Workplace Report December 2019

Local authority pay - Local government staff have a revised national pay spine. Local authorities have been adapting it to their local needs; Night work - There are a record number of night workers in the UK . Many will be facing possible severe impacts on their health; Latest case law on dismissal, whistleblowing and redundancy

Pay and prices

Pay deals post 2.8% rise
 (96 words)

In November, the median pay increase in collectively agreed settlements edged higher to 2.8% from the revised increase of 2.7% for October. Data for 2 ...
Open access

Labour Research Department’s Payline Database 
 (225 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered)
 ...
Open access

Average weekly earnings (AWE)
 (254 words)

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

ASHE 2019 median uprated by AWE. ...
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XpertHR (19 words)

Median increases for three months to November 2019 ...
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Prices (77 words)

1 Retail Prices Index (RPI), 
Jan ’87=100 ...
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2020 forecasts (39 words)


1 Fourth quarter ...
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Bargaining news

No chance of negotiating our way up with Tories
 (799 words)

The return of a Conservative government at the general election means Labour’s Workers’ rights ranifesto will fall by the wayside. Its plans, for ...
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London Living Wage for workers at Wallace museum and Royal Parks
 (462 words)

No sooner had the new London Living Wage of £10.75 an hour been, set by the Living Wage Foundation than low paid workers in the service sector began ...
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Huge pay gap between UK bankers and Tykes
 (253 words)

It would take the average Yorkshire worker 52 years to earn a high-paid banker’s annual bonus, according to a recent TUC analysis. 
 ...
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MOLA staff strike for more money
 (225 words)

Members of the professionals’ union Prospect working at the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) have taken strike action, along with action short ...
Open access

Lidl and real Living Wage 
 (69 words)

German-owned supermarket group Lidl is to increase hourly rates for staff from March next year to match voluntary Living Wage rates. Entry-level ...
Open access

Unions secure deals for drivers on the bin round
 (435 words)

A number of settlements involving refuse workers have recently been added to LRD’s Payline database.
 ...
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Pay rates for Hermes van drivers vary by location
 (290 words)

A pay and conditions package negotiated by distribution union Usdaw for van network drivers employed by delivery company Hermes involves a change to ...
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UPS Staffordshire staff secure pay deal at Argos
 (123 words)

Strike action over the festive period at Argos’ distribution centre in Staffordshire has now been called off.
 ...
Open access

BA pilots settle
 (152 words)

British Airways pilots who are members of BALPA have accepted a revised pay offer, the union has confirmed.
 ...
Open access

Equality news

Too many women in NI fail to report sexual harassment
 (463 words)

Up to three-quarters of workers experiencing sexual harassment at work do not report the incident to their employer, an Irish Congress of Trade ...
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Five-year data shows little movement in disability pay gap
 (255 words)

The disability pay gap was 12.2% in 2018, slightly down from 12.7% the previous year. But since 2014 it has been in the 12%-13% range.
 ...
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Women who can claim extra pension
 (282 words)

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw is asking its members if they have ever paid a reduced rate of National Insurance known as “Married Women’s ...
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Learning and training news

Firms recognise importance of investment in training 
 (401 words)

There are some encouraging results from the 2019 CBI/Pearson education and skills survey, Education and learning for the modern world. 
 ...
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Wales Union Learning Fund successes
 (112 words)

The end of last month marked the 20th anniversary of the Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF). 
 ...
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Recruitment and organisation news

Unions reach ‘important milestones’ in two deals 
 (270 words)

The UCU university and college lecturers union and public services union UNISON have signed a joint voluntary recognition agreement with training ...
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Equity union expands into new areas
 (92 words)

Performers’ union Equity has seen a rise of over 2,500 in its membership over the last year, reaching a record total of 48,100.
 ...
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European news

German chemicals deal includes social care element 
 (491 words)

The German chemical and energy union IGBCE has reached a new pay deal with the employers in the chemical industry, which also increases time off and ...
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Austria
n retail and wholesale workers get real-terms pay increase
 (255 words)

The GPA-djp non-manual union has agreed an above-inflation increase for around 413,000 employees and 15,000 apprentices working in the retail and ...
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Romanian health unions sign new agreement
 (105 words)

Romanian unions, led by the health union Sanitas, have succeeded in getting their agreement for the publicly-funded health sector signed and ...
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Postal union in Finland rejects employer’s plan
 (97 words)

The Finnish post office Posti has withdrawn its controversial proposal to move 700 parcel workers out of the scope of the national postal agreement, ...
Open access

Dutch primary teachers 
 (65 words)

Unions representing teachers in primary schools in the Netherlands have reached agreement on a new 20-month pay deal. The settlement provides for a 4. ...
Open access

Law - Dismissal

Dismissal - the law (636 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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Unjustified suspension breached trust and confidence
 (904 words)

Ms Gyftaki, a Greek national, worked as an architect for her employer, Upton–Hansen Architects. 
 ...
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Time extension granted after unclear dismissal letter
 (509 words)

Mr Brophy worked as a meter reader for his employer, Lowri Beck. He had dyslexia and relied heavily on his brother who helped him to manage ...
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Law - Other Law News

Whistleblowing - the law (253 words)

Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA), employees and workers who disclose information about alleged wrongdoing at work ...
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Reasonable belief that disclosure is in public interest
 (755 words)

Ms Okwu joined a small charity supporting abused women. She started on three months’ probation, with performance targets to meet. When she failed ...
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Law - Redundancy

Redundancy - the law (241 words)

A redundancy situation exists where an employer closes or intends to close the workplace or reduce the number of employees doing a particular kind of ...
Open access

Notice on ‘deleted’ role not notice of redundancy dismissal 
 (1,065 words)

Mr O’Connor worked for an NHS Trust as a Band 6 psycho-social intervention (PSI) worker. There was a restructuring in February 2017 and O’Connor ...
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Health & safety news

Zero-tolerance demand on violence and bullying 
 (442 words)

rail union RMT has demanded employers have a zero-tolerance approach to violence and take robust action against perpetrators after a new survey found ...
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Prison officers secure ‘landmark agreement’
 (202 words)

Unions have reported a number of health and safety victories over the last month.
 ...
Open access

Safety critical jobs saved at Ormiston Academies Trust (78 words)

Last month, the public services union UNISON welcomed a decision by the Ormiston Academies Trust to drop plans to cut up to 130 posts across its 38 ...
Open access

Union surveys pan poor facilities
 (285 words)

Transport unions marked World Toilet Day on 19 November by revealing the “shocking reality” of inadequate facilities. 
 ...
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Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Exposure limit on asbestos must come down
 (503 words)

The Unite general union has called on the government to cut the asbestos exposure limit after a report by the ResPublica think tank set out how both ...
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TSSA union raises safety concerns with regulator
 (214 words)

Plans to change the monitoring and management of many ageing rail structures across Wales will seriously jeopardise the safety of the travelling ...
Open access

Miner’s claw regulations
 (144 words)

New regulations came into force on 9 December 2019 adding Dupuytren’s contracture (A15) — also known as miners’ claw — to the list of ...
Open access

Fire safety forum demand
 (138 words)

The FBU firefighters’ union has called for a fire safety forum to be convened urgently to ensure the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower public ...
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Features

Revised pay bands for council staff tighten up spinal column
 (3,192 words)

Local government workers have often been left feeling like the Cinderellas of the public sector in recent years. Their employers, represented mainly ...
Open access

Shift workers’ health and safety may face threat from Tories
 (2,498 words)

A record number of people are now working at night, according to a new TUC analysis. But unions fear this month’s election of a Tory government ...
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