When Personnel Today first covered the growing humanitarian crisis affecting merchant seafarers trapped in the Persian Gulf, the situation was still developing. Thousands of civilian mariners had become caught inside a rapidly deteriorating security environment with little certainty about when they might be relieved or repatriated. Four months on from the start of the conflict, much has changed politically – although now it appears much of the “progress” in negotiations amounted to very little. Operationally, the underlying employment problem remains remarkably familiar.

This week, three former crew members of the Thai bulk carrier Mayuree Naree commenced legal proceedings against their employer following an attack during the Hormuz crisis. According to public reports, the claim alleges that the company exposed them to unacceptable danger by continuing to operate through the Strait despite the deteriorating security situation, that they were subsequently dismissed before their contracts expired, and that they now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder severe enough to prevent them from returning to sea. The respondents, the Precious Shipping Company, an affiliated firm and the ship’s captain dispute those allegations, maintaining that the voyage complied with the prevailing security guidance and that there was no official advice recommending vessels avoid the Strait at the time.

Human cost

Whatever the eventual outcome, the case illustrates precisely why the wider employment questions raised by the Hormuz crisis deserve attention. The court will determine whether the employer fulfilled its legal obligations in the circumstances, but the proceedings themselves demonstrate that the consequences of the crisis did not end when the fighting subsided. For many civilian seafarers, the experience did not simply involve disrupted contracts or delayed repatriation. It involved prolonged exposure to uncertainty, danger and, in some cases, psychological trauma. The human cost that many feared during the crisis is now beginning to emerge in a form that employment law may ultimately be asked to address.

The international community has once again discovered that protecting seafarers during a global crisis is not primarily a question of writing better regulations. It is a question of whether those regulations can be enforced when governments, employers and commercial interests come under pressure. The uncomfortable conclusion is that they largely cannot.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the world experienced the largest crew change crisis in modern maritime history. Hundreds of thousands of seafarers remained trapped aboard ships months beyond the expiry of their contracts because travel restrictions prevented relief crews from joining vessels. The response was slow, but eventually governments, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Labour Organization (ILO), airlines and port authorities built an international framework recognising seafarers as key workers and creating practical mechanisms for crew changes. The experience was widely described as a lesson that must never be repeated.

Yet four months into the Hormuz crisis, many of the same structural weaknesses have simply reappeared in a different form. This time, the obstacle was not border closures or quarantine requirements. It was war.

The United Nations’ attempt to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor ultimately demonstrated just how limited the existing system becomes once commercial shipping enters an actively contested operating environment.

The proposal depended upon voluntary cooperation between governments, security guarantees from military actors and willingness from commercial operators to participate. Once those assumptions began to break down, the evacuation effort stalled. That should concern anyone interested in employment rights, because the problem is not that international standards do not exist. The Maritime Labour Convention provides extensive protections concerning hours of work and rest, repatriation, medical care, welfare and contractual rights. Those protections remain entirely appropriate during normal commercial operations. The problem is that they assume someone can enforce them.

Legal rights are theoretical

When a vessel cannot safely enter port, when relief crews cannot reach the ship, when insurers refuse to support operations, when airlines will not fly into conflict zones, when governments cannot guarantee safe passage and when employers themselves become operationally constrained, those seafarers’ employment rights rapidly become theoretical. Nobody deliberately suspends the Convention; it simply becomes impossible to comply with. This reveals something uncomfortable about the way international maritime employment has evolved.

Modern shipping has become extraordinarily efficient. Crewing agencies recruit globally. Employment contracts are often structured around temporary assignments rather than permanent employment. Companies minimise retained manpower between voyages because doing so reduces cost during normal operations. That model functions extremely well during peacetime, but it functions remarkably poorly during systemic crises. The industry has, in effect, streamlined itself into a paradox.

The very employment structures designed to maximise efficiency leave little resilience when crew mobility collapses. Companies cannot simply replace crews because they often do not employ sufficient reserve personnel. Agencies cannot rapidly mobilise replacements because travel itself becomes impossible. Governments cannot compel movement because transport infrastructure and security conditions lie outside their control. The result is that the burden falls almost entirely on the individual seafarer. Once again, the people who keep global trade moving become those with the fewest practical options available to them.

