GDPR & Data, Employment Updates & Empowering - TMA Event 6 September 2017 at Fieldfisher

• 26 September 2017
• Business Rescue Business Growth
• Comments: 0

I had the great opportunity to attend a very interesting event organised by TMA UK and kindly sponsored by Fieldfisher about GDPR & Data, Employment Updates & Empowering and here is the key takeaways of the event that we as small businesses owners in general need to bear in mind in order to prepare for the forthcoming changes

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

• GDPR It is the shape up of the Data Protection 1998 Act

• It is coming because of Technology

• It has also come about because there is an increasing recognition by the EU that people’s data is being impeached

• And it is embedding the new online/internet way of communicating and doing business

• Among the key changes are:

  • Greater powers granted to the Information Commissioner

  • Introduction of the data controller

    • The Data controller person is the responsible person for the organisation that have a relationship with the direct person or data owner.  If the data controller role is outsourced gents will fall within the scope of the scope of the data controller. 

    • The controller is usually the business itself (or individual if it’s a sole trader)

    • The data controller would also oversee the compliance of the GDPR

• Under the current legislation lack of compliance carries fines of around £500k, going forward the maximum fine for lack of compliance is up to €20m

• There may be compulsory audit carried out by regulators for some organisations

• Organisations have the responsibility to inform the regulators if data is lost

• Good practice is to get ready for any security breach of data.  If breach happens better to have good guidelines in place (have Best Practices and policies drafted and carry drills regularly)

• Regulation will be enforced in 2018 and before Brexit (so the regulation will be incorporated in the Great Repeal Bill)

• If data is sold it will need to be complaint of GDRP preferably with warranties

• The ICO has set up a guidance tool-kit helping small businesses navigate through the changes. 

• ICO registration is not compulsory for Small businesses as there might be exceptions, for instance on how everyday data such payroll and client data is handle and whether is already compliant under the current Data Protection legislation. For more information on how the current guidelines works please click here https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/ 

• Whilst some Small Businesses may be exempted from registration it is still recommended to register with the ICO.  The Small Business ICO tool-kit on getting ready for GDRP can be found under this link https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/getting-ready-for-the-gdpr/

   

Employment Law Updates

• Removal of Employment Tribunal Fees:  Fees are no longer applicable to Employment Tribunal claims

• Apprenticeship levy:  Applicable to larger organisations with an annual pay bill of £3million.  Small businesses do not have to pay Apprenticeship levy nor are required to invest 10% of the cost of apprenticeship training as long as the apprentice in question is a 16-18 year old, or an eligible 19-24 year old.  More information on Apprenticeship can be found on this link https://www.gov.uk/education/hiring-and-training-an-apprentice

• Taylor Report:  A new employment status test to be formulated (I’m currently researching more on this subject and how it may impact small businesses.  More information will appear on the subject on a separate blog in a no too distant future)

• All businesses must be National Minimum Wage and Living wage compliant – employees contracts have to be brought up to date and must be aligned with the current rates

• Brexit changes for the right to work and foreign workers – (I’m currently researching more on this subject and how it may impact small businesses.  I am hoping that once the Brexit talks are clearer more information will appear on the subject to enable me to report on key changes on a separate blog)

Empowering:

We had the benefit of a short mindfulness session thanks to the wise words of Executive Coach Ms Jenni Hallam.  This session was uplifting and is a useful reminder to small business owners in need to find the inner drive when the tough gets going.  The highlight of the sessions was summarised as 3 things we need to know and remind ourselves

1. Have Conviction (Belief in yourself and on what you want to achieve)

2. Have Clarity (To see where you are going – adapt, focus and be flexible)

3. Be Constant (Learn from experience (good and bad) –learn what needs changing/reviewing and work on the mind set to find the inner power)

The event finished with a good catching up with colleagues new and old and the spending view of London (see below)

If you need help with any business issues or like further information or to discuss the topic in this article please contact us