Workplace Report October 2002

Working time - hours and holiday improvements; Pensions under threat; Redundancy law round-up

Features

Unions put long hours in the firing line (518 words)

Cracking the long-hours culture remains high on the union agenda. A day of action called by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) on 15 ...

Labour Research Department three monthly pay figures (219 words)

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

Prices (60 words)

August 174.0 2.1 2.6 ...

Other pay analysts (30 words)

Confederation of British Industry (manufacturing) (three months to June 2002) 2.7% ...

Average earnings indices (159 words)

July (r) 129.6 4.4 4.6 4.2 4.2 5.8 ...

Inflation forecasts (41 words)

RPI forecasts (and underlying inflation - excluding mortgage interest payments) ...

Latest figures for full-time weekly average earnings (43 words)

all workers £458.50 ...

MoD moves to harmonise pay system (450 words)

Ministry of Defence (MoD) industrial staff ...

Local government deal is accepted (223 words)

Local Government Services ...

Pay Deals in Brief (573 words)

Agreement % increase date number covered hours holidays ...

Transport sector leads in cuts in basic hours (2969 words)

Despite a slowdown in the pace of change, cuts in working time are still on the agenda. The transport sector has lead the way ...

Extending the Working Time Directive (1536 words)

The European Working Time Directive (WTD), implemented through the 1998 Working Time Regulations, excluded a number of sectors and activities, principally in transport and ...

Unions want urgent government action to defend pension schemes (1630 words)

Trade unions hope that the government's green paper on pensions, due out this autumn, will include proposals to provide greater protection for occupational pensions. ...

Court of Appeal delivers key redundancy pay rights ruling (542 words)

In the last 12 months employers have announced around 800,000 redundancies. As large numbers of workers face the threat of redundancy Bargaining Report looks ...

Employment tribunal procedures (156 words)

Employment tribunal members must not be biased in any way and should, for example, excuse themselves where they are known to either of the ...

National Minimum Wage (78 words)

The Inland Revenue has the power to issue an enforcement notice against any employer it believes is not paying the National Minimum Wage (NMW). ...

National Minimum Wage (64 words)

An employee dismissed for not increasing her work rate can claim automatically unfair dismissal. The EAT has held that the fact that her employer ...

Whistleblowing (145 words)

Where an employee alleges that her or his dismissal is on the grounds of having made a "protected disclosure" (whistleblowing) any allegations relating to ...

Calculating holiday pay (144 words)

Accrued holidays outstanding when an employee leaves work should be calculated by taking annual pay divided by the number of working days in the ...

Sick pay (55 words)

Employers will need to re-examine their sickness absence policies in the light of a recent EAT ruling. This held that the employer's failure to ...

Medical tests (115 words)

The EAT has held that random tests for drugs do not necessarily contravene the Human Rights Act 1998 provided that the contract includes a ...

Farms get safety "blitz" (144 words)

A "farm blitz" by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last month found hazards so serious that over a dozen prohibition notices were issued, ...

Health and safety minister (74 words)

The TUC welcomed the appointment of Nick Brown as minister for health and safety in September. ...

Letter increases speculation over corporate killing law (256 words)

The Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) corporate watchdog is speculating whether a Home Office letter on corporate killing will mean legislation will follow in ...

TUC wants RSI directive (213 words)

The TUC used last month's RSI Association (RSIA) annual meeting to push for a European directive on ergonomics to help stop the spread of ...

Health and Safety Executive Monitor (795 words)

New Regulations ...

Working time compensation (116 words)

Last month an Employment Tribunal awarded compensation to three workers who refused to work up to 69 hours a week at a fish processing ...

Survey finds women night workers are losing out (406 words)

Women who work nights - often to fit around childcare responsibilities - do not receive the same benefits that men receive for night shifts, ...

Most working mothers don't get the flexibility they need (287 words)

Almost three-quarters of women (72%) said that becoming a parent had affected their career, in a survey of over 500 parents by the Chartered ...

Woman wins discrimination claim against fire authority (112 words)

A woman has won a pay increase of more than £6,000 after her union, public services union UNISON, lodged a sex discrimination claim against ...

Pensions body wants £100-a-week state pension from 70 (395 words)

With the government's green paper on pensions expected shortly, the main industry body, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has entered the debate ...

Civil servants get new pension scheme (190 words)

An improved pension scheme became available to civil servants at the beginning of this month. ...

Unions still fighting for part timers' pension rights (189 words)

Trade unions are still pursuing the issue of backdated pension rights for part-time workers. ...

3.1% increase at Volkswagen follows industry trend (383 words)

Last month the IG Metall engineering union and Volkswagen car firm agreed a 3.1% increase in pay. This is above inflation and in line ...

Irish start talks on new pact (179 words)

This month negotiations start in earnest on a new national pay deal in Ireland to replace the current three-year Programme for Partnership and Fairness, ...

French pay rises outstrip inflation (211 words)

Pay in France is again rising more rapidly than prices after a period when monthly incomes fell in real terms. ...