Workplace Report October 2021

Employer associations - What’s their angle? - Many of the issues that employer associations focus on are also significant for trade unions. We examine who they are and what unions need to know about them; How can you find the best data on pay? - Even at a time of media reports of a supposed wages bonanza, pay offers vary. We look at how to find out what’s really going on; Latest case law on employment tribunal procedures

Pay and prices

Earnings stable, inflation jumps (118 words)

Official earnings growth has taken a slight dip this month but remains artificially high at 5.9% (see the article on pages 18 to 19 for why this ...
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Labour Research Department’s Payline database (222 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...
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Average weekly earnings (AWE) (241 words)

Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases ...
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Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)

...
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XpertHR (21 words)

Median increases for three months to end of August 2021 ...
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Prices (76 words)

1 Retail Prices Index (RPI), 
Jan ’87=100 ...
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2021 forecasts (39 words)

1 Fourth quarter ...
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Bargaining news

Where next for flexible working? (855 words)

The government is consulting on changes to the right to request flexible working, with the stated aim of making it the “default”. But it would ...
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Victory for Bexley bin workers (338 words)

Refuse workers and cleaners at Bexley Council have secured a real victory after seven weeks of continuous strike action that won them pay rises and ...
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Outsourced hospital workers push for parity (341 words)

Hundreds of cleaners at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) who are members of the United Voices of the World Union (UVW) are poised to take further ...
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Weetabix workers strike over fire and rehire (452 words)

Weetabix workers at factories at Kettering and Corby in Northamptonshire began a series of 48-hour strikes on 21 September to demand an end to ...
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Yodel drivers vote to strike (228 words)

More than 250 Yodel drivers who are members of the GMB general union have voted to strike, in a row over pay and conditions. Any action is likely to ...
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6% of workers on furlough as scheme ends (185 words)

The latest official statistics on furlough show that the proportion of businesses’ workforces reported to be on full or partial furlough remains ...
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Union fights back against transport cuts (291 words)

Transport union the RMT is promising sustained national industrial action across transport giant FirstGroup’s network of subsidiaries and services ...
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Three unions to ballot for action at council (239 words)

Three trade unions representing workers at Inverclyde Council have announced their intention to ballot members for possible strike action over pay. ...
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Equality news

Paternity leave hits 10-year low (330 words)

Paternity leave take-up has hit a 10-year low, with only approximately a quarter of eligible fathers (27%) taking it after the birth of their child ...
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50 years to parity unless action taken (577 words)

Just 34% of the 4,980 councillors elected in May were women, according to research by gender equality campaigning charity the Fawcett Society. ...
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TUC: BAME unemployment rose disproportionately (124 words)

The unemployment rate for Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workers has risen at three times the speed of the rate for White workers, according to the ...
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Call for action to boost breastfeeding (162 words)

At last month’s TUC Congress, the RCM midwives’ union called for the legal rights for workplace breastfeeding to be extended, as it says ACAS ...
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Learning and training news

LGA calls for ‘vitally important’ apprentice extension (521 words)

Government cash incentives to encourage employers to take on apprentices, which were due to end last month, should be extended until at least 21 ...
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Apprenticeship flexibilities to end (163 words)

Some of the flexibilities in apprenticeships introduced due to the Covid pandemic are coming to an end, while others will be retained, according to ...
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Recruitment and organisation news

Opinions remain divided on Uber (325 words)

Two widely divergent union viewpoints of Uber’s relationship with its workers have been aired following the GMB general union’s first ...
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European news

Company agreements deliver ‘right to disconnect’ (474 words)

People working from home are more than twice as likely as on-site workers to breach the EU’s 48-hour limit on the working week. Partly to deal with ...
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Spanish minimum wage to rise (295 words)

After months of waiting, the national minimum wage is being increased this year in Spain, despite opposition from employers. ...
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French Covid arrangements negotiated not imposed (96 words)

Figures from the ministry of labour in France have shown that workplace changes linked to Covid involved extensive negotiations at company level in 20 ...
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New talks agreed in Slovenia (97 words)

Representatives of Slovenian unions and employers have agreed to set up a taskforce with the government to look at ways in which dialogue between the ...
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Collective bargaining produces longer holidays (77 words)

Research for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has found that, on average, workers in Europe who are covered by collective bargaining get ...
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Law - Tribunal procedures

Time limits – the law (368 words)

Time limits in employment tribunals are strictly enforced and an employment tribunal (ET) has limited scope to extend them. ...
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Claims of unlawful inducement were out of time (800 words)

The Scottish Borders Housing Association (SBHA) had been in negotiations for two years with the recognised trade unions over its proposal to move ...
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Extension of retirement age was one-off, not continuing discrimination (770 words)

Philip Parr was an equity partner for accountancy firm Moore Stephens. All partners had a normal retirement age of 60 but the firm had discretion to ...
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Failure to make adjustments extends over a period of time (816 words)

Primary school teacher Janet Kerr became aware of issues with her mobility from around 2013 which were eventually recognised as the first symptoms of ...
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Responsibility for submitting multiple claims in time rests with lead claimant (355 words)

A group of four claimants brought claims of unauthorised deduction of wages. They delegated one person to issue the claims, and this person changed ...
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Ticking box 10 was not enough to bring a whistleblowing claim (921 words)

Mr Petrica was employed by an NHS trust as a senior administrator from January 2015 until his resignation in November 2017. ...
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Claims brought by separate claimants should have been heard together (549 words)

Former UK managing director of Tesco, Chris Bush, and former UK chief financial officer Carl Rogberg were dismissed after a substantial overstatement ...
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Health & safety news

NHS unions warn: Covid plan is inadequate (234 words)

Ministers must not wait for infections to spiral before bringing back masks and social distancing rules, said UNISON public services union general ...
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Sexual harassment ‘rife in music industry’ (160 words)

Sexual harassment and abuse remain rife in the music industry, despite the #MeToo movement, says the MU musicians’ union. It pointed to new reports ...
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Royal Mail launches stress risk assessment (156 words)

Royal Mail Group has launched a group stress risk assessment process, based on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) management standards and survey ...
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FBU launches training to fight cancer threat (211 words)

The FBU fire brigades’ union has launched new training to tackle firefighters’ cancer risk. The DECON training aims to educate firefighters about ...
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TUC congress backs DVLA strikers (117 words)

TUC Congress agreed to support the PCS public and commercial services union’s campaign for a full independent investigation into events at the DVLA ...
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Health & safety - HSE Monitor

HSE: good ventilation needed to keep workplaces safe (226 words)

“Covid-19 isn’t going away and complacency isn’t an option,” said Health and Safety Executive (HSE) head of Covid sector policy Dr Alexander ...
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Gig economy and ‘grey fleet’ expansion prompts road risk guide (246 words)

Driving for work is likely to be the most dangerous activity most workers will ever undertake, but the gig economy and the expansion of the “grey ...
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Congress demands more funding after HSE’s 60% real-terms cut (157 words)

Last month’s TUC Congress called for a campaign for a substantial increase in funding for regulators including the HSE. A motion from the NASUWT ...
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TUC demands action to tackle asbestos crisis (316 words)

Britain must implement a plan to eradicate asbestos from public buildings with a clear timeline to remove the risk of exposure for millions of ...
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Features

Employer associations – what’s their angle? (3,079 words)

Many of the issues that employer associations focus on are also significant for trade unions and workplace reps – especially with the pandemic and ...
Subscribers only

How can you find the best data on pay? (2,178 words)

Recent media reports about wage rises makes it sound like British workers are enjoying a bonanza. But even in sectors where labour shortages are ...
Subscribers only