Workplace Report November 2018

2017-18 pay round - The second part of Workplace Report's analysis of settlements from the LRD Payline database; ASHE 2018 pay round - Workplace Report examines the main findings of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings to see how pay has fared over the last five years; Latest case law on dismissals and transfers

Pay and prices

Sharp rise in settlements
 (82 words)

There was an autumnal boost for pay settlements on LRD’s Payline database.
 ...
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Labour Research Department’s Payline Database 
 (225 words)

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

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

ASHE 2018 median uprated by AWE. ...
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XpertHR (19 words)

Median increases for three months to October 2018 ...
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Prices (77 words)

1 Retail Prices Index (RPI), 
Jan ’87=100 ...
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2018 forecasts (39 words)


1 Fourth quarter ...
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Bargaining news

Does it pay to move jobs or stay and progress? 
 (761 words)

In a tightening labour market, the recently published Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) sheds some new light on that old question: can ...
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New national deal for further education
 workforce in Scotland
 (461 words)

The further education workforce has seen difficult times, but two recent pay deals buck that trend. 
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Call to tackle causes of women’s poverty 
 (273 words)

In late November, shopworkers’ union Usdaw moved a motion at the Scottish Labour Women’s Conference on tackling women’s poverty.
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Real Living Wage rises
 (144 words)

Low-paid workers received a boost when new real Living Wage rates for 2018-19 were revealed earlier this month.
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Rates for National Minimum Wage in 2019
 (163 words)

New rates for the National Minimum Wage have been announced by the government.
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Going rate is 2% with add-ons for three public sector deals
 (456 words)

Three pay deals have been agreed in a range of public sector organisations, with 2.0% the bottom line
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Banked hours buffer in car industry slow down
 (308 words)

The UK car industry has been hit by falling sales, fuelled by a drop in demand for diesel cars, and Brexit-related uncertainty. It led to production ...
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Council to lock out staff from January
 (279 words)

Government austerity measures have taken their toll on Shropshire County Council. ...
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Equality news

Economic cost of denying asylum seekers work in UK
 (364 words)

Asylum seekers banned from working in the UK could make a net contribution of £42 million a year to the economy if rules preventing them from ...
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Negative attitudes towards others still rife in UK
 (324 words)

Three-quarters of people in Britain agree that there should be equality for all, but veiled prejudice and negative attitudes towards others are still ...
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Course aims to counter harassment 
 (267 words)

The PCS civil service union is launching a one-day sexual harassment awareness course as shocking reports have revealed a culture of bullying, ...
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Learning and training news

Staffing shortages amid failure to attract nursing degree apprentices 
 (556 words)

The number of nursing staff joining its register is increasing, latest figures from the professions’ regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council ...
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Recruitment and organisation news

Campaigns sow seeds of growth
 (417 words)

Autumn has seen a range of recruitment activities across a number of unions, including public service union UNISON, which is coming towards the end ...
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European news

Some lost ground won back for Austrian metalworkers
 (489 words)

The Austrian unions PRO-GE and GPA-djp, representing manual and non-manual metalworkers, have negotiated a new 12-month deal with the employers that ...
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Busy time for collective bargaining in French industry (263 words)

The latest report on collective bargaining from the French Ministry of Labour indicates a continuing high level of activity. ...
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Germany and Czech Republic: minimum wage
 (203 words)

The national minimum wage in Germany is to increase for the first time since January 2017.
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Pay rises for emergency services in Poland
 (119 words)

Unions have called at halt to a long period of protest action which began in July, after the Polish government agreed to increases in the pay and ...
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Law - Dismissal

Dismissal - the law (675 words)

f Employees dismissed unfairly can go to a tribunal if they have been working for at least two years. Some specific types of dismissal do not ...
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Successful contractual appeal means dismissal ‘vanishes’
 (748 words)

Mr Patel worked as a care assistant in a nursing home until his summary dismissal for gross misconduct in April 2014. 
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Internal letter of notice of transfer not resignation
 (656 words)

Mrs Levy worked in the Records department of an NHS Trust. She was unhappy in the department: her manager had criticised her absence record and she ...
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Dismissal for ‘some other substantial reason’ fair
 (733 words)

Mr Hawkes worked as the business development manager for a small, newly-formed business, Ausin. Hawkes was also a volunteer reservist in the Marines. ...
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Law - TUPE

Transfers - the law (268 words)

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) are intended to protect the rights of employees on the transfer of ...
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Withdrawal of travel time allowance not breach of TUPE
 (632 words)

A group of electricians had a contractual right to an Electricians’ Travel Time Allowance (ETTA). They were originally employed by Birmingham City ...
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Health team were engaged in ‘economic activity’
 (712 words)

The claimants in this case worked in the public health team of Croydon Primary Care Trust (PCT). There were two sets of claimants, one represented by ...
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Health & safety news

Employers should remove risk of diesel exhaust
 (342 words)

Diesel exhaust is now one of the biggest workplace killers after asbestos and a ticking time bomb for tens of thousands of UK workers, says the TUC. ...
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Wintry weather advice
 (246 words)

With winter on the way, unions have highlighted the risks of slips, trips and falls and travelling to work in extreme weather conditions.
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Acoustic shock case goes to appeal
 (93 words)

The Royal Opera House has been given leave to appeal a landmark High Court decision concerning acoustic shock, which is caused by the sudden onset of ...
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Clean air for children
 (100 words)

the NEU teaching union has given its backing to a newly launched national clean air for children programme that is demanding urgent government action ...
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Army of night workers needs protection
 (188 words)

A TUC analysis has found that there are now more than three million people regularly working at night — an increase of more than 150,000 (5%) since ...
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Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Increase in staff suffering from work-related stress
 (371 words)

New figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirm work-related stress is a growing epidemic, according to the TUC. 
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Current approach to dog control is failing
 (259 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union has welcomed the findings of an environment, food and rural affairs select committee inquiry that the ...
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HSE Talking Toolkit just part of tackling stress
 (148 words)

TUC head of health and safety Hugh Robertson has warned that a new HSE Talking Toolkit on preventing work-related stress must be a part of a bigger ...
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Fatigue under-reported in aviation, says BALPA
 (123 words)

Pilots’ union BALPA says a discrepancy between the number of official fatigue reports to the Civil Aviation Authority regulator (CAA) and what ...
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Features

Bargaining agenda has been more than just pay rises
 (2,478 words)

The pay round in 2017-18 saw the strongest pay rises for six years in collectively agreed settlements as negotiators successfully responded to peak ...
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Real growth in earnings over the 2014-18 period
 (1,778 words)

The Office for National Statistics produces the largest pay survey in the UK — the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. It provides a snapshot of ...
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