Human Times

UK Edition

20th July 2026

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THE HOT STORY

Financial firms tighten employee scrutiny

UK financial firms are sharpening their scrutiny of employee conduct ahead of new rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that are set to take effect on September 1. The changes, which will amend conduct rules and fitness-for-office tests to add serious, work-related bullying, harassment and violence against colleagues, clarify how firms should take non-financial misconduct into account when assessing employees' fitness and propriety. The new regime puts the onus on managers, rather than human resources departments, to identify, investigate and report potentially serious cases. Lawyers report that some companies are dismissing staff suspected of misconduct before the rules increase accountability. Wendy Saunders, a partner at law firm Lewis Silkin, says she has seen two or three instances where firms appeared to "dress up a minor conduct issue as non-financial misconduct" to dismiss an underperformer.

Reuters

TALENT STRATEGY

The hiring shift HR leaders can’t ignore

Talent scarcity has topped recruiters’ challenges for two years running, and a record share of organisations are now cutting recruitment budgets. For HR directors, that raises a harder question than “how do we hire more?”, it’s “where do we invest when the pressure isn’t easing?” The UK Candidate Attraction Report 2026, drawn from 700+ UK recruitment professionals, turns this year’s data into decision-ready insight, read through an HRD lens: where budget is quietly leaking, how AI is changing what an application really tells you, and how candidate experience, retention and workforce planning now connect. If you’re being asked to prove ROI and improve outcomes at the same time, it turns those pressures into decisions you can defend.

Download the report here →

REMUNERATION

Record pay for FTSE 100 bosses

FTSE 100 chief executives earned a median pay of £5.06m last year, marking an 8.6% increase and the highest on record, according to the High Pay Centre. This pay rise has widened the earnings gap, with executives now earning 130 times the average full-time UK worker's salary of £39,000 - up from 124 times previously. The High Pay Centre said 66 of 94 companies increased CEO pay, driven by higher long-term and short-term incentive payments. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot was the highest-paid executive at £17.7m, followed by GSK's Emma Walmsley, Barclays' CS Venkatakrishnan, Shell's Wael Sawan, and Standard Chartered's Bill Winters. The High Pay Centre has called for reforms to executive pay rules, including greater worker representation and measures to address excessive remuneration. Andrew Speke, interim director of the think-tank, said: "The substantial growth in the gap between executive and worker pay . . . should be a wakeup call."

The Guardian

The I

PwC partners set for near-record £900,000 annual pay

Average partner pay at PwC surpassed £900,000 last year, rising by 5% to 10% from the previous year’s figure of £865,000. The increase, driven by leadership efforts to boost firm performance, moves PwC ahead of KPMG into second place among the UK's Big Four firms. Deloitte maintains its clear lead with average partner earnings of around £1.05m. Meanwhile, KPMG's average pay of £880,000 fell behind PwC, despite previously ranking ahead of both EY and PwC for the first time in a decade. EY remains in fourth place, with its average partner earnings totalling £787,000.

Sky News

Financial Times

WORKFORCE

Union leader calls for strike ballot reform

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, has called for the immediate repeal of the 50% threshold for strike action ballots. He argues that no other democratic process in Britain requires such a turnout, saying that the 50% threshold is a "structural barrier that entrenches inequality and is highly discriminatory . . . No other democratic process in Britain is subject to such a rule. MPs are not elected on a 50 per cent turnout threshold. Councillors are not. The Prime Minister is not. If Westminster elections were held to the same standard imposed on workers, half the Cabinet would not be in office today, and Labour would have far fewer MPs overall."

The Daily Telegraph

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Better health holds key to growth, thinktank says

Restoring UK health levels to those of 2014 could boost GDP by 2% and deliver a £72bn public finances dividend, according to the Health Foundation. The thinktank warns falling healthy life expectancy and rising long-term illness are damaging the economy by reducing workforce participation and increasing NHS and benefits costs. It argues policymakers should treat health as an economic asset. "Improving people's health will not solve every economic challenge", a report by the thinktank says, but it can "play a critical role in strengthening economic performance, improving fiscal sustainability and raising living standards."

