Human Times

European Edition

19th March 2026

THE HOT STORY

UK firms fined for underpaying staff

The UK's Department for Business and Trade has identified almost 400 firms that have been underpaying employees. The department released a list of 389 firms that have been forced to repay about 60,000 employees a total of £7.3m (€8.4m) in unpaid wages. The firms were fined a total of £12.6m for paying staff less than the statutory minimum, with fines capped at double the amount owed to workers. Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said: "A good employer doesn't build their business on the back of unpaid wages, and I look forward to working with the new Fair Work Agency to ensure its powers are used to crack down on those who think the rules don't apply to them." Employment Rights Minister Kate Dearden added: "Nobody should finish a week's work and find they've been paid less than they've earned."

Daily Mirror

The Times

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STRATEGY

ING to cut 1,250 operational jobs worldwide

Dutch lender ING has said it plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 1,250 operational roles this year. The cuts will mainly affect teams involved in customer research and related functions. In a forecast submitted to the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), the Amsterdam-headquartered bank indicated it could cut up to 950 jobs in the Netherlands, although the exact number of Dutch positions affected remains unclear. Globally, ING employs over 60,000 people. ING said it aims to leverage technology to manage higher workloads without proportionally increasing staff or costs.

NL Times

DutchNews.nl

TECHNOLOGY

Deloitte report highlights gap between AI ambitions and organisational readiness

Deloitte’s 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report finds that while business leaders are increasingly looking to technology - particularly AI - to solve workforce and operational challenges, most organisations lack the cultural and structural foundations to deliver on those ambitions. The report identifies three key issues: employees struggling to keep pace with constant change, widespread AI adoption without sufficient accountability or trust frameworks, and outdated organisational structures that hinder agility. While 60% of executives are already using AI in decision-making, only 5% believe they manage it effectively, with many failing to consider its impact on employees. Leaders are seeking AI-driven solutions that embed real-time learning, improve decision-making transparency, and enable more flexible, skills-based ways of working. However, progress remains limited, with only a small minority of organisations successfully adapting their workforce, governance models, and operating structures to support these changes.

HR Executive

CORPORATE

EU considers curbs on national powers to block mergers

The EU plans to overhaul its merger rules to curb national powers to block corporate takeovers, in a bid to help European companies build the scale to compete with global rivals. A European Commission discussion paper says some national interventions have “unnecessarily hindered scaling-up.” The revised guidelines are intended to create greater legal certainty for businesses pursuing pan-European consolidation.

European Business Magazine

Financial Times

WORKFORCE

Hundreds of UK doctors never refuse a mental health sick note

Hundreds of family doctors in the UK have told the BBC they have never refused to sign a sick note for a patient complaining of mental health issues. BBC News sent a questionnaire to more than 5,000 doctors in England asking if they had ever denied a sick note - known as a fit note - to someone who had requested one because of their mental health. Of the 752 who replied, 540 said they had never refused such a request. Last year, a government-commissioned report looking into the role of employers in health and disability said that fit notes were "often problematic." The Keep Britain Working review noted doctors often did not have the time, or the occupational health training, to fully assess if someone was able to work or not.

BBC News

LEGAL

Slovakia keeps whistleblower office after EU funding threat

Slovakia’s government has repealed legislation to abolish its Whistleblower Protection Office after it said the European Commission had threatened to withhold funds tied to anti-corruption standards. The latest planned payment to Slovakia under the the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, which amounted to €591m ($680m), was given the go-ahead by the bloc in January but had not yet been disbursed. Bloomberg notes that the move to repeal the law underscores the importance of EU funding for the eastern European country.

Bloomberg

REGULATION

Italy launches fact‑finding inquiry into quantum computing sector

Italy’s antitrust watchdog has announced a fact‑finding inquiry into the quantum computing sector, citing risks linked to market concentration, technological lock‑in and the growing impact on access of ‌large cloud "hyperscalers" that have begun offering quantum computing capabilities. The authority has concerns ⁠that onerous investment requirements, a sharp increase in quantum‑related patent ⁠filings, and reliance on proprietary hardware and software could favour a small number of dominant players. Reuters notes that Alphabet's Google, Amazon and Microsoft are among technology firms that are investing in quantum computing.

Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

US Chief Justice John Roberts calls for end to ‘dangerous’ hostility toward judges

US Chief Justice John Roberts has said hostility toward individual Supreme Court members is creating a dangerous environment, in his first public comments since President Donald Trump slammed justices who had voted to strike down his global tariffs. Following that ruling, Trump said justices who ruled against him were “fools,” “lapdogs,” “unpatriotic,” “disloyal to our Constitution” and “an embarrassment to their families.” Roberts did not mention the U.S. president by name in his remarks at an event at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “The problem sometimes is that the criticism can move from a focus on legal analysis to personalities, and you see . . . that it’s more directed in a personal way,” Roberts said. “And that, frankly, can be quite dangerous.” He added: “Judges around the country work very hard to get it right. And if they don’t, their opinions are subject to criticism. But personally directed hostility is dangerous and it’s got to stop.”

Singapore firms hope humanoid robots can ease worker crunch

In Singapore, businesses are becoming increasingly interested in deploying humanoid robots to address manpower shortages. In a 2025 global survey, marketing research firm Forrester found that 69% of decision-makers said they were adopting or planning to adopt humanoid robots, with respondents also reporting that when robots were used in repetitive, tedious and time-consuming workflows, they cut processing errors by 40% and labour costs by 20%. Tung Meng Fai, executive director of Singapore's National Robotics Programme (NRP), said that although costs are falling fast, robots remain significant investments. “It's not like buying a laptop or tablet . . . you also require engineers or technicians to maintain the robots,” he said.

Straits Times

China approves 'ethnic unity' law requiring minorities to learn Mandarin

China has approved a new law which Beijing claims will help promote "ethnic unity" - but critics say it will further erode the rights of minority groups. The law mandates that all children should be taught Mandarin before kindergarten and up until the end of high school. Previously, students could study most of the curriculum in their native language such as Tibetan, Uyghur or Mongolian. "The law is consistent with a dramatic recent policy shift, to suppress the ethnic diversity formally recognised since 1949," Magnus Fiskesjö, an associate professor of anthropology at Cornell University, said. "The children of the next generation are now isolated and brutally forced to forget their own language and culture." The law aims to promote integration across ethnic groups through education, housing, migration, community life, culture, tourism, and development policy.

New York Times

Reuters

BBC News

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