A UK company has been found civilly liable for victims of trafficking for the first time. DJ Houghton Chicken Catching Services Ltd was ordered to pay compensation to Lithuanian workers who had been trafficked to the UK and severely exploited. The trafficked individuals were working in supply chains producing premium free range eggs. See here for more details.
Four men have also been given sentences of imprisonment in some of the first convictions for offences of modern slavery under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 – see here.
For more information on the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and how the corporate reporting requirements impact on companies, see our Q&A.
ICO Prosecution
In the first case of its kind, the ICO has prosecuted an employee who transferred client information before changing jobs. He was ordered to pay a fine of £300, together with a victim surcharge of £30 and costs of £405.98.
Early Conciliation
ACAS has published a research paper evaluating the impact of early conciliation on Tribunal claims: see here. Headline figures include:
• 71% of claims reported to ACAS did not proceed to a hearing, following early conciliation
• Of those who withdrew: 27% said it was because they thought they would not win or it would be a waste of time; 20% said tribunal fees were off-putting; 17% said the process was too stressful
• More than half of all claimants taking part in the survey said that they thought that participating in early conciliation had made it quicker to resolve their claim.
Social Media
The European Commission has published a code of conduct agreed with Twitter, Microsoft, Facebook and YouTube that sets out how these companies will respond to unlawful hate speech posted by their users: see here.