LAW E-BOOK P5&P6
Contents page: Laws What are Ethical Issues? ...................Page 1
What are Legal Issues? .....................Page 2
Computer Misuse Act 1990……………….....Page 3
Data Protection Act 1998…………………….. Page 4
Freedom of Information Act 2000………. Page 5
Human Rights Act 1998……………………….. Page 6
Privacy Act 1974………………………………….. Page 7
What is Whistle Blowing………………………Page 8
What is Information Ownership? ………. Page 9 Policies and Procedures Security of Information……………………… Page 10 Back - ups………………………………………… Page 11 Health & Safety………………………………… Page 12 Organisational Policies……………………… Page 13 Business Continuance Plans……………… Page 14 Costs………………………………………………… Page 15
What are Ethical Issues?
In business terms this is defined as A problem or situation that requires a person or organization to choose between alternatives that must be evaluated as right (ethical) or wrong (unethical).
In the 21st century, companies of every size will face ethical issues in every shape and form. Businesses have a duty to develop a code of conduct that deals with these issues and that every member of the business must abide by and put into action. The fundamental issues would be ones like trust and integrity but the more complex ones are decision making, diversity, compliance and governance.
The business has a duty to comply with environmental laws, federal and state regulations and civil right laws. No one may ask any employee the break the law, or go against the company’s policies and procedures.
An ethical response to diversity begins with recruiting a diverse workforce which enforces equal opportunity and a respectful working environment that values their contributions.
Ethical decision-making processes should centre on protecting employee and customer rights, making sure all business operations are fair and just, protecting the common good and making sure individual values and beliefs of workers are protected.
What are Legal Issues? A legal issue usually consists of checking for libellous or false statements before the copy goes to print. This is an especially important step to ensure that publishers don’t commit libel by printing inaccurate or falsified facts or statements about people or events.
Many businesses store and use information about employees and customers. The Data Protection Act protects information being held. There are a ton of legal issues to take into consideration when it comes to starting your business. The business’ name, structure and operations have legal implications.
Most businesses are regulated and they are overseen by much of the government and legal oversight to make sure that they are operated correctly so they continue to abide by this law. There are a few legal considerations to be familiar with when starting your new business.
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Hacking has been in existence for almost as long as the Internet; some people have a thrill in trying to break into a computer system. Before 1990, there were no laws in place to tackle the problems caused by hacking. Although everyone knew that it was wrong and should be against the law, there was very little that anyone could do about it. The problem grew and it became clear to see that specific legislation was needed to enable hackers to be prosecuted under the law. So, in 1990, the Computer Misuse Act was passed.
So, in 1990, the Computer Misuse Act was passed. The Computer Misuse Act (1990) recognised the following new offences: Unauthorised access to computer material Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime Unauthorised modification of computer material. Making, supplying or obtaining anything which can be used in computer misuse offences
Data Protection Act 1998 The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which defines UK law on the processing of data on identifiable living people. It is the main piece of legislation that governs the protection of personal data in the UK.
Business that want to apply this law within their business will have to follow ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure the information is: • • • • • • • •
used fairly and lawfully used for limited, specifically stated purposes used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive accurate kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary handled according to people’s data protection rights kept safe and secure not transferred outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection
Freedom of Information Act 2000 The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act provides the public with a general right of access to information held by public authorities. These include: central government and government departments local councils state schools, colleges and universities police forces and prison services hospitals, doctors' surgeries, dentists, pharmacists and opticians businesses owned by public authorities
Whilst the aim of the Acts is to increase openness in the public sector and disclosing information about decisions and activities of employees may promote this, it is recognised that employees also have legitimate concerns over privacy and rights to have those concerns respected. In other words this legislation can help improve bolster an employee’s morale and satisfaction in certain working conditions. An example would be that all NHS information at ASDA Opticians is held, retained and destroyed within the NHS guidelines. Their commitment to publish information excludes any information that can be legitimately withheld under the exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Human Rights People want to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect and this is what the central core of the Human Rights Act is. This improves global standards within different businesses.
There are policies within the workplace that prevent discrimination and also protecting people’s rights. This would be done in a safe environment that can enable you to attract and retain the best staff to help improve performance levels.
Attention to the diverse needs of customers and their communities could help the company to identify new products and markets. Understanding how human rights can impact the business is important in safeguarding your business reputation in the communities in which it operates and in the wider marketplace.
Privacy Act 1974 This privacy policy regulates the use by Asda and its partner companies of the information you provide when using the Your Asda website, which we operate in order to provide information about our products and services, our stores and the wider Asda business. It is to be read in conjunction with the terms and conditions of use of the Your Asda website and with the Asda.com Website Privacy Policy.
We collect your email address if you submit a message in case we need to contact you for any reason. Your email address will not be used to send you marketing information unless you have already registered it with another Asda website and given the relevant permissions.
