Clarkslegal Law Bites

In the third and final podcast in our ‘AI Podcast’ trilogy, Lucy Densham Brown and Rebecca Dowle, members of the data protection team at Clarkslegal, will be discussing how to use AI to process data safely. They will be looking closely at the risks for businesses and the types of data security protections you can put in place. This includes:

• Regulation of AI
• When using AI, do companies need to update their privacy notices?
• How to ensure that data inserted into an AI database has the proper safeguards

Useful Links: UK Government’s approach to AI

UK Government’s plans for implementing a pro-innovation approach to AI regulation.

• A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation – Government response to consultation (publishing.service.gov.uk)
• A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation - amended (web-ready PDF) (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Employmentbuddy FREE HR Resource: Generative AI policy

As a special promotion, we have prepared a free Employmentbuddy Generative AI template policy for businesses. This policy sets out how Generative AI should be used in the workplace to ensure we enjoy the benefits of it without causing risks to the business or compromising our high standards. We hope you find it useful!

Download Here: Generative AI policy

Webinar: How do I protect my business in the event of a personal data breach?

A company may suffer disastrous consequences because of a personal data breach; they can seriously harm a company’s finances and reputation by enabling criminals to utilise personal information to commit fraud and identity theft. Join our data protection team, for a quick overview of how to protect your business.

Tuesday 30 April, 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM BST

Visit our events page to register: How do I protect my business in the event of a personal data breach?

If you have any questions or want to discuss data protection law and how it applies to you in more depth, please contact our data protection team, who would be happy to help.

AI Podcast Series

1. AI, Discrimination and Automated Decision-making
2. AI and Intellectual Property
3. AI Podcast: AI and Data Security

In this fifth podcast in our TUPE Podcast Series, Amanda Glover will be focusing on ‘who transfers’ under TUPE. Looking at the definition of ‘employee’ under TUPE legislation and the tests that apply in deciding if those employees transfer.

Determining whether an individual is an employee is by no means an easy task and is extremely fact sensitive. In this podcast, we will examine those who are likely to fall within the definition of employee under TUPE, including:

• Employees
• Apprentices
• Workers
• Executive Directors
• Secondees provided by the transferor
• Agency workers
• Genuinely self-employed contractors
• Secondees provided by a third party to work for the transferor
• Non-employed directors

If you have any questions in relation to TUPE, please contact our employment lawyers for advice.

In the second of our three-part ‘AI Podcast’ series, Jacob Montague and Lucy Densham Brown, members of the data protection team at Clarkslegal, will be exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) interacts with intellectual property rights (IP rights). This includes:

• What are Intellectual Property (IP) rights?
• Can AI produced work have IP rights?
• Recent issues for copyright infringement by AI systems
• What is generative AI?
• Why is legal reform needed for effective AI regulation?

If you have any questions or want to discuss data protection law and how it applies to you in more depth, please contact our data protection team, who would be happy to help.

Unfortunately, in this difficult economic period, now officially a recession, businesses of all sizes are being forced to make redundancies, some for the first time. This is inevitably a stressful time for both employees and management at these organisations. As with all unfamiliar processes, knowing what to expect and how to make the most of the situation can only help.

In this third podcast in the ‘Talking Employment Law’ series, Harry Berryman and Rebecca Dowle, members of the employment team at Clarkslegal, will discuss and provide some guidance on what is a fair process when selecting employees for redundancy. This includes:

• How do employers decide the pool?
• Consultation process
• Selection process
• Alternatives to redundancy

If you are an employer or employee and have any questions about the redundancy process, please contact our employment team, who would be happy to assist you.

In the first of our three-part ‘AI Podcast’ series, Lucy Densham Brown and Jordan Masters, members of the data protection team at Clarkslegal, discuss how using AI and automated decision-making could conflict with GDPR protections and lead to discrimination. This includes:

• What is AI?
• What is GDPR and how does the use of AI relate to it?
• Examples of how problems can arise from AI learning from historic data.
• What does Article 22 of the UK GDPR mean for data processers?
• What are the implications of the Article 22 judgement?

If you have any questions or want to discuss data protection law and how it applies to you in more depth, please contact our data protection team, who would be happy to help.

In June this year, the British Standards Institute (BSI) released a new code of practice on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. The code offers employers helpful resources and practical advice to assist them in creating a work environment that supports, encourages, and promotes DEI. Please see the link here for a copy of the BIS code.

In this second podcast in the ‘Talking Employment Law’ series, Rebecca Dowle and Lucy Densham Brown, members of the employment team at Clarkslegal, summarise the key takeaways from the code of practice published by the BSI. This includes:

1. The five-step approach to understanding DEI
2. Business strategy for DEI
3. Policies, processes, and procedures
4. Impact of DEI on performance
5. Measuring progress and adapting strategy

If you have any questions about the code or how to achieve an effective DEI work environment, please contact our employment team who would be assist you.

In this fourth podcast in our TUPE Podcast Series, Amanda Glover will be looking at the second of the three conditions required for a service provision change transfer.

In our third podcast Service Provision Changes – Organised grouping and principal purpose, we discussed that the service provision change rules in the TUPE regulations are very wide and are meant to cover most situations where activities performed by a service provider on behalf of a client change hands. These will amount to service provision change TUPE transfers. However, the rules will not apply where the client intends that the activities will be carried out by the new service provider in connection with a single specific event or task of short-term duration.

If you have any questions in relation to TUPE, please contact our employment lawyers for advice.

There has been a renewed emphasis on home/work balance and family-friendly rights since the pandemic forced many workers into a hybrid or remote working environment. Employers are quickly finding that they have to update their policies and conform to the new way of working. The government has seized on this momentum and has pushed through some new family-friendly Bills, which all received Royal Assent in spring and summer this year.

In this first podcast in the 'Talking Employment Law' series, Lucy Densham Brown and Rebecca Dowle, members of the employment team at Clarkslegal summarise some of the big new family-friendly Bills that are working their way through parliament, including:

• Flexible Working Requests
• Carer’s Leave
• Neonatal Care Leave
• Enhanced Maternity Redundancy Protection

If you have any questions at all about any of these new family friendly rights, please contact our employment team who would be happy to help.

This is the third podcast in our TUPE Podcast Series. The first podcast When Does TUPE Apply? - Relevant Transfers, we discussed the two types of transfer under TUPE, a Business Transfer and a Service Provision change. In our second podcast Service Provision Changes – Same Client and Fundamentally the Same Activities, we reviewed two of the key requirements for a Service Provision Change, namely the requirement for the client to remain the same pre and post transfer and for activities to remain fundamentally the same. 

In this third podcast, Amanda Glover will be focusing  on another key element of a service provision change. This is the requirement that immediately before the service provision change, there must be an organised grouping of employees situated in Great Britain, which has as its principal purpose, the carrying out of the activities concerned on behalf of the client.

If you have any questions in relation to TUPE, please contact our employment lawyers for advice.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) released updated guidance in May 2023 focused on how employers should respond to data subject access requests (DSARs) from employees. This new guidance is produced for employers in the format of a Q&A, and gives employers an idea on what to do in certain situations if an employee requests a DSAR. 

In this podcast Lucy Densham Brown and Rebecca Dowle members of the Data Protection team at Clarkslegal summarise some of the key takeaways from that Q&A including: 

• Settlement agreements
• Social media platforms
• Personal email address 
• Redacting unrelated data

If you have any questions at all about any aspect of the DSAR process, or need some advice on how to respond to a DSAR, please contact our Data Protection lawyers for advice.