is relatively light touch in relation to NDAs (which were covered in detail in their recent guidance), ACAS has recently published their guidance on use of non-disclosure agreements.

> Read our full Insight

GEO launches sexual harassment survey

The Government continues its commitment to tackling sexual harassment at work with a new survey launched by the Government Equalities Office (GEO). The new survey seeks the views of victims of sexual harassment to feed into Government policy and to ensure those policies are targeted in the right places. It will go out to 12,200 people in the UK from “every walk of life” in order to build a picture of the prevalence of sexual harassment, where it takes place and in what form.

For more key employment law updates from us:

• read our key cases over the last month;
• stay Ahead of the Curve with our summaries covering the key aspects of employment law under review by the government;
• scroll through our key dates timeline showing recent and anticipated changes to employment law; and
• attend our upcoming events or catch up on training.