In order to help us design our website and improve your experience, we may collect information about the way you use and access our website. Our web system collects information about each visitor, including IP address, the length of time spent on the website and the pages visited.
Whistle Blowing You’re a whistle-blower if you’re a worker and you report certain types of wrongdoing. This will usually be something you’ve seen at work - though not always. The wrongdoing you disclose must be in the public interest. This means it must affect others, eg the general public. As a whistle-blower you’re protected by law - you shouldn’t be treated unfairly or lose your job because you ‘blow the whistle’. You can raise your concern at any time about an incident that happened in the past, is happening now, or you believe will happen in the near future.
You’re protected by law if you report any of the following: a criminal offence, eg fraud someone’s health and safety is in danger risk or actual damage to the environment a miscarriage of justice the company is breaking the law, eg doesn’t have the right insurance you believe someone is covering up wrongdoing
Press reports surfaced in May 2008 that Asda was the whistle-blower that prompted OFT raids on Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola.
Information Ownership The relationship between the information owner and information custodians must be clearly defined, and enforced by process, if sensitive data is to be properly protected.
The policy deals with information owner roles in deciding when and how information is released or made available to third party information processing organizations. It is fair to say that this is a needed policy.
Security of information
Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction. It is a general term that can be used regardless of the form the data may take (e.g. electronic, physical).
At Asda Direct data security is one of our highest priorities, and we do our utmost to protect the data you provide. Access to our entire user's information is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information. The servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment.
Back-ups In information technology, a backup, or the process of backing up, refers to the copying and archiving of computer data so it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. Backups have two distinct purposes.
The primary purpose is to recover data after its loss, be it by data deletion or corruption. Data loss can be a common experience of computer users
The secondary purpose of backups is to recover data from an earlier time, according to a user-defined data retention policy, typically configured within a backup application for how long copies of data are required
Health & Safety All workers are entitled to work in environments where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Under health and safety law, the primary responsibility for this is down to employers. Employers have a duty to consult with their employees, or their representatives, on health and safety matters.
OHS are partners with ASDA, looking after all their Health, Safety and Environmental management issues. They provide ASDA with a senior Health and Safety manager along with a team of auditors and a dedicated office manned with Health and Safety administrators whom are all supervised by a CRM manager. The OHS Managing Director along with specified Technical and Business Development Consultants also form part of the Project Team.
Support and guidance on all aspects of health, safety and welfare is catered for by various means, ranging from provision of advice, conducting workplace inspections, sitting on health and safety committees and where necessary intervening and resolving inflammatory situations; which has proven to be an effective instrument in highlighting and gaining recognition of workplace issues.
Organisational Policies At Asda we’re always striving to work in the most responsible way possible and that means reducing wherever we can any negative impact we might have on the people and environment around us.
We know you want to be able to choose products that are the healthier option for you and your family. That’s why we’re always working to find new ways to make our products better for you. Whether that’s cutting out the nasties like artificial flavours and colours, or just making it easier to find the products you’re after.
As the first supermarket to launch a dual labelling system, we’re working to find the careful balance of providing the right information to help you choose your products, without overloading you with data. Designed to be read and understood in less than 2 seconds, you should be able to find the product you’re after in no time.
Business Continuance Plan
Asda plans towards disaster of any magnitude is in the organization disaster recovery plan which consists of the precautions to be taken so that the effects of a disaster will be minimized and the procedures to follow in case such disasters are not prevented.
Asda will be able to either maintain and control the disaster or quickly resume mission-critical functions plans. It involves the analysis of business processes and continuity needs and also include a significant focus on disaster prevention methods.
Asda has procedures in place to help prevent and accommodate any disaster by: 1. Setting up a contingency fund in case of emergency of any kind. 2. Insurance of all aspect of Asda that may be affected from staff, products, equipment and store etc. 3. Back up plans for all Information Technology data information which includes A. cloud storage. B. Back up in external storage drive. C. Back up copy in other location of the organisation.
Costs Asda being a large supermarket retailer will encounter a lot of day-to-day costs. Management of these costs will ensure that the business can survive.
Even in tough economic times, ASDA takes the long-term view that investment in training and development is the right thing to do both for the business and its people. ASDA has dedicated Stores of Learning (SOLs) across the company. These are stores which serve as centres of excellence for technical and behavioural training. Appropriate investment in training and development increases retention of colleagues and leads to higher performing and productive teams, which in turn support ASDA's growth and expansion plans.
Actual costs: Historical costs, based on actual transactions and operations for the period just ended, or going back to earlier periods. Budgeted costs: Future costs, for transactions and operations expected to take place over the coming period, based on forecasts and established goals. Standard costs: Costs, primarily in the area of manufacturing, that are carefully engineered based on detailed analysis of operations and forecast costs for each component or step in an operation.