The government has an ever-lengthening to-do list when it comes to employment law reform, with several initiatives announced over the last few years still awaiting the moment “when Parliamentary time allows”. It is beginning to feel like that time may never come. The long-awaited Employment Bill was once again missed out of the Queen’s Speech delivered on 10 May 2022; the only employment law measure included was the Harbours (Seafarers’ Remuneration) Bill aimed at ensuring seafarers receive the national minimum wage while in UK waters following on from the P&O situation.
Otherwise, there were a handful of promised bills that may impact on employment law in ways yet to become clear, including the Brexit Freedoms Bill which will “enable law inherited from the European Union to be more easily amended”, the Bill of Rights which is to replace the Human Rights Act, and the Data Reform Bill which aims to reduce burdens on business and focus on privacy outcomes rather than box-ticking. Last week the Government published its response to the earlier consultation on data protection reform which, even in the absence of a draft Parliamentary bill, gives a good indication of what the new UK data protection regime will look like. Of particular interest from an employment law perspective is the proposal concerning subject access requests: the Government seems to have decided not to re-introduce a nominal processing fee, but is proposing allowing organisations to refuse to respond to...
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said a social media post claiming that Minister Lee So-young paid 12.2 billion won with Onnuri gift certificates at a vegetable shop in Gwangju is not true and si...