VinciWorks will soon be releasing a new whistleblowing training. Whistleblowing: Understanding Your Rights provides a comprehensive overview of whistleblower rights within the UK. The aim of the course is to improve the culture in every organisation so that employees feel comfortable whistleblowing where necessary.
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On 25 November 2019, the new SRA Standards and Regulations come into effect. These will replace the current SRA Handbook. Over the last two years, VinciWorks has consulted with the SRA and many law firms in England and Wales to provide guidance and training on the new Standards and Regulations.
In this webinar, we were joined by the SRA’s Policy Associate Jatinderpal Loyal to examine the key changes under the new Standards and Regulations. Jatinderpal also gave guidance on how firms can comply with the new Standards and regulations.
The webinar covered:
Everyone has the right to work free of unlawful discrimination or harassment. But this does not always happen. Sexual harassment is one of the most pervasive forms of unlawful discrimination and it can impact every business and every person. Many laws have been passed to try and stamp out sexual harassment, and over the last few decades, courts have been taking ever harsher measures against companies that fail to prevent harassment in their workplaces.
VinciWorks has released four online video courses that are relevant for all staff, with an additional hour of training for all managers and supervisors.
This course takes users through the common phrases and legal definitions of sexual harassment. It describes the two major forms of sexual harassment, the legal background, important cases, hypothetical scenarios, quizzes and learning assessments. By the end of this course, users will understand the important definitions of sexual harassment.
Continue readingAhead of the 25 November release of their new Standards and Regulations, the SRA has published a suite of guidance and support materials, designed to help you better understand any areas of significant change compared to our existing rules or areas of new opportunities.
Register for upcoming SRA Standards and Regulations webinar
The guidance has been divided into four different sectors:
Many businesses, such as law firms and accountancy firms, need to collect and analyse data from employees for regulatory and compliance purposes. While many firms carry this out annually, some may do it more often. VinciWorks spoke to several firms to learn how they collect, analyse and track responses from the annual declarations questionnaire, often referred to as annual compliance questionnaire, to uncover the key challenges in the process. What we learnt helped us develop our annual declaration reporting portal.
There are no regulations guiding the specifics of what information an annual declaration questionnaire should collect. The declaration might include information on the following:
Staff should declare whether they have had any business dealings for the firm whereby their own interests are served. If there is a conflict of interest, this must be declared in the questionnaire.
Continue readingCompliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an ongoing process. Organisations should regularly review and update their policies and data collection processes, as well as take training. The best way to refresh staff’s knowledge is to enrol them in a new course around once a year, rather than simply ask them to take the same course they took a year ago. With GDPR now having been in force for over a year, VinciWorks will be adding a new course to the GDPR training suite that includes both refresher training and role-specific advanced modules.
The recommended use of GDPR: A Practical Overview is to put all staff through the basic six modules, and to add advanced modules for specialised staff in certain departments. Personalisation questions at the beginning of the training means staff in roles that require advanced training, such as HR, IT and marketing, can choose to take job-specific modules. The basic modules cover the basics of data, keeping data safe, working from home, data subject rights and data breaches, with review questions included within each module.
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The meaning of data can be as broad as any information, from health records to a lunch order. Different kinds of data are subject to different laws with varying levels of severity. Data about a person’s health, for example, is subject to a strict set of regulations known as HIPAA. Here is some guidance on protecting your clients’ and colleagues’ data through five basic data privacy rules.
While specific rules on data can vary by state and jurisdiction, there are some basic rules that should always be followed. You need to be aware of these because everyone in an organization is responsible for protecting the data held on employees, customers and clients.
Continue readingOn 25 November 2019, the new SRA Standards and Regulations come into effect. Replacing the SRA Handbook, the SRA Standards and Regulations stipulate the behaviours, standards and requirements expected by solicitors and other SRA regulated people.
VinciWorks has produced a whitepaper that outlines what the new Standards and Regulations will include and the challenges it presents to firms.
The whitepaper covers:
To help businesses keep track of updates in UK legislation and policies, VinciWorks regularly publishes a short regulatory update. Since our last update in June, the UK has gained a new Prime Minister. Boris Johnson has pledged to ensure the UK leaves the European Union by 31 October 2019.
The Regulatory Agenda is designed to provide an overview of regulatory changes or new regulations recently passed, proposed, or on the agenda which are relevant to key compliance areas of VinciWorks’ clients in the UK. It is divided by the main sources of UK policy and does not include provisions which have been dropped.
Main topics from the regulatory agenda:
You can download the regulatory agenda for July by clicking here.
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers can be held legally responsible for sexual harassment of their staff at work, if the harassment is carried out by a colleague and the employer did not take all steps they could to prevent the harassment from happening.
Whilst the government considers this law effective, it has recognised the issues and deficiencies highlighted by the #MeToo movement in recent years.
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