Pay and prices

Pay closes the gap slightly on inflation (232 words)

The median value of pay settlements recorded on our Payline database increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7% in the three months to June, ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (85 words)

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

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end June 2007)3.2%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end June 2007)3.5% ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£557.70All male£613.50All female£470.80Managers£841.50Professionals£757.10Associate professional£575.90Admin and secretarial£369.90Skilled/craft£465.10Services£325.60Sales£308.70Operatives£428.70Other manual£333.00 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (72 words)

Earnings index*Annual increaseWhole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sector Mar 2006 (r)125.44.5%4.9%4.7%4.5%4.5% April (r)125.54.1%6.0%3.8%4.3%3.2% May (r)125.94.4%5.4%4.2%4.7%3.4% June126.64.9%5.8%4.9%5.3%3.7% July126.53.9%4.8%3.8%3.8%4.1% August126.83.8%5.3%3.7%3.9%3.2% September127.34.1%5.4%4.2%4.3%3.4% October127.64.2%5.1%4.4%4.4%3.3% November128.24.0%4.7%4.1%4.1%3.1% December129.03.9%3.9%4.2%4.1%3.3% Jan 2007130.04.6%3.5%5.0%5.0%3.3% February (r)131.75.2%3.5%5.7%5.7%2.8% ...

Prices (27 words)

Retail prices index (RPI)*Annual increases RPIRPI excl. mortgages May 2006197.73.0%2.9% June198.53.3%3.1% July198.53.3%3.1% August199.23.4%3.3% September200.13.6%3.2% October200.43.7%3.2% November201.13.9%3.4% December202.74.4%3.8% January 2007201.64.2%3.5% February203.14.6%3.7% March204.44.8%3.9% April205.44.5%3.6% May206.24.3%3.3% April207.34.4%3.3% ...

Inflation forecasts (21 words)

Fourth quarter 2007 ...

Paper workers get improved conditions (106 words)

Paper manufacturing companies are to give new fathers 10 days’ paternity leave on full pay, under a new national agreement on non-pay issues reached ...

Food fight is settled (180 words)

The combination of a 4% pay increase and an unconsolidated cash payment has averted three days of industrial action by members of the general ...

Newspaper deal cushions blow of pension closure (465 words)

Journalists on newspapers owned by the CN Group in Cumbria have voted to accept inflation-beating pay settlements that will run until the end of ...

Welsh nurses receive their pay rise in one go (322 words)

This year’s 2.5% pay award for Wales’s NHS nurses and other health workers will not be staged, Welsh health minister Angela Hart has announced. ...

Improved two-year deal is accepted by BBC unions (653 words)

The threat of strike action has secured a pay increase of at least 4% this year for staff at the BBC, under an improved ...

Barclays’ sweeping changes mean a living wage for cleaners (138 words)

A campaign by the Amicus section of general union Unite has produced a commitment from Barclays Bank to increase its contract cleaners’ pay to ...

Dispute over performance pay is settled (208 words)

Industrial action by members of public services union UNISON at Breckland Council in Norfolk has been called off following the negotiation of a new ...

Bargaining news

Network Rail retreats over withheld bonuses (449 words)

The RMT transport union has suspended strike action by signallers in Scotland and maintenance workers in Cumbria after reaching agreement with their employer, Network ...

Hertel’s Teesside employees accept 4.8% (154 words)

Union members at industrial services provider Hertel on Teesside have voted by a three-to-one margin to accept an improved pay settlement worth 4.8% – ...

Bargaining update: Agricultural Wages Board (37 words)

The 4.5% increase in pay rates set by the Agricultural Wages Board (see June’s Workplace Report) was formally approved at the end of last ...

Equality news

UNISON hails migrants’ contribution (136 words)

Public services in the UK have only been able to expand quickly and efficiently because of migrant workers’ labour, public services union UNISON has ...

Doctors demand more flexible working options (468 words)

Doctors’ union the British Medical Association (BMA) has called on the NHS to adopt more flexible working practices. ...

Mothers-to-be are still losing out (363 words)

Human resources (HR) professionals have confessed that pregnant employees are still facing a variety of discriminatory practices at work. ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Join unions, bank tells its workers (270 words)

A “groundbreaking” partnership agreement between unions and the HBOS banking group is set to boost union recruitment and organising in the company. ...

CAC backs union in Vodafone fight (220 words)

Connect, the union for communications professionals, has won the second stage of its fight for recognition at Vodafone after the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) ...

Learning and training news

‘Save ESOL’ campaign gets a boost (411 words)

The lecturers’ union UCU is urging the government to postpone planned cuts in entitlement to free courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages ...

