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Workplace Report April 2014
The 2013-14 pay round - Halfway into the latest pay round the overall rise from the Labour Research Department’s Payline database is stuck at 2.5%; Corporate manslaughter - Just six cases of corporate manslaughter have been progressed since a corporate killing law was introduced six years ago; Latest case law on contracts of employment and tribunal procedures
Pay and prices
2.5% is par for the pay round (261 words)
Pay settlement figures have caught up with the cost of living, the latest figures show. ...
Subscribers only
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (224 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
Source: ASHE 2013 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (153 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Other pay analysts (24 words)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/forecasts-for-the-uk-economy-april-2014 ... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail prices index, Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (34 words)
Fourth quarter 2014 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Pension budget changes create ‘new dangers’ (776 words)
Workplace pensions are being shaken up again as a result of changes announced in chancellor George Osborne’s March Budget. ... Subscribers only
Scottish multi-employer deal gives 2.3% rise in final stage (438 words)
A multi-employer agreement covering Scotland’s social housing sector delivers a 2.3% pay rise this month under the final stage of a three-year ... Subscribers only
BECTU strike for London Living Wage at Ritzy cinema (321 words)
Unions won’t be letting pay slip off the agenda just because Fair Pay Fortnight has come to an end. Achieving the London Living Wage (LLW), ... Subscribers only
Accord gets sense of discord in Lloyds bank staff (306 words)
Lloyds Banking Group has lost the trust and confidence of its staff and is facing a consultative ballot on industrial action by members of the Accord ... Subscribers only
Agreement is only ‘half time’ for transport civil servants (414 words)
Members of the PCS civil service union at the Department for Transport (DfT) and its executive agencies have overwhelmingly endorsed a deal settling ... Subscribers only
New rules on self-employment being subverted (333 words)
New rules designed to curb “false self-employment” came into force on 6 April, but unions say that they are already being undermined. ... Subscribers only
Bombardier night strike (82 words)
Plans to forced train maintenance workers who service Virgin and Cross Country trains to work 70% of their shifts at night led to strike action at ... Open access
No rise for part-timers (86 words)
Lecturers in Northern Ireland’s further education sector, who have suffered a succession of pay freezes, have been offered a 1% rise for 2013-14. ... Open access
Ballot on Met Police offer (101 words)
PCS members at the Metropolitan Police were being balloted on a non-monetary offer of an extra day’s leave and long-service leave as Workplace ... Open access
Equality news
Many women won’t benefit from rising tax threshold (443 words)
A quarter of working women do not earn enough to benefit from the latest increase in the income tax personal allowance, according to a report ... Subscribers only
Pressure piles on teachers (289 words)
Mental health problems are on the rise among education staff in schools and colleges as teachers feel the pressure of a culture of targets, ... Subscribers only
Apprenticeships guide (86 words)
Disability Rights UK has launched a new comprehensive guide for disabled people, parents and advisers about applying for apprenticeships in England. ... Open access
Dyslexia in workplace (62 words)
The TUC has launched a new edition of its guide to dyslexia in the workplace. It sets out a framework to help union representatives develop policies ... Open access
Race equality charter (113 words)
The Equality Challenge Unit, which promotes equality and diversity in higher education, is trialling a race equality charter mark for higher ... Open access
Learning and training news
Too much hidden talent will go to waste, say councils (326 words)
A third of all young people will be out of work or trapped in underemployment by 2018 unless local areas are given more control over skills and ... Subscribers only
Union input across EU (93 words)
The contribution that trade unions are making throughout Europe to the success of skills initiatives are highlighted in a new report from the ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Royal Mail and rivals are targeted for recruitment (314 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has responded to the privatisation of Royal Mail with a vigorous recruitment and organising drive across the ... Subscribers only
RMT at the double (110 words)
Transport union RMT has won collective bargaining rights at two companies in the last few weeks after going through the statutory recognition process. ... Open access
European news
German deals benefit lower-paid but all get real-terms rise (595 words)
