2019 has been another productive year for VinciWorks. We have seen a record number of active users and course completions and we have once again released a record number of compliance courses in line with current regulations and compliance concerns. This includes refresher training, short five minute “knowledge checks”, and training on upcoming legislation such as DAC6, the EU Whistleblowing Directive and the SRA Standards and Regulations.
Here is a summary of all 38 courses we released in the past 12 months arranged according to topic. All of our courses are fully customisable and can be translated into any language. Additionally, many courses include a “course builder” that allows each user to take the version of the course most relevant to their industry and job role.
UK/ EU/ Global courses
Competition Law
Organisations have a responsibility and a legal obligation to comply with competition law and to ensure that staff have the knowledge and understanding to do so. Competition Law: Know Your Market drops users into a set of immersive scenarios that test their knowledge, understanding and ability to comply with UK competition law. Covering the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002, our gamified course Competition Law: Know Your Market rewards users with a new “experience points” system.
DAC6
DAC6 requires lawyers, accountants, tax advisers, bankers and other intermediaries to report some aggressive cross-border tax arrangements. Training is recommended in order to understand the intricacies of these hallmarks and to determine which transactions must be reported. The new Directive is complicated by nature; we have released two DAC6 courses to help businesses train their staff on their responsibilities under the new Directive. The training is most effective when completed before using the DAC6 reporting portal.
Diversity and inclusion
Addressing the UK Equality Act 2010, Diversity and Inclusion at Work: MyStory sheds light on stories of discrimination and harassment all too frequently experienced by people in the workplace. The course is designed to bring to life the real impact of equality and diversity through storytelling. It raises awareness of the prevalence and impact of discrimination.
General Data Protection Regulation
In the lead-up to GDPR coming into force in May 2018, we released a comprehensive, modular GDPR course to allow organisations to train their entire staff according to role and department. However, GDPR compliance is not a one-off event, which is why we have released an interactive GDPR refresher course. 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 allows staff who are in roles that require advanced training, such as those in HR, IT and marketing, to choose job-specific modules. Our GDPR training suite also includes five minute GDPR knowledge checks to help staff regularly refresh their GDPR knowledge.
Knowledge checks
Best practice is for staff to review their knowledge of relevant compliance topics at least once a year, but this doesn’t always have to mean taking another full, in-depth course. In 2019, we released four new knowledge checks. These are five minute courses on a particular area of compliance that feature ten questions and feedback provided after each question.
You can try any of our knowledge checks by clicking on one of the links below:
Market Abuse
The Market Abuse Regulation is a European Union law aimed at ensuring fairness and stability in financial markets. This regulation, along with other legislation, prohibits insider dealing, unlawful disclosure of inside information and market manipulation. Our interactive course Market Abuse: Know Your Trade teaches the practical application of the regulations and what you need to do to be compliant. Every organisation has a responsibility as well as a legal obligation to prevent market abuse.
Phishing
Clicking on a link or responding to a phishing email can lead to sensitive information being compromised, which could have financial and reputational repercussions. Each year, we add new phishing challenges to our cyber security training suite. Our most recent Phishing Challenge presents ten emails in which users have to identify phishing-related red flags. These phishing simulations enable users to identify high risk employees and produce a report with each employee’s phishing risk score.
SRA Standards and Regulations
2019 saw a big change in the legal sector, with the new SRA Standards and Regulations (STaRs) replacing the SRA Handbook. VinciWorks has released five courses to help firms train their entire staff, including support staff and owners, on the new regulations. The SRA training suite includes a “What’s Changed” course that provides a brief overview highlighting the key changes of the SRA’s new regime.
Whistleblowing
The UK Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) protects whistleblowers from being treated in a detrimental way by their employers. Whistleblowing: Understand 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 when necessary.
Special course features:
- Real-life examples of instances when whistleblowing could have helped prevent disaster
- Real-life examples of instances when whistleblowing has helped to prevent disasters
- Practical guidance on how to blow the whistle correctly
Workplace health and safety
Our RoSPA-approved course Health and Safety for Office Workers takes users through five-minute interactive units created specifically with office workers in mind. It provides a clear understanding of what it takes to create a safe office environment and is designed to get staff actively working to make the workplace safer. The training can be fully customised to include health and safety policies and procedures relating to your organisation.
US courses
Data Privacy
California has adopted a law similar to the EU’s GDPR called the California Consumer Privacy Act CCPA; this law is set to take effect on 1 January 2020. It is applicable to any business, partnership, company, corporation or legal entity that operates for the purpose of profiting and that collects consumer’s personal information from the state of California. To help businesses understand both CCPA and GDPR as they apply to their role, we released two new data privacy courses in 2019. Data Privacy: Fundamentals contains interactive scenarios and gamified challenges that test and score users’ data-privacy knowledge as they progress through the training. California Consumer Privacy Act: An Overview presents a concise overview of the requirements of the act.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
Bribery and corruption cases have ensnared some of the world’s largest companies, biggest sporting bodies and most powerful politicians. In FCPA: Know Your Deal, users face a set of realistic characters and scenarios from all walks of life, some of whom may be trying to offer or ask for a bribe with users who have a strong understanding of the topic having the opportunity to “test out”, thus completing the course in less time.
Harassment and bullying
We have added five more courses to our harassment and diversity training suite. Harassment and Bullying at Work: MyStory directly applies the lessons of the #MeToo movement to the training sphere through a set of hard-hitting stories. The training includes four main sections: Experience, Laws and Policies, Explore and Seek help. An optional “Share” section allows learners to anonymously and securely submit their personal story. We have also released video-based training for supervisors and managers.
The four video courses cover:
All of our anti-harassment training courses cover both State and Federal anti-harassment laws.
Antitrust
The Securities and Exchange Commission regularly brings enforcement actions against businesses and individuals who engage in anticompetitive practices. These actions can include substantial fines, criminal convictions and even prison time. In Antitrust Law: Know Your Market, users face a set of realistic characters and scenarios from all walks of life, some of whom may be trying to engage in anticompetitive practices. As part of the training, users assess the risk of each situation and decide on the best course of action based on company procedures and the law.
Securities Law
Following the same gamified format as our antitrust training, Securities Law: Know Your Trade provides up to date information including real-life examples of SEC enforcement action. Through the scenarios in the course, users learn to evaluate risks, know how to spot insider risks and red flags, and follow the right course of action.
Hong Kong courses
Anti-Bribery: Know Your Deal
Bribery cases have ensnared some of the world’s largest companies, biggest sporting bodies and most powerful politicians. The propensity for some people to act corruptly might never change, but our approach to training and compliance can. Covering the requirements of bribery law in Hong Kong, Anti-Bribery: Know Your Deal presents users with a set of realistic characters and scenarios from all walks of life, some of whom may be trying to offer or ask for a bribe. Users then assess each situation and decide on the best course of action based on company procedures and the law.
Anti-Money Laundering: Know Your Risk
VinciWorks’ course Anti-Money Laundering: Know Your Risk introduces users to the risk-based approach to assessing money laundering suspicion, and drops users into immersive scenarios to test their knowledge, understanding and ability to uncover risks hidden in everyday transactions. The course is based on the latest Hong Kong money laundering legislation and the updated version of Practice Direction P from the Law Society of Hong Kong.
What should you expect in 2020?
We have spent the last few months of 2019 scanning the horizon to help plan our course schedule for next year. Look out for new courses such as mental health at work, cyber security, anti-money laundering, conflicts of interest and more. If you have any questions about current or future compliance courses, feel free to contact us using the form below.