European news

Luxembourg tops minimum wage league (154 words)

Figures published last month by Eurostat, the official statistical agency of the European Union (EU), show that Luxembourg is at the top of Europe’s ...

Germany’s biggest rail deal hangs in the balance (602 words)

Germany’s railways and the unions representing most of their staff have agreed a 4.5% pay rise – but it is not yet clear whether ...

Meagre pay rise for worst-paid French workers (174 words)

The French national minimum wage, the SMIC, rose by 2.1% at the start of this month – the smallest increase possible under the French ...

Law - Discrimination

Equal pay (580 words)

Mrs Dennison began working for her employer in 1979, at which time she was not eligible to join the local government pension scheme because ...

Stability of employment (172 words)

Mrs Shah worked as a sessional teacher for a local authority under a series of contracts. She brought a claim for access to the ...

Sex discrimination (172 words)

Personal assistant Mrs Mahmoud was subjected to a campaign of harassment by the director general of her employer; this included making false allegations against ...

Return from maternity leave (211 words)

Primary school teacher Mrs Blundell was teaching a reception class before she went on maternity leave. On her return, she was assigned a year ...

Part-time workers (146 words)

Call-centre worker Mr McMenemy worked on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He did not get time off in lieu of bank holidays that fell on ...

Jurisdiction (178 words)

Dr Williams was recruited to work for the University of Nottingham in Malaysia (UNMC). This is a company set up by the University of ...

Definition of disability (221 words)

Ms McDougall brought a claim of disability discrimination after an offer of employment was withdrawn because she failed to get medical clearance. McDougall had ...

Multiple discrimination claims (282 words)

Mr Jan went on long-term sick leave following heart surgery, and his employment was terminated on grounds of ill-health retirement without consultation. Following an ...

Reasonable adjustments (621 words)

Ms Latif, who is registered blind, became a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and registered to take one of its exams. She ...

Race discrimination (271 words)

Nigerian student Mr Aduma, a night manager in a hotel, was paid less than the National Minimum Wage. His employer discouraged him from applying ...

Racial harassment (185 words)

Ms Gravell, who is white British, brought four claims against her former employer, a local authority. But a tribunal chair struck out two of ...

Burden of proof (192 words)

Ms Mudanowho, who is black and of African origin, was dismissed from her job as supervisor at a bus depot after only six months, ...

Contract workers (221 words)

Mr Laing worked as an advocacy officer, providing advocacy for patients who had been compulsorily detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act. He ...

Race and religion (142 words)

Ms Ali, who is black African, claimed that an employment agency failed to put her forward for a job at a bank after the ...

Health & safety news

Green workplace policies remain a rarity, says TUC (264 words)

Fewer than half of Britain’s workers (45%) think their employer has any environmental policies, according to a new survey by the TUC. ...

Firms don’t know or don’t care about healthy work (214 words)

Employers are failing to create healthy workplaces – and are openly admitting that they don’t do enough to protect workers. ...

Lone nurses need promised protection (111 words)

Half of nurses who work alone think the threat of violence or abuse has increased over the last two years, and more than a ...

CWU advises on floods (110 words)

Following the recent downpours, the CWU communication workers’ union has issued advice for safety reps in flood-affected areas. ...

UCU reveals bullying of university lecturers (65 words)

A survey by the UCU lecturers’ union has found that more than two-thirds of members at Leeds Metropolitan University have suffered stress because of ...

TUC advises employers to plan for flu outbreak (136 words)

Prepare for a flu pandemic but don’t panic – that’s the TUC’s message in guidance published last month. ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

‘Complacent’ HSE admits workplace cancer errors (245 words)

Work-related cancers will claim thousands of lives each year as a result of “shocking complacency” by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), a new ...

European court backs UK government on safety law (251 words)

The UK’s health and safety laws will not have to be re-written, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). ...

CCA urges HSC to introduce duties on directors (102 words)

Legal reform would be more effective than further voluntary guidance in changing the conduct of directors, campaigning charity the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) ...

Smoking ban enforcers will face dangers (69 words)

Public services union UNISON has warned that council workers enforcing England’s new smoking ban may need protection in carrying out their duties. ...

Asbestos compensation (103 words)

Construction union UCATT has welcomed the government’s move to make it easier for victims of mesothelioma – an incurable form of lung cancer, usually ...

DWP consults on liability insurance for employers (87 words)

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is carrying out a review of Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance. ...

Features

Sidelining of union reps casts a shadow over new safety laws (2675 words)

A European directive to improve protection for workers against asbestos was implemented in the UK last November by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, ...

Easing the transition (3049 words)

It’s now over 70 years since the first sex-change operation was carried out. But until two years ago, UK citizens undergoing gender reassignment – ...