Accountability issue

This is not simply a humanitarian issue. It is also an accountability issue. After Covid, numerous reports identified lessons learned, protocols were updated and guidance documents expanded. Yet Hormuz has exposed that the critical weakness was never the wording of the standards themselves. It was the absence of meaningful enforcement mechanisms once extraordinary circumstances emerged.

International maritime law largely depends upon flag states enforcing obligations against shipowners. Employment protections depend upon states exercising oversight over companies and recognising that contractual obligations continue to exist even during emergencies. In practice, those mechanisms become increasingly fragmented precisely when they are needed most. Commercial realities begin to overtake legal theory. Shipping companies face insurance restrictions. Flag states have limited practical reach. Crewing agencies lose operational flexibility. Governments prioritise national security over labour mobility. The legal obligations remain, yet the ability to enforce them steadily disappears.

This creates an uncomfortable moral hazard. If the international system cannot effectively hold organisations accountable during the two largest maritime employment crises in recent history – a global pandemic and a regional war – then what incentive exists for structural reform?

The seafarers remain

Once the headlines fade, vessels resume trading, insurance markets stabilise and supply chains recover, history suggests attention moves elsewhere. The seafarers remain. Many return home after spending months in conditions of prolonged uncertainty, isolation and psychological strain. Some will require long-term support. Most will quietly return to sea because global trade still depends upon them. The system resets until the next crisis.

Perhaps that is the real lesson from the Hormuz crisis. Covid taught us that seafarers are essential workers. The Hormuz crisis has demonstrated that we still have not built an international employment system capable of protecting them when being essential becomes dangerous. The standards themselves are not the failure. The failure lies in believing that standards alone are enough.

Without practical mechanisms capable of functioning during genuine international crises, seafarers’ employment rights become aspirations rather than guarantees. If a global pandemic and an active regional conflict with huge ramifications for the global economy and for global security are insufficient to expose that weakness, it is difficult to imagine what future event finally will.

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Highly regulated industries working to shape their AI implementation plans outpace other industries in the search for talent, according to Dice.

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Artificial intelligence matters, but in a “narrow, early and age-specific way,” researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said.

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According to new research from HR and employment law provider Citation and, separately, from IRIS Software Group, sickness absence showed no significant increase. Citation’s results suggested that annual leave increased by 21% on England matchdays and the following days, however.

Data from IRIS Software Group showed that sickness absence remained below the normal baseline average of 0.85% and that even after England’s dramatic late-night win over Mexico – which kicked off at 2:00am UK time and finished at 4:48am on Monday 6 July – the sickness rate was 0.80%, still below the baseline average.

Citation’s research found that sickness absence stood at 0.78% on 18 June following England’s opening win against Croatia, before falling to 0.75% in the day following its Ghana draw.

Overall workplace absences, combining annual leave and sickness, were up by 8%-16% following England’s two weeknight group-stage fixtures against Croatia and Ghana. The largest increases were recorded in the construction, manufacturing and engineering sectors.

This week prime minister Keir Starmer hinted there could be an extra bank holiday if England were to win the World Cup. England’s next game against Norway is on Saturday night at 10:00pm, but a potential semi-final (against either Argentina or Switzerland) will be on Wednesday 15 July at 8:00pm.

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The findings contrast with wider absence trends this year. Across the same seven-week period, annual leave has fallen by 5.3% compared with 2025, while sickness absence is down 14% year on year, indicating that the World Cup has created a distinct spike in planned leave rather than unplanned absence.

Citation said the data suggested employees were planning ahead to watch matches or recover after late-night kick-offs, rather than taking unauthorised sickness absence. It also points to employers taking a pragmatic approach by allowing greater flexibility over annual leave requests during the tournament.

Gill McAteer, employment law director at Citation, said there were signs that employers and employees were working together to minimise disruption.

“There are signs in this data that employers and employees are working together to find a way for everyone to enjoy the World Cup without causing disruption to businesses or conflict among teams.

“There is no requirement for employers to depart from their established policies for leave during an event like this. However, our advice to HR teams and businesses is that a little understanding and flexibility goes a long way.”

However, Citation’s figures did not include England’s 2:00am match against Mexico on Monday 6 July, with its potential for more employees either to call in sick or request last-minute leave.

