Human Times
The latest business Intelligence for HR professionals and people managers everywhere
Sign UpOnline Version
Human Times Logo
UK Edition
16th July 2025
Together with

Reward Gateway Logo
Industry Slice Icon Logo

THE HOT STORY

Tribunal over nurse's changing room row with trans doctor to resume

An employment tribunal involving a female nurse and a transgender doctor is resuming in Dundee. Sandie Peggie was suspended from her role as a nurse with NHS Fife last year after she objected to Dr Beth Upton, who is a transgender woman, using a female changing room. Peggie claims her treatment was unlawful under the 2010 Equality Act and has brought a case against the health board and Dr Upton. NHS Fife and the doctor are defending their actions, arguing that they complied with NHS policy. Peggie told the tribunal she had felt uncomfortable around Dr Upton in a changing room at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital on three occasions between August and December 2023. After an exchange of words, Dr Upton complained to NHS Fife about Peggie's behaviour and the nurse was suspended on 3 January 2024. The tribunal sat for 10 days in February and has been adjourned until now.
Industry Slice Icon Logo

WEBINAR

Balancing the Books & the Benefits: Combating the Rise in National Insurance Contributions

Are you also struggling with budget constraints? Gartner’s latest research showed at least 65% of HR leaders anticipate a decrease in their budget for 2025.

But how do you deal with it?

That’s what two Employee Experience Experts, Ali Fitzsimons and Kate Ithell, will unpack in Reward Gateway | Edenred’s upcoming webinar: Balancing the Books & the Benefits: Combating the Rise in National Insurance Contributions on Tuesday, 22nd July at 1pm BST.

They will cover:

💥 The impact of the National Insurance increase on HR budgets and employee take-home pay
🎉 How salary sacrifice benefits can reduce costs for both employees and employers – and even fund wider HR initiatives
📣 Real-life examples of organisations using cost-effective benefits to offset rising contributions  

Register Your Place

 
Industry Slice Icon Logo

LEGAL

Government crackdown on zero-hour contracts suffers setback

Plans by the government to crack down on zero-hour contracts in the workplace have suffered a setback in the House of Lords. Peers backed by 264 votes to 158 a measure to change the legal requirement for an employer to offer guaranteed hours to an employee’s right to request the arrangement, and they supported by 267 votes to 153 a move to exempt employers from having to make a payment to a worker if a shift was cancelled with at least 48 hours’ notice. Explaining his alternative to the proposed zero-hours provision, Liberal Democrat Lord Goddard of Stockport, said: “The amendment changes legislation from an obligation to offer guaranteed hours to a right to request them . . . Furthermore, it maintains that when a such request is made, the employer must grant it.” Opposing the move, Labour peer Baroness Carberry of Muswell Hill, a former assistant general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, warned: “This formulation of the amendment leaves open the path to some of those worst employers to make sure that they don’t end up offering guaranteed hours to workers on zero-hours contracts.”

Multi-job worker found guilty of fraud

Bryn Howells has been found guilty of fraud at Gloucester Crown Court after it was discovered that he was employed full-time in roles at Tewkesbury Borough Council, South Gloucestershire Council, and Publica Group, which provides services on behalf of three district councils, along with a fourth role with another council through an agency. While Howells, who accrued salaries and benefits totalling £236,000, claimed that he had not been motivated by greed, and that hours declared on false timesheets were hours he considered himself "available" for work, Simon Dix, Tewkesbury BC's executive director of resources, said Mr Howell's conduct "was wholly dishonest and represents a serious breach of trust and misuse of public funds."
Industry Slice Icon Logo

HIRING

Scammers target graduates with fake job ads

The Telegraph reports that scammers are deceiving university graduates and school leavers by impersonating popular job boards to steal their data and money amid a slump in entry-level roles. Keith Rosser, chairman of JobsAware, a non-profit organisation that provides free employment advice, said: “Over the past three years we’ve seen this explosion in the use of TikTok, WhatsApp and other [social media platforms] to really scale this fraud.” Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of the parliamentary science, innovation and tech committee, said: “It’s concerning to see reports that fraudsters are using social media to scam young people who are just looking for jobs . . . My committee has found that the UK’s current online safety regime is woefully insufficient to keep users safe online.”
Industry Slice Icon Logo

HYBRID WORKING

Staff at UK financial watchdog fight review on increasing office attendance

Financial Conduct Authority staff are threatening industrial action if they are told to be in the office more than the current rule of at least 40% of their working days each month.
Industry Slice Icon Logo

