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UK Edition
2nd April 2025
 
THE HOT STORY
UK workers see easing pay growth
Annual pay growth for low-wage positions in the UK slowed to 6.2% in February, the lowest since February 2022, according to jobs website Indeed.  Jack Kennedy, a senior economist at Indeed, said: “For some time now, low-paid sectors have been seeing significantly stronger pay growth than the rest of the market . . . That gap is starting to close.” Kennedy said that a wave of costs this month, including a change to national insurance contributions, a payroll tax, and a higher minimum wage, may force companies to hold down salaries across the board. Mohammad Jamei, director of economic policy at the Confederation of British Industry, said some employers are halving pay rises from around 5% to 2% to help offset the government's cost increases.
CYBERSECURITY
New cybersecurity laws on the way
The UK government is set to introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, mandating that organisations provide essential IT services to enhance their data protection and network security. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Economic growth is the cornerstone of our plan for change, and ensuring the security of the vital services which will deliver that growth is non-negotiable." The National Cyber Security Centre reported 430 cyber incidents in the past year, with 50% of British businesses experiencing breaches. The bill aims to empower regulators and protect over 200 data centres, which are crucial for processing data for AI tools. Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, described the bill as a "landmark moment" for improving cyber defences in essential services. 
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Make UK publishes report on ending the skills gap
Manufacturers' organisation Make UK has published its report on how to end the skills gap. The organisation notes: "The most important asset to any economy is its people. Britain’s economic and productivity crisis can only be solved if we have a highly skilled workforce in place, embedded in the latest technologies and equipped with the skills to use them effectively." 
WORKFORCE
Northern Ireland lecturers vote for strike action
Further education lecturers in Northern Ireland, represented by the University and College Union (UCU), have voted overwhelmingly for strike action, with 90% in favour. The union accuses Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald of failing to honour a pay agreement aimed at closing the "pay gap" with school teachers. The union claims that Archibald has reduced the baseline budget for FE colleges by 7.9% and imposed a requirement for £18m in efficiency savings.
LEGAL
NHS Fife faces enforcement action over trans policy
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is contemplating the use of its enforcement powers regarding NHS Fife's compliance with equalities legislation. This follows a high-profile employment tribunal involving nurse Sandie Peggie, who was suspended after raising concerns about sharing a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton. A spokesperson for the EHRC said: "The policies and practices of all Scottish health boards must comply with the Equality Act 2010, as it relates to the provision of single-sex services and spaces."
The enduring pay gap for disabled people
The “disability pay gap”, which has worsened since 2013, is equal to £2.35 an hour, or 54 days a year when employees with disabilities are working for free.
INTERNATIONAL
More Dutch employers include religious holiday swaps in CAO
An increasing number of employers in the Netherlands are willing to accommodate workers who wish to swap religious holidays. As Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr, many companies are incorporating this flexibility into their collective labour agreements (CAOs). For instance, Muslims can take time off for Eid by offering to work during Christian holidays like Christmas. Civil engineering firm Arcadis has already implemented a holiday swapping system that includes various cultural and religious observances. This initiative allows employees to maintain their holiday entitlements while respecting diverse cultural practices.
France stands firm on DEI policies
France's minister for foreign trade, Laurent Saint-Martin, has said that his country will not compromise on its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives despite reported demands from the US State Department for French companies to abandon such policies. Speaking on RTL Radio, Saint-Martin expressed his shock at the US interference, emphasising that the DEI initiatives align with French values and laws, including equality and anti-discrimination efforts. He said: “All of this is progress that corresponds first and foremost to our French values, we are proud of this and we don't want to compromise on it.” He did however stress the need to have a “positive agenda” and maintain a dialogue with the United States.
Foreign tech workers campaign against new Swedish citizenship law
Eric Peterson, a Spotify software engineer, has launched a petition against Sweden's new law tightening citizenship requirements, which he believes will deter highly skilled foreign workers. The letter argues that extending the residency requirement from five to eight years will diminish Sweden's appeal to skilled workers and that retroactive application of the law could harm trust in Swedish institutions. Peterson hopes to highlight the economic implications of the proposed changes to influence the government's decision-making process. "I've been very surprised and pleased at the volume of signatures that we've received and the feeling behind it," Peterson told The Local. "We're at a little over 130 signatures right now, which is way more than I expected, because I'm not broadcasting this. This is just going through the whisper networks of immigrants in tech in Sweden."
Amazon to resume worker theft screening
Bloomberg reports that Amazon is to resume screening employees leaving its warehouses, after dropping the theft-prevention measure during the pandemic. In addition to bringing back metal detection devices, the company is asking workers to register their personal phones so security personnel know they aren’t stolen. Employees will share the last six digits of the serial number on their phones and receive a sticker to place on the device, letting security personnel know it belongs to the worker and accelerating the screening process. “We’re always working to make our facilities more safe and secure for our employees and for companies of all sizes that put their trust in us to store their inventory,” an Amazon spokesperson explained. “As one part of that, we’ve made the decision to restore some practices that we had suspended to support social distancing during the pandemic.”
OTHER
New funding for nursery expansion
The government has announced the first wave of 300 school-based nurseries, offering thousands of new places for two-year-olds with working parents. Schools across England have been awarded cash to expand or repurpose buildings to turn into nurseries, with an average of 20 places per site and up to 6,000 new places in total. Each successful school will receive the amount of funding they bid for to repurpose or extend existing spaces and deliver childcare provision. The first 300 school-based nurseries will be located in towns and cities across the country, from Exeter to Newcastle. The Department for Education said the funding has been more than doubled to £37m to help with the full rollout of the government's childcare offer. Working parents of children older than nine months can now access 15 hours of funded childcare a week before the full rollout of 30 hours a week in September.
 


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