The pattern was similar in Scotland. IRIS Software found that against a baseline average of 0.95%, sickness rates stood at 0.55% following Scotland’s 14 June fixture and 0.92% after their 25 June match.

Stephanie Coward, managing director of people at IRIS, said: “World Cup fever can quickly lead to fears that businesses will be left playing with a few people down, especially when England are heading into the latter stages of a tournament.

“But the data suggests those fears have been overblown so far. Across the key England and Scotland matchdays we looked at, sickness rates have remained below or broadly in line with normal levels.”

“That should give employers some reassurance if England get past Norway and attention turns to a midweek semi-final. Big national moments can create plenty of noise, but they do not automatically translate into a workplace absence problem.”

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The findings, from a survey by employment research group Incomes Data Research, come after the Employment Rights Act 2025 extended eligibility for SSP to all employees. Statutory sick pay is now payable at £123.85 a week, or 80% of average weekly earnings where this is lower.

IDR found that employers typically provide significantly more generous occupational sick pay arrangements. Across the economy, employees with five years’ service receive a median entitlement of 19.5 weeks’ full pay, while new starters are entitled to a median of 6.5 weeks’ full pay once any probation period has ended.

Although some organisations reserve enhanced sick pay for managers or head office staff, three-quarters of employers with occupational sick pay schemes apply the same provisions across their entire workforce.

The research also highlighted marked differences between sectors. The most generous arrangements were generally found in the public and not-for-profit sectors, where longer-serving employees were often entitled to up to 26 weeks’ full pay followed by a further 26 weeks on half pay.

Alongside enhanced sick pay, many employers were investing in health benefits designed to reduce absence and improve workforce wellbeing, the research found.

Katherine Heffernan, of IDR, said: “Despite offering enhanced sick pay, in practice employers are likely to want to try to keep absence to a minimum through other aspects of their employment offering, such as effective occupational health support and incentives to help staff stay well like gym membership, vaccinations or private healthcare.”

The survey found that 23% of organisations provide private medical insurance for their entire workforce, while a further 47% make it available to selected groups, such as salaried or managerial employees. However, newer benefits such as funding for weight-loss injections, fertility treatment or standalone neurodiversity assessments have yet to gain widespread adoption.

The findings also underline the continued importance of absence management for HR teams. Almost all organisations surveyed (92%) operate formal absence management procedures, typically triggering reviews after three separate absences or 10 days’ sickness over a rolling 12-month period.

Employers also monitored patterns of absence, noted the report, including around major sporting events.

Heffernan added: “With any future England matches scheduled for relatively sensible weekend hours, hopefully line managers won’t find too many staff falling foul of this aspect of their absence policy.”

Blanche Brett, associate in the employment team at Birketts, told Personnel Today that employers should ensure enhanced sick pay schemes remain fair while supporting employee wellbeing.

“Most employees use sick leave appropriately, but employers will want to ensure that occupational sick pay schemes are not open to abuse. The key is striking the right balance between supporting genuinely unwell employees and addressing attendance concerns in a fair and proportionate way. Clear communication and well-drafted absence management policies remain essential.

“Employers are increasingly recognising that supporting employee health is not just a wellbeing issue but a business issue. Investment in health benefits can improve employee experience, reduce absence and help organisations create a more resilient and productive workforce.”

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Last month, the Home Office published a draft code of practice on preventing illegal working, which sets out how an expanded RTW scheme would operate. The code will be effective from 1 October 2026.

The code implements the concept of “extended liability”, allowing civil penalties to move through the contractual chain beyond the direct employer, for example if the employer cannot be identified or fails to comply.

This means that liability for failing to do the right checks, and therefore hiring illegal workers, could fall to employers using agency workers.

End hirers, main contractors, labour providers and platforms would have to put controls into place, and end clients would have to put in identity verification processes even if checks have already been done.

The REC believes this will “massively increase complexity” as not all employers will have access to the technology to run the checks, with the impact being felt most keenly by industries with complex labour supply chains, such as construction.

By extending civil liability beyond “traditional” employment relationships, it adds, the government could further dampen the use of agency workers on top of burdens already introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Employers who hire workers who do not have a legal right to work in the UK could face penalties of up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeated breaches.

