Video tutorial: Understanding the impact of GDPR on reward

Reward specialists will need to decide what information they need, why they need it and what they will do with it, under the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which will come into place from 25 May 2018.

David Widdowson, partner at Abbiss Cadres, spoke at the REBA Innovation Day to explain to delegates the impact of GDPR on their businesses.

“GDPR requires a holistic approach across the whole of your organisation and as reward specialists you are going to be an important part of that,” he said.

Rather than a total overhaul of the previous regulation he said that GDPR instead added and strengthened it.

He outlined the headlines and impact of GDPR and described it as a good chance to engage with employees. However, he said it required a change of mindset and warned of the penalties in place for non-compliance and data breaches. “It’s no longer just a tickbox exercise. You are expected to approach this proactively,” he said.

Sophie White, partner at Abbiss Cadres, outlined the impact in further detail of how reward specialists will need to work with third-party partners such as data processors to ensure compliance. "You also need to be ready for data portability requests," she said.

This video was recorded at the REBA Innovation Day in London, held on the 23 November 2017.