It’s been another busy week in the world of HR. Once again we’ve seen everything from legal matters to government scandals and everything in between. Here are our top picks of the week:

Ire-35

With the spectre of the IR35 implementation deadline looming large, UK businesses are beginning to fear the worst. Their relationship with skilled contractors will be impacted heavily, with a new study showing that around 1/3 of contractors are planning to stop operating in the UK. Among its 3000+ sample, 50% said they would only continue if they could find companies where the new regulations do not apply and 11% plan to stop working or retire early. But how might the IR35 legislation affect your organization?

Rutnam v Patel

Senior civil servant Sir Phillip Rutman has officially commenced legal proceedings against Home Secretary Priti Patel, The Guardian reports. Rutman will sue for ‘unfair dismissal’ in an unprecedented clash between two former heads of the civil service, alleging that Patel pursued a ‘vicious’ bullying campaign against him, leading to his resignation earlier this week. Rutman’s accusations include being shouted and sworn at, belittled and receiving unreasonable demands. The Home Secretary denies all accusations. How would you deal with an incident like this in the workplace?

Coronavirus chaos

The latest in a seemingly endless string COVID-19 developments sees Twitter, Amazon and Google instruct their staff to work remotely. Google’s Dublin headquarters was compromised after an employee reported flu-like symptoms, resulting in temporary remote working for 8,000 employees, Business Insider reports. The tech giant claimed this was merely a precautionary measure, in accordance with advice from the NHS and WHO.