Shazia Ejaz, REC’s director of campaigns, called for government departments to be “more joined up” when considering the impact on business of new regulations.

“In a slow-chugging economy, business can only cope with so much additional operating costs and bureaucracy,” she said. “Labour supply chains are longer and more complex than in previous times, which will also make it harder to establish where the final liability for these checks sits.

“It is reasonable to ask employers to check legality. But this goes way further and businesses should not face liability for workers they do not employ when they have taken reasonable steps to ensure compliant suppliers are carrying out Right to Work checks.

“The likely result is slower onboarding and a more cautious hiring process at a time when employers need access to talent quickly and young people need jobs.”

Ejaz added that the new code could encourage some employers to favour applicants whose right to work is easier to identify, potentially risking discrimination.

The REC is campaigning instead for the government to get digital ID proposals up and running, which would “significantly reduce the opportunity for illegal working”, she said.

The Home Office has indicated it will publish guidance on the expanded RTW scheme before October.

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Union representatives warned management it risked a “major conflict” with employees, arguing that workers should not bear the cost of strategic mistakes made by the company. Reports suggest Volkswagen is considering cutting as many as 100,000 jobs worldwide – more than 15% of its workforce – alongside the possible closure of plants in Hanover, Emden and Zwickau, as well as Audi’s Neckarsulm factory.

Following a meeting of the group’s supervisory board, Europe’s largest carmaker said its strategy to 2030 would halve the number of vehicle models it offers and reduce vehicle variants by up to 75% as it seeks to become leaner and more competitive in an increasingly challenging global market.

Although Volkswagen stopped short of confirming reports that up to 100,000 jobs could be cut worldwide or that four German plants could close, chief executive Oliver Blume made clear that further restructuring would be needed. The company employs around 657,000 people globally.

“The global situation has deteriorated over the past 12 months,” Blume said, citing geopolitical tensions, tariffs, rising costs, tighter regulation and intensifying competition, particularly in China. He added that Volkswagen needed to “get rid of excess capacity”, while digitalisation, artificial intelligence and shared services would help improve productivity and speed.

Chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said that previously agreed cost reductions were “not sufficient in the current economic and geopolitical environment”.

He added that the group would improve vehicle cost structures, significantly reduce overheads, increase plant efficiency and accelerate technology development and decision-making.

Volkswagen has argued that a more radical overhaul is needed after net profit fell 28% to €1.56bn and revenue declined 2% to €75.7bn in the first quarter of 2026.

Blume said: “The next few years will decide who will play a decisive role in the automotive industry in the future.”

The announcement prompted an immediate backlash from unions. As the supervisory board met at the company’s Wolfsburg headquarters, IG Metall organised coordinated protests at around 20 Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, MAN and Cariad (the company’s software creator) sites across Germany.

The agreement reached with IG Metall in late 2024 ruled out compulsory redundancies and plant closures in Germany while providing for more than 35,000 job reductions by 2030 through voluntary departures, early retirement and other measures. The supervisory board did not specifically set out plans to introduce compulsory redundancies but the strategy outlined, said the unions, made it clear that far more stringent cuts were on the way.

Earlier this year, Volkswagen also confirmed that around 20,000 employees had already agreed to leave the business voluntarily by the end of the decade, indicating that the original restructuring programme was progressing as planned.

However, the latest strategy suggests management now believes those measures will not be enough to restore competitiveness, setting the stage for renewed negotiations with unions over the future shape of the business.

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Amy Reeves, who is of mixed British and Jamaican heritage, worked as a commercial administrator for property firm Kier from November 2024. She resigned in July 2025.

She told the tribunal that on her first day in the job, she had heard a colleague describe one of the company’s tenants as a “little old black lady”. She had informed another colleague that she considered these comments “discriminatory” and that “I think people just need to be educated better”.

In March 2025, a project manager for the company referred to the “two coloured ladies outside” when describing two women standing outside the office.

Reeves also listed a number of further incidents where colleagues had mocked non-English names and had started whispering about her when a contractor asked about her.

She added that her colleague had looked “visibly startled” when he realised that she was nearby after referring to the “coloured ladies”.

