Work/Life: international employment news update

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Issue 15

Welcome to the latest edition of our international employment news update.

New part-time working arrangement for childcare in France

The French Health Minister has announced the implementation of a part-time work plan that applies from 1 September 2020.

Parents unable to telework due to the closure of their child's class or childcare establishment because of coronavirus are eligible to receive replacement income from the first day they stop work to the end of the period of isolation.

This is subject to both parents being unable to work from home, and the amount will depend on the parents' status (private sector, civil servant, self-employed worker etc).

Homeworking Brits are at high risk of cyber attacks

A new survey reveals that employers could be inadvertently put at risk by 38% of UK employees working from home during the pandemic due to their failure to communicate information on cybersecurity risks. Marketing (63%) and legal (50%) were the most vulnerable out of the 10 sectors included in the poll.

On the consumer front, almost half of data breach victims experience fraud as a result. Consumer watchdog Which? has urged the UK government to give these victims more rights to sue companies under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The change would enable third-party organisations to sue companies on behalf of cybercrime victims.

Bleak outlook for UK unemployment

Payroll data shows nearly 700,000 people lost their jobs between March and August 2020. Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures reveal that in the same period the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits increased by 121% to 2.7 million, with unemployment hitting 4.1% by July 2020. Young people have been the hardest hit, with the figure at 13.4% for people aged 16-24.

New restrictions to combat coronavirus could push unemployment above 3 million before 2021. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has suggested employers in Britain are planning redundancies at twice the rate of the last recession.

UK considers replacing furlough scheme with German-style wage subsidies

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has indicated that further job protection may be offered when the furlough scheme ends on 31 October 2020 in the form of a German-style wage subsidy program.

The arrangement would be similar to proposals made by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) whereby staff who can only work part-time due to the pandemic would receive pay from the company for time spent working, while the Treasury would top up their wages for time when they have no work.

The Governor of the Bank of England is backing a different approach proposed by the Labour party, which favours a new sectoral furlough scheme for the parts of the economy worst affected.

Sunak has also suggested further support for firms may include employers' National Insurance contributions and business rates being cut.

More than a third of FTSE 350 board positions are now held by women

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has announced that female representation on the boards of the FTSE 350 has increased by 3.8% in the past year to surpass the government target of 33% for the first time.

Women remain drastically underrepresented in the asset management industry, with research suggesting it will take two centuries to achieve gender parity in portfolio management.

Migrants account for a quarter of UK's top earners

New research based on HMRC tax records by Warwick University reveals that 24% of the top 1% of earners in the UK are migrants, despite only making up 15% of the population.

In the top 0.001% of earners in the UK, almost four in 10 is an immigrant and roughly £16 billion income tax (2019-2020) was contributed by migrants in the top 1% alone.

These results may inform the political debate over the introduction of a 'wealth tax' on the highest earners to cushion the economic blow dealt by coronavirus.

360,000 refugees in regular employment

Germany’s Federal Employment Agency (BA) has presented figures confirming that, since 2015, 360,000 refugees from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria have found regular employment in Germany. The core industries where these refugees have obtained work include hospitality, security, cleaning and elderly care.