Two important settlements, in the public sector and telecommunications, have been signed in Germany this month, and in both cases those at the lower ... Subscribers only
Unions sign five-year deal with Ford Spain (272 words)
Unions representing majority of the employees have reached agreement with management of Ford’s car plant in Valencia, Spain, which they hope will ... Subscribers only
Greek agreement confirms status quo (151 words)
GSEE, the Greek private sector trade union confederation, and four employers associations have again signed a general agreement covering all workers ... Open access
Dutch deal worth 3.6% (131 words)
INEOS Styrenics at Breda in the Netherlands has agreed a 3.6% increase in pay for its 130 employees. ... Open access
Law - Contracts
Contracts - the law (469 words)
Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions between an ... Subscribers only
Staff had implied contractual right to enhanced redundancy (461 words)
The claimants, a group of ex-employees of retail store Peacocks, were made redundant after the group was bought from administrators following a TUPE ... Subscribers only
Civil servants were contractually entitled to pay progression (392 words)
This claim involved a successful test case by civil servants to enforce contractual commitments to pay progression agreed by the government ... Subscribers only
Tribunal’s refusal to imply contract between agency worker and hirer (517 words)
This case was brought by Dave Smith, an active shop steward in the UCATT construction workers’ union, who had been blacklisted for his trade union ... Subscribers only
Trust did not breach contract in confidentiality misconduct case (530 words)
Ms Chhabra, a senior consultant at Broadmoor high security hospital, was overheard on a crowded train discussing confidential patient information, ... Subscribers only
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals - the law (553 words)
Nearly all tribunal claims must be brought within three months of the matter complained of. Tribunals can extend the time limit in an unfair ... Subscribers only
Covert recording of manager’s private comments admissible (575 words)
Ms Gosain had resigned her job at the Punjab Bank and was claiming constructive dismissal, sexual harassment and sex discrimination. ... Subscribers only
Lying won’t automatically trigger liability for tribunal costs (384 words)
Ms Kapoor, a school exam invigilator, issued tribunal proceedings against her employer, a school, alleging discrimination. During her evidence, it ... Subscribers only
Losing respondent should normally refund tribunal fees (183 words)
In this case, an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) had to decide whether or not to order the employer to refund some or all of the claimant’s ... Open access
Health & safety news
Changes to law on dangerous dogs welcomed by post and telecom staff (332 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has welcomed changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 that come into force in May, which have strengthened the ... Subscribers only
Government ‘no friend’ to vulnerable workers (353 words)
Unions have expressed concern over the transfer of the departmental oversight of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). ... Subscribers only
Blacklisting regulations (131 words)
Construction workers’ union UCATT has warned that new blacklisting regulations introduced in Northern Ireland from 6 April are too weak and narrow ... Open access
Schoolgirl’s death (147 words)
Safety campaign group Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) has slated prime minister David Cameron for his message that “lessons must be ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
New minimum standards on mobile building sites (321 words)
A Consultation has been initiated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the replacement of the regulations covering minimum health and safety ... Subscribers only
Stress at work and its risks theme of latest campaign (304 words)
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) runs biennial healthy workplaces campaigns on specific health and safety topics. The ... Subscribers only
Safety in ports (157 words)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced a new simplified Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and signposting guidance document: Safety in ... Open access
Draft codes of practice (115 words)
Three amended Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs) on the provision and use of equipment, the safe use of power presses and the safe use of woodworking ... Open access
Features
Workers want to see benefits of UK growth in pay packets (2,988 words)
There have been gains from lower inflation and union action, but a wider pay recovery seems stuck on the launch pad, Workplace Report’s analysis of ... Subscribers only
New duty on directors needed to give corporate killing law teeth (2,271 words)
Six years ago, a corporate manslaughter law was introduced. It was supposed to bring to book those responsible for workers’ deaths. However, ... Subscribers only