It has been revealed that, one year on from its introduction, many charities feel that the implementation of the GDPR has been a costly exercise. In all 58 percent of the over 100 respondents stated that meeting the GDPR’s requirements has been ‘quite costly’,while 12 percent said that they have found the introduction of the GDPR to be ‘very costly’. Contributor Paul Seath, Partner – Bates Wells Employment Team.
However, almost half (48 percent) of those who participated in the survey said they feel that the GDPR has had a positive impact on their organisation, against 26 percent who responded to say that it has had a negative effect on their day-to-day work. Interestingly, 63 percent of respondents have seen ‘no change’ in the number of Data Subject Access Requests since the introduction of the GDPR, indicating that this has proven to be less of a burden than some commentators foresaw.
The list of those surveyed in this comprehensive exercise is wide-ranging, and those who participated include HR Directors, CEOs, Operations Directors and charity trustees.
Paul Seath, Partner in Bates Wells Employment Team, said: “These results present a mixed picture of the GDPR’s impact on our clients. They indicate that while the GDPR appears to have had mostly beneficial consequences, the cost of achieving this outcome has been high.
“Significantly, the results also show that the GDPR has had a tangible, positive impact on many organisations, which points to the underlying culture change the Information Commissioner has highlighted as being crucial to help people embrace the rules.
“Ultimately what this exercise shows is that implementation has proven to be expensive but that many organisations have stepped up and embraced the changes. Also, the first year of GDPR has allowed us to learn many lessons about how implementation can be done effectively.
“I hope that when we mark the second anniversary of the GDPR’s introduction, charities will feel that they can meet the GDPR’s requirements in a way which won’t break the bank.”
Over a third of charities exposing themselves to potential internal fraud due to inconsistent background checks
Global leader of background and identity services, Sterling, has urged charities to ensure they have consistent and carefully applied background screening programmes in place in order to avoid the growing threat of insider fraud. This comes following a survey from the company that exposed a worrying level of inconsistency amongst background screening practices across the not-for-profit sector.
The research, carried out in a recent webinar by the company titled ‘Insider Fraud, Cyber-crime and Background Checks in the Charity Sector’, revealed that over a third (37 percent) of individuals responsible for hiring in the sector do not have a consistent employee background screening programme in place. Steve Smith, managing director of Sterling EMEA, has urged charities to recognise that the likelihood of insider fraud could be significantly exacerbated by this approach.
Commenting on the findings, Steve said: “At a time when insider fraud continues to affect charities, it’s crucial that those in the sector are made aware of the dangers of having inconsistent background screening programmes, and are given clear and concise information on best practice for carrying out right to work and any other employment checks.”
“Unfortunately, despite the invaluable work that charities carry out on behalf of global communities, there are still a number of people who wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of these organisations if given the opportunity, as we saw during our webinar. However, this risk can be massively mitigated by having a programme in place that carries out the right checks on potential employees.”
“This is especially pertinent as fraudsters become more sophisticated and technologically capable. In order to truly equip talent acquisition managers across the sector against insider fraud, consistent, well-thought out, and compliant background checks need to be applied across the board.”
