There’s no let-up in the steady increase of potential online threats to your data—new figures point to an 81 per cent increase in ‘phishing’ attacks this year. You need to make sure everyone in your business is aware of the risks.
More and more businesses are finding that the main IT-related risks aren’t only to do with maintenance or breakdown issues, but also with the prospect of valuable company data being lost over the internet. There is a thriving illegal industry in this kind of data theft. New figures from IT security firm Symantec point to an increase of 81 per cent in the number of ‘phishing’ attacks recorded, to 157,477 in the first half of 2006.
Phishing is a form of internet attack, but the weaknesses it preys on are human rather than technological. Phishers try to find ways of fooling computer users to voluntarily hand over valuable data (typically it’s bank account details they’re after).
It goes without saying that your IT system should be protected technologically—firewalls, anti-virus software and encryption all have a role to play. But don’t neglect the human side of things. Make sure that you and all your employees are security-conscious when it comes to using the IT system. Vigilance is the best way of preventing phishers and other online attackers from profiting at your expense.
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Security and the Internet
It pays to keep an eye on the economic indicators. After a long period of underperformance, there are signs that the economies of continental Europe are picking up. That should feed through to increased demand for UK goods and services.
News reports of changing economic indicators can seem a long way removed from the day-to-day priorities of running a business, but it pays to keep an eye on key trends as they can give you an early insight into changes in your market.
This is as true for exporters as it is for businesses selling within the UK—economic indicators provide a valuable source of market research for exporting businesses. Take the eurozone countries. They’ve been performing weakly in recent years, but 2006 has brought a steady stream of positive data. It looks like things may finally be picking up, for a time at least (analysts are divided as to how lasting the current upswing will be).
In the first half of 2006, the combined eurozone economy grew at its fastest rate for six years, expanding by 3.4 per cent. And while unemployment remains higher on the continent than in the UK, as many as five million new jobs have been created in the eurozone over the past five years.
These data aren’t just of academic interest. Improved growth rates in the eurozone means that more money is being spent there. Businesses are busier and therefore need more supplies, and consumers too have higher confidence and spending power. All of this amounts to a potential opportunity for UK businesses with an interest in selling into continental markets.
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First steps to Exporting
Research your export markets
Increases to the national minimum wage take effect from 1 October. There are a number of different minimum wage rates, and each is changing:
- the full rate for employees aged 22 years and over increases to £5.35 an hour
- a ‘development rate’ for workers aged between 18 and 21 increases to £4.45 an hour
- the rate applicable to workers aged 16 and 17 rises to £3.30 an hour.
Businesses should note that the second development rate is abolished. This had applied to workers aged 22 and over who were receiving accredited training while in the first six months of a new job. These workers are now entitled to receive the full rate of £5.35 an hour.
For more information about the national minimum wage, visit the Department of Trade and Industry website
A number of significant family-related employment law changes come into force on 1 October. Their main effects are to extend the length of time that pregnant women and adoptive parents can take off work, and to allow increased contact between employers and any of their employees who are on maternity or adoption leave.
Under the new rules, all pregnant women are now entitled to one year off work. Previously, the basic entitlement was for six months’ leave, with an additional period of six months granted only to those women who had worked for their employer for 26 continuous weeks prior to the 14th week before the baby’s due date. This length-of-service requirement for additional leave is now abolished.
Pregnant employees will now also receive statutory maternity pay (SMP) for longer. Where previously the entitlement to SMP only applied for the first six months’ maternity leave, it is now extended to nine months. This change also affects adoptive parents, whose entitlement to paid leave is also extended from six to nine months.
This extension of paid maternity and adoption leave applies in cases where the expected date of childbirth or placement is on or after 1 April 2007.
The new family-friendly rules also introduce a number of procedural changes designed to improve communication between employers and employees during periods of leave. The main changes are as follows:
- the notice mothers must give to employers if they change their return-to-work dates is increasing from 28 days to eight weeks
- employers are being given the right to make ‘reasonable contact’ with employees on maternity or adoption leave
- employees on maternity and adoption leave are being given optional ‘keep in touch’ days, allowing them to attend work for training or to keep in touch with major developments, without losing the right to claim their statutory payments.
There are also a number of admin changes relating to the payment of SMP. First, SMP will now be payable either on a daily or weekly basis. Second, the start-date for paying SMP is being made more flexible to make it easier to start maternity leave and pay on the same day.
Businesses are advised to make sure that their HR processes and documentation are updated to reflect the new rules. You should also ensure that your managers are aware of the new rules and know how to implement them.
For a complete list of the changes to work and families legislation visit the Department of Trade and Industry website
Long-awaited rules prohibiting discrimination on grounds of age take effect from 1 October. Under the new regime it will be unlawful for businesses to treat employees and job applicants less favourably than others on the basis of their age.
The new rules affect every stage of the employment process: recruitment, terms and conditions, training, promotion, transfers and dismissals. In every instance, the basic idea behind the regulations is that it is no longer acceptable to incorporate age-related criteria in your business processes. For example, when recruiting you will need to avoid making any direct reference to age requirements in your job advertisements and interviews. Even indirect references are prohibited, such as asking for applicants with a certain number of years’ experience.
There are a number of specific procedural changes that follow from the new age-discrimination rules. All businesses should note that:
- the upper age limits for employees claiming unfair dismissal or statutory redundancy payments have now been removed
- it is unlawful to compel someone to retire before the national default retirement age of 65, unless there is an objective justification for doing so
- employers are required to consider any employee requests to work beyond the 65 default retirement age (but there is no duty to accept any such request)
- employers are required to give employees 6-12 months’ notice of the date on which they intend them to retire, and must at the same time inform employees of their right to request to work beyond that date.
There are certain circumstances in which it is acceptable under the new rules to discriminate on grounds of age. You must be able to prove that there is an objective justification for your actions, such as protecting your employees’ health and safety by restricting certain high-risk roles to individuals with a specific level of experience.
Bear in mind that you will probably need to reconsider your business admin processes with the new rules in mind. In particular, it is important to record and analyse the age profile of your workforce. This will allow you to plan for forthcoming retirements, as well as to check that you are not giving preferential treatment to any age group in terms of recruitment, training, promotion and so on.
See the age discrimination pages on the Department of Trade and Industry website