The Guardian

LEGAL

Boohoo faces £10m claim over Leicester scandal

Retailer Boohoo has been hit with fresh legal claims worth about £10m from investors alleging senior executives knew the group was using Leicester sweatshops to make clothes. The case adds to the long-running financial and reputational fallout from the retailer's 2020 supply chain scandal, when allegations of low pay and unsafe conditions triggered an independent review and a sharp share price slump. Claimants are seeking compensation over alleged disclosure failures and weak corporate oversight, with former directors and current governance practices under scrutiny.

The Daily Telegraph

CORPORATE

UK-listed companies issue 59 profit warnings in H1

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has contributed to a significant increase in profit warnings among UK-listed companies, with 59 warnings issued in the first half of this year, up from 55 last year. According to the EY-Parthenon report, more than half of the warnings were due to policy changes and geopolitical uncertainty. Sectors including housebuilding, retail, and leisure have been particularly affected. London-listed housebuilding and construction firms posted eight profit warnings in the first half of 2026, including six in Q2. Jo Robinson, EY-Parthenon's financial restructuring leader, said: "Pressure and profit warnings are increasingly concentrated in sectors and businesses facing rising costs, cautious consumers and tighter credit conditions."

The Times

The Daily Telegraph

ECONOMY

Burnham set to reinstate Reynolds as Business Secretary

Andy Burnham plans to reinstate Jonathan Reynolds as Business Secretary, according to the FT. Reynolds previously held the position until last September and is expected to return as Burnham unveils his cabinet. Burnham says he will lead a "pro-business" government and reindustrialise Britain. Additionally, the Department for Business and Trade may expand, potentially rebranding as a "Ministry of Industry" and taking responsibility for science from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Financial Times

City AM

WORKPLACE

Supermarkets fight back with facial recognition

Supermarkets are introducing facial recognition technology to identify and deter their most prolific and violent shoplifters, with retailers creating watchlists of repeat offenders deemed to be the "worst of the worst." Systems provided by New Zealand-based company Auror will alert staff when suspected thieves enter stores, allowing security teams to increase monitoring, refuse entry or contact police where individuals have previously carried weapons. The platform, used by retailers including Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Boots and Primark, shares theft evidence with police to improve investigations. Auror says 10% of offenders are responsible for 65% of thefts. Privacy campaigners warn biometric surveillance of shoppers could be disproportionate and unlawful.

The Daily Telegraph

The Times

TAX

Top earners pay 60% of tax

The top 10% of earners in the UK now contribute 58.4% of the country's income tax, up from 50.3% at the start of the century, according to HM Revenue & Customs. The Treasury claims the UK's income tax system is progressive, with the top 1% expected to contribute over a quarter of all income tax receipts.

Sunday Times

INTERNATIONAL

Germany backs flexible job trials

Germany’s cabinet has approved Labour Minister Bärbel Bas’s proposal allowing employees to test a potential new job for up to four weeks, or six weeks exceptionally, without immediately resigning or accepting a permanent offer. The “job-to-job trial” is designed to move skilled workers quickly from declining industries into sectors facing shortages. Bas said workers should be able to change industries “quickly and easily” when companies cut jobs. The legislation would also make digital communication standard for unemployment benefit recipients, ending the requirement to remain available for postal correspondence. Further measures include video access to employment agencies, digital-first applications and reduced workplace-safety administration, potentially removing up to 123,000 safety officer roles in smaller businesses. The package is expected to reduce annual bureaucracy costs by more than €720m, although Green labour-market spokeswoman Sylvia Rietenberg questioned whether it adequately addresses disruption from AI, decarbonisation and economic transformation.

Handelsblatt

OTHER

UCAS launches budget calculator

A UCAS survey of sixth-formers has found that 47% of prospective students have concerns over whether their maintenance loan will be enough for them to live on, while 37% are concerned that they will not be able to repay their loan based on their likely future earnings. The application service has launched a new budget calculator for teens considering higher education, allowing them to factor in their likely spending, the size of their loan, and whether they plan to get a job while studying.

The Times

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