Fact Service April 2017

Issue 18 (27/04/2017) - £100m pay bill for 40 top executives; It's who you know if you want an internship; TUC's gender-sensitive health and safety guide; Workers from EU are valued in unions

; Gender pay gap website launches

Issue 17 (20/04/2017) - Shareholder revolt over executive pay; Single parents hit by benefit sanctions; Factory output stalls; Let's talk about racism; UK at bottom of class for skills; Pay premium on zero-hours contracts?

Issue 16 (13/04/17) - Inflation hits rise in weekly earnings; Puny fines over asbestos failure; Fall in unemployment; Inflation above 3.0%; Government consults on pension exit charges

Issue 15 (06/04/17) - MPs call for action on corporate governance


; Levy to support apprenticeships; BMW workers strike over pensions; Thousands hit by Tories' Benefit Cap
; Disability - 20 years of 'missed opportunities'; MEPs vote for worker protection in Brexit

Issue 17

£100m pay bill for 40 top executives
 (672 words)

Forty top executives who received at least £1 million in their remuneration package last year feature this time around. 
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It's who you know if you want an internship
 (372 words)

The number of internships available and their damaging effect on social mobility has been dramatically underestimated, according to a new report — ...
Subscribers only

TUC's gender-sensitive health and safety guide
 (356 words)

A new guide aimed at helping union reps take gender differences into account when identifying health and safety concerns at work has been published ...
Subscribers only

Workers from EU are valued in unions
 (256 words)

The Scottish TUC has launched a major initiative to give EU/EEA nationals working in Scotland a stronger voice on workplace issues, including ...
Subscribers only

Gender pay gap website launches
 (493 words)

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has launched an online gender pay gap viewing service to enable members of the public view the information ...
Subscribers only

Issue 16

Shareholder revolt over executive pay 
 (680 words)

There’s an old saying about one swallow does not a summer make and it could be said that one shareholder revolt does not make a shareholder spring. ...
Subscribers only

Single parents hit by benefit sanctions
 (373 words)

The government is systematically underestimating the risk of sanctions to single parents, according to new research from pressure group ...
Subscribers only

Factory output stalls
 (150 words)

Manufacturing output posted a 2.1% increase in the three months to February — the same percentage rise as January.
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Open access

Let’s talk about racism
 (571 words)

Racial harassment still goes on in too many workplaces, a new report from the TUC finds.
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Subscribers only

UK at bottom of class for skills
 (317 words)

The UK’s skills crisis is laid bare in a new report that shows the nation is bottom of the international class on at least four key measures, ...
Subscribers only

Pay premium on zero-hours contracts?
 (189 words)

Companies in the UK could be forced to pay a premium rate for short-notice work, the government’s employment practice adviser has suggested.
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Open access

Issue 15

Inflation hits rise in weekly earnings
 (691 words)

Workers' living standards continue to suffer real-terms cuts as inflation eats all the increases in earnings.
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Subscribers only

Puny fines over asbestos failure
 (147 words)

Two companies have been fined a total of just £15,000 for putting people at risk of cancer caused by asbestos at a property in Leatherhead. 
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Open access

Fall in unemployment
 (576 words)

The number of unemployed people fell by 45,000 to 1.56 million in the three-month period ending February 2017, the Labour Force Survey figures ...
Subscribers only

Inflation above 3.0%
 (414 words)

Retail price inflation edged downwards in March, official figures show, but still remains above 3.0%.
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Subscribers only

Government consults on pension exit charges 
 (180 words)

A consultation on draft regulations regarding the cap on early exit charges for occupational pension schemes and restrictions on member-borne ...
Open access

Issue 14

MPs call for action on corporate governance
 (534 words)

The dramatic ratcheting up of executive pay in recent years, at a time of stagnant wage growth for many workers, has been criticised in a Commons ...
Subscribers only

Levy to support apprenticeships
 (291 words)

The Apprenticeship Levy system began on the 6 April for large employers.
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Subscribers only

BMW workers strike over pensions
 (251 words)

Workers at four BMW plants in the UK will begin a series of eight 24-hour strikes combined with an overtime ban and work to rule on 19 April over the ...
Subscribers only

Thousands hit by Tories’ Benefit Cap
 (293 words)

More than 7,500 households have lost their Housing Benefit and instead receive a nominal 50p a week because of the Benefit Cap, the BBC has found.
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Subscribers only

Disability — 20 years of 'missed opportunities'
 (620 words)

Progress towards real equality for disabled people over the past 20 years is insufficient and “littered with missed opportunities and failures,” ...
Subscribers only

MEPs vote for worker protection in Brexit
 (197 words)

The European Parliament has voted by nearly four to one in favour of protecting UK workers’ right in the eventual Brexit deal. 
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Open access