WORKFORCE

DWP reveals immigration status of UC claimants

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has for the first time published data showing the immigration status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants, revealing that as of June, 83.6% of the 7.9m people claiming the benefit were British or Irish nationals, while around 770,000 claimants were EU citizens who secured settled status after Brexit, just over 210,000 were migrants with indefinite leave to remain, under 120,000 were refugees, and just over 54,000 had come to the UK through routes like the Ukraine and Afghan resettlement schemes. The government pointed to figures showing that the proportion of claimants who are not British or Irish nationals fell from 16.5% last year to 15.6%.
Industry Slice Icon Logo

TAX

HMRC fails to track billionaires' taxes

HMRC has faced criticism from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for its inability to track tax contributions made by billionaires in the UK. A report from the committee highlighted "significant opportunities to collect more revenue," warning that the lack of clarity could undermine public confidence. Despite improvements in revenue collection from wealthy individuals, the PAC expressed disappointment that HMRC could not effectively utilise available data to identify billionaires, noting the potential tax revenue impact from this group. HMRC defines wealthy individuals as those with incomes of £200,000 or more, or assets equal to or above £2m, in any of the past three years. The PAC said because a billionaire has wealth and assets 500 times greater than this level, the potential impact of the tax revenues generated is huge.
Industry Slice Icon Logo

INTERNATIONAL

US nuclear regulator asks job candidates political questions

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has come under fire for a job posting that includes political questions. The position, for a senior operations engineer, asks applicants how their commitment to the US. Constitution informs their work and how they would support the President's policies. Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesperson, said that the agency is adhering to Office of Personnel Management guidelines. However, former NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko described the questions as a "political litmus test," and suggested they undermine professional expertise. He remarked: "If I saw something like this as Chairman, I would tell the staff to replace them immediately with relevant professional questions."

Irish debt office to review security protocols following phishing attack

The Irish state agency that manages debt and the sovereign wealth fund is to review security protocols after losing €5m ($5.9m) in a scam. The phishing attack at Ireland's National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) was discovered last week after staff at the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), a sovereign development fund that the debt office also manages, voiced concern about a payment made to what they thought was an investee company. NTMA Chief Executive Frank O'Connor explained that it was found that a fraudulent payment request from a third party, designed to look like a legitimate request from the existing investee company, had been received at the time of an expected drawdown of funds.

Loro Piana placed under court administration over alleged worker exploitation

A Milan court has placed LVMH-owned luxury label Loro Piana under judicial oversight for 12 months for subcontracting production to suppliers that allegedly exploited migrant workers. The court said Loro Piana had handed the production of apparel, including jackets, to Evergreen Fashion Group. In some Italian factories, working hours largely exceeded the eight-hour legal standard, employees slept on shop floors and were paid a fraction of Italy’s legal minimum. The order means that a court will appoint a special administrator to oversee the company’s business and will be tasked to clean up the production process. The brand is not under criminal investigation. The decision by prosecutors at the Milan Tribunal marks the fifth intervention into working conditions in the luxury-goods industry in recent years, following similar probes into a unit of Giorgio Armani and other companies such as Valentino Bags Lab, Manufactures Dior and handbag firm Alviero Martini.

More than half of UAE employees check work emails during leave

According to a survey by Robert Walters, over 54% of professionals in the UAE and Middle East check work emails during annual leave, and only 22% feel refreshed upon returning to the workplace. Jason Grundy, managing director of Robert Walters Middle East, said: “Annual leave should provide professionals respite and a chance to reset – it shouldn't cause them to become more stressed than before they went away.” The study highlights that 65% of employees experience anxiety when returning to work, with many resorting to "firefighting tactics" to manage their workload. The phenomenon of "fear of falling behind" (FOFB) is prevalent:  63% of professionals say they find it easier to relax on leave when their teams are also off.
Industry Slice Icon Logo

OTHER

Heatwave boosts British shopping spree

British shoppers increased their spending by 3.1% in June, driven by a heatwave that boosted demand for fans and summer clothing, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said: "The soaring temperatures increased sales of electric fans while sports and leisure equipment was boosted by both the weather and the start of Wimbledon." However, the rise in spending was partly attributed to higher food prices, with supermarket spending up 4.1% compared to a 2.2% increase for non-food stores. Food prices rose by 3.7% year-on-year, marking the largest increase since March 2024.
 
Industry SLice Logo

The Human Times is designed to help you stay ahead, spark ideas and support innovation, learning and development in your organisation.

The links under articles indicate original news sources. Some links lead directly to the source material. Others lead to paywalls where you may need a subscription. A third category are restricted by copyright rules.

For reaction and insights on any stories covered in the Human Times, join the discussion by becoming a member of our LinkedIn Group or Business Page, or follow us on X.
Follow us on FacebookFollow us on XFollow us on Linkedin

This e-mail has been sent to [[EMAIL_TO]]

Click here to unsubscribe