After the incident, she sent a message to her operations manager, saying: “Site staff have said ‘two coloured ladies’, ‘old black ladies’ and quite frequently laugh at non-English last names. It’s making me really uncomfortable and out of place, I’m wondering if you could address these issues? Let me know your thoughts.”

The manager sent a follow-up to the team encouraging them to refresh their training on respect in the office, and reminding them to call out disrespectful behaviour.

There was a further incident where she had claimed an Eid event was being held on the wrong date and reorganised it despite it then clashing with a client date.

The tribunal found that Reeves often misinterpreted comments “in a way which many people would not have interpreted”.

“For example, genuine attempts by HR to support her during her sickness absence were interpreted by the claimant as harassment,” said Employment Judge Kirsty Ayre.

“It is in our view more likely that, rather than [her colleague] laughing at an individual’s name, the claimant interpreted a comment about someone’s name as that person laughing at the name.”

Reeves had also posted in the company’s racial inclusion network forum that she felt “a bit isolated” and did not find the company to be very racially diverse.

In May 2025, she opened a grievance with the HR team, stating she wanted to “formally raise concerns regarding ongoing discriminatory behaviour, microaggressions, and a pattern of exclusion I have experienced with my team”.

She was signed off sick on 2 May and her manager sent her a text message asking if she was OK, and whether she had time for a “welfare check”, as advised by HR.

She responded that she did not want a welfare check while off work with work-related stress. HR then followed up asking if she needed any further assistance.

Two weeks later, Reeves asked to be transferred out of her current team and for an update on her grievance. She returned to work soon after on a remote basis, where she complained that work tasks were being deleted from the OneNote system by a former friend who had blocked her on social media.

She then sent an email to HR saying she had a “complete loss of confidence in the company’s ability to protect my wellbeing by ensuring a psychologically safe working environment”.

She was again signed off with stress and stated she would open a case with Acas early conciliation.

The grievance investigation continued, concluding in October 2025 after she had already filed a tribunal claim. It did not uphold her complaints.

Judge Ayre ruled that comments about “coloured people” could be taken as descriptors. She said: “We accept that the word is generally considered to be old-fashioned and can be offensive.

“However, we take into account the comment [from another hearing] that not every racially slanted adverse comment or conduct may constitute the violation of a person’s dignity”.

She added that Kier appeared to “take diversity and inclusion seriously” and all claims of discrimination and harassment were dismissed.

Legal comment

Sarah Goldie, HR consultant in the employment team at Birketts, said that context was key to the judge’s findings.

“On the face of it, the outcome seems difficult to reconcile with the Judge’s acceptance that the claimant was upset by the term ‘two coloured ladies’, and that the phrase was outdated and capable of causing offence.

“A key factor, however, was the context. The tribunal found that the phrase was used descriptively, rather than a racial slur, and it was a single remark, not intended to cause offence.

“Words are powerful. Given the long-standing history of racism, that spans centuries and still manifests today, when those words relate to race, these can be evocative, provocative, and offensive.

“Language evolves over time and terms that may once have been commonplace can become increasingly offensive, even when used in ignorance rather than prejudice.”

Goldie added that there were still clear lessons for employers around language.

“EDI education is essential, set clear expectations around respectful and inclusive behaviour, and create environments where conversations about race can take place openly and constructively.

“Engaging colleagues with lived experience remains one of the most effective ways of building understanding, challenging assumptions, and fostering a culture of belonging.”

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A survey of neurodivergent employees, entrepreneurs and employer representatives by Neurodiversity in Business (NiB) found that 75% relied on hybrid working to support their health, yet 38% had been given a return to office mandate by their employer.

More than half of those who had been given such a mandate said it had made them reconsider whether to stay with their organisation. Having to come back to the office, they said, reduced employee engagement, diminished their career satisfaction and increased their risk of burnout.

Among more than 600 survey respondents, 72% reported more than one neurotype, with ADHD and autism the most common.

Compared to NiB’s survey in 2023, psychological safety among neurodivergent workers had not improved, it found. Many respondents reported high cognitive loads, inconsistent support and inflexible working structures.

Neurodivergent entrepreneurs placed particular value on autonomy, purpose and flexibility, with many thriving when able to design their own neuroaffirming working environment.

