-EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK-
Scotland Sees Labour Market Improve In April
April’s Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs has signalled continued improvement in the Scottish labour market. Both permanent and temporary staff appointments rose in April due to greater demand from clients, while temporary contract candidate availability rose, but permanent staff availability remained unchanged. Donald MacRae, chief economist at Bank of Scotland, says: “The latest Report on Jobs shows a further improvement in the Scottish labour market. The number of people placed in to permanent positions increased for the seventh consecutive month, while demand for permanent staff rose markedly in April, with recruitment consultants registering a larger number of vacancies. All eight employment sectors registered greater demand for permanent staff in April.
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-DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY-
Employers can be Liable for their Contractors’ Mistakes
A recent fine imposed by the Information Commissioner on Scottish Borders Council demonstrates that employers can be liable for breach of data protection legislation by their contractors. All employers handling data about employees must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act) and in particular, the eight data protection principles set out in that legislation. It is essential employers have streamlined and compliant arrangements in place to try to avoid incurring substantial fines due to the short comings of their outsourced service providers. As a minimum there should be a written agreement between their data controller and their data processor, which should contain warranties regarding compliance with the data protection principles and an indemnity for any breach of the Act to encourage best practice.