Nearly half had identified their neurodivergence before leaving corporate roles, and 61% said they would not return to corporate employment.

However, they also reported challenges including unpredictable workloads, administrative pressure, financial strain and the difficulty of managing capacity without organisational support.

Employers expressed a willingness to improve inclusion for neurodivergent employees but felt there were practical barriers, such as limited disclosure of conditions by employees and unclear processes.

NiB argues that when organisations redesign systems, processes and cultures to work better for neurodivergent people, this also benefits the wider workforce.

Almuth McDowall, professor of organisational psychology at Birkbeck, and lead researcher for the report, said: “Neurodivergent talent is central to the UK’s capacity to tackle its economic inactivity crisis.

“If we can get work right for this diverse group, everyone benefits. We call this neurodiversity gain. Flexible and adaptive approaches are key to harnessing specialist talent.”

Dan Harris, chair of Neurodiversity in Business, added: “Year on year, neurodivergent employees have consistently worse work experience. It need not be that way. Let’s celebrate our shared humanity and the power of different human minds.”

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The consultation sets out how the new enforcement regime could operate from 2027. Under the proposals, the FWA would be able to investigate statutory holiday pay underpayments, recover unpaid sums for workers and issue financial penalties where employers fail to comply.

The consultation comes as new research suggests many organisations may already be at risk of falling foul of the rules. According to accounting firm RSM UK’s latest Workforce Survey, 56% of businesses pay all types of holiday pay at the same rate, indicating that many employers could be calculating holiday pay incorrectly.

While 61% of employers said they used bespoke software tailored to their workforce to calculate holiday pay, a third (33%) relied on default software settings and 11% calculated holiday pay manually – approaches that could increase the risk of errors.

The proposals under the Employment Rights Act 2025 mark a significant shift away from the current system, under which workers who believe they have been underpaid generally have to pursue claims through an employment tribunal. Instead, the FWA would be able to investigate employers directly and, rather than focusing solely on an individual complaint, examine holiday pay compliance across an employer’s entire workforce.

The government said the new regime would be designed to encourage compliance rather than punish employers. It proposes allowing organisations to avoid financial penalties where they voluntarily repay any holiday pay owed before an investigation begins. However, where enforcement action is required, penalties could mirror those used for national minimum wage breaches, with employers facing fines of up to 200% of the arrears owed, subject to statutory limits.

The consultation also seeks views on whether employers found to have underpaid holiday pay should be publicly named, similar to the existing naming scheme for national minimum wage offenders.

One of the most significant proposals is to give the Fair Work Agency powers to recover holiday pay arrears going back six years, considerably longer than the current employment tribunal time limits. The government also intends the agency to prioritise enforcement activity among lower-paid and more vulnerable workers, including those with irregular hours or part-year contracts.

Chris Robson, employment tax partner and fair pay lead at RSM UK, said: “This consultation is a signal to employers that they need to look at holiday pay in much more detail now to ensure they get it right and avoid enforcement action. Holiday pay can be a very complex area to get right, and the buck stops with the employer, regardless of what third party payroll providers or software systems may be used.

“Whereas many have in the past relied on default software offered, employers now need to consider what the new rules are and how these apply to their workers. This could be wide and varied, depending on the wording of contracts, their working patterns, elements of pay, and whether they are permanent, temporary or contractor staff.

“While initial enforcement is not anticipated to be as hard hitting as the current National Minimum Wage enforcement, we anticipate the Fair Work Agency will likely mirror the approach taken on enforcement of the NMW, with large fines and public naming of employers that are found to be in breach of the rules.”

He added: “We’re encouraging all employers to check their holiday pay systems and processes to ensure full compliance ahead of the Fair Work Agency’s enforcement next year, and not simply rely on standard functionality or calculations offered, which do not take the new rules into account. We’d also encourage them to take this opportunity to respond to the government’s consultation and have their say on the Fair Work Agency’s enforcement approach.”

Meanwhile, the Fair Work Agency’s framework agreement, explaining details of the body’s governance and responsibilities was published today (9 July) by the government.

The consultation on holiday pay closes on 22 September. Alongside seeking views on enforcement powers and penalties, the government is also considering practical measures to help employers comply, including holiday pay calculators and digital guidance.

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