Pay and prices

Pay increases move ahead of prices again (231 words)

The latest figures from our Payline database show a sharp increase, with settlements in the three months to the end of July achieving a ...

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

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

Other pay analysts (23 words)

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

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£558.30All male£614.00All female£471.30Managers£842.30Professionals£757.80Associate professional£576.40Admin & secretarial£370.30Skilled/craft£465.60Services£325.90Sales£309.00Operatives£429.10Other manual£333.30 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (72 words)

Earnings index*% annual rise Whole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sector Apr 2006 (r)125.54.16.13.74.33.1 May (r)125.84.35.64.24.73.4 June (r)126.54.95.94.85.03.6 July126.53.94.83.83.84.1 August126.83.85.33.73.93.2 September127.34.15.44.24.33.4 October127.64.25.14.44.43.3 November128.24.04.74.14.13.1 December129.03.93.94.24.13.3 Jan 2007130.04.63.55.05.03.3 February131.75.23.55.75.72.8 ...

Prices (27 words)

Retail prices index (RPI)*% annual increases RPIRPI excl. mortgagesJune 2006198.53.33.1 July198.53.33.1 August199.23.43.3 September200.13.63.2 October200.43.73.2 November201.13.93.4 December202.74.43.8 January 2007201.64.23.5 February203.14.63.7 March204.44.83.9 April205.44.53.6 May206.24.33.3 June207.34.43.3 July206.13.82.7 ...

Inflation forecasts (21 words)

Fourth quarter 2007 ...

Bargaining news

New NHS offer targets lowest-paid workers (406 words)

Cracks are beginning to appear in the government’s hard line on public-sector pay, although progress remains slow and inconsistent. ...

Bitter struggle pays off for brewery workers (309 words)

The 350-strong workforce at Reading’s Berkshire Brewery have successfully rebuffed efforts by drinks company Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) to de-couple their pay rises from ...

Council workers approve pension scheme changes (467 words)

The three main unions representing council workers have all given their backing to changes in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), which will preserve ...

Colleges’ offer is reluctantly approved (163 words)

Public services union UNISON has given its backing to a new pay offer for employees of further education and sixth-form colleges in England. ...

Unite drives up coach pay (213 words)

A strike threat has helped coach drivers in north-east Scotland to close the gap between their pay and that of bus drivers employed by ...

Offshore deal delivers 7% (214 words)

Offshore workers in the oil and gas industries are to see their pay rise by almost 7% from next month under a new agreement ...

BBC deal is matched at Siemens (291 words)

Staff working on BBC contracts at telecoms and IT giant Siemens are to receive pay rises closely modelled on the broadcaster’s own current pay ...

Overtime opportunities boost plumbers’ pay rise (243 words)

Plumbers could see their wages soar as a result of a new pay deal that will reduce the number of hours they have to ...

BECTU proves it’s a screen saviour (396 words)

Sound and projection workers at Odeon and UCI cinemas have accepted a harmonisation of their terms and conditions following a prolonged campaign by entertainment ...

Equality news

BME families need access to childcare (253 words)

Using childcare can hugely improve the employment opportunities available to black and minority ethnic (BME) families, a new report has claimed, but there are ...

GMB wins its appeal over equal pay compensation (399 words)

A ruling last month by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) could pave the way for unions and local councils across the country to negotiate ...

Foreign-trained doctors face more complaints (297 words)

The General Medical Council (GMC), which registers doctors to practise medicine in the UK, has launched an inquiry into why overseas-trained doctors are disproportionately ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Unite builds membership in construction industry (238 words)

The Amicus section of general union Unite has launched a major organising drive among construction workers in London and the South East. ...

Vodafone victory at last (116 words)

Telecoms giant Vodafone has finally been forced to concede union recognition for the first time within its UK operations, after a long battle with ...

New guide to organising (58 words)

The TUC has published a new organisers’ guide, setting out the key principles behind successful drives to secure recognition at “greenfield– sites, recruit new ...

University dispute is over (174 words)

A Long-running dispute between lecturers’ union UCU and London Metropolitan University has ended with an agreement on union recognition and redundancy talks. ...

Learning and training news

Fujitsu focuses on lifelong learning (211 words)

A new learning agreement at Fujitsu Services in Manchester is aiming to involve all the IT company’s staff in lifelong learning. ...

European news

Construction agreement is extended (172 words)

Stalemate over a pay deal in Germany’s building industry has ended with a new agreement. ...

German train drivers will get a separate settlement (512 words)

After a bitter conflict involving strikes by the union and legal action by the employer, a temporary truce has been reached in the dispute ...

Telecoms deal sets the pace in Italy (393 words)

Union members in Italy’s telecoms industry are being asked for their views on a new draft deal. ...

Law - Dismissal

Dismissal law (636 words)

nWhen considering whether reinstatement is practicable, a tribunal must look at the situation at the time when the reinstatement would take place; it can ...

Compensation (745 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Reasonableness of dismissal (599 words)

Case 4: The facts ...

Third-party pressure to dismiss (177 words)

Case 7: The facts ...

Whistleblowing (173 words)

Case 8: The facts ...

Reason for dismissal (204 words)

Case 9: The facts ...

Time limits (281 words)

Case 10: The facts ...

Work-related sickness (306 words)

Case 11: The facts ...

Inadequate investigation (229 words)

Case 13: The facts ...

Law - Redundancy

Redundancy law (256 words)

nAn individual cannot bring a claim for failure to consult under collective redundancy laws (case 1). ...

Selection pools (219 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Alternative work (204 words)

Case 2: The facts ...

Mobility clause (240 words)

Case 3: The facts ...

Limited consultation (136 words)

Case 4: The facts ...

Health & safety news

Construction firms listen to campaigners’ demands (262 words)

The Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group (BCDAG) has welcomed positive moves from the tower crane industry following a “crane summit– last month. ...

Bullying by e-mail and text is on the increase (256 words)

“Cyber-bullying– is becoming increasingly common in the workplace, according to new research for the Dignity at Work campaign. ...

CWU aims to make postal deliveries safer (111 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union has launched a Safe working on delivery guide after learning that Royal Mail staff account for nearly 10% of ...

Protest at shift changes (95 words)

Workers at Hilton Food Group in Huntingdon staged a protest outside their workplace gates in July over the imposition of new shift patterns which ...

Bus drivers need toilets (90 words)

London bus workers protested at transport and local government offices last month over the lack of toilet facilities on bus routes. ...

Tube ticket-office closures will threaten safety (85 words)

Plans by London Underground to close or reduce the opening hours of ticket offices will put workers and passengers at risk, according to the ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

HSE looks to leave London as cutbacks bite deeper (311 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is failing to investigate hundreds of the most serious workplace incidents every year because of “inadequate resources–. ...

Prosecutions highlight need for transport safety (136 words)

The HSE has reminded employers of the need to ensure that safe systems are in place to control workplace transport. ...

New corporate killing law gets a lukewarm welcome (181 words)

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 finally passed into law in late July, but unions have warned that much more regulation is ...

Offshore fatality figures are misleading (149 words)

The Amicus section of general union Unite, which represents offshore workers, has called for health and safety figures to be combined and released in ...

Report criticises unions (131 words)

A new HSE publication has openly attacked the role of unions in improving health and safety. ...

Features

Don’t be shy about protecting retiring employees’ legal rights (4094 words)

But, almost a year on, a Workplace Report survey has found that some employers seem to be failing to meet even the limited requirements ...

Guess who’s paying for dinner? (1653 words)

To compensate workers for this, there are two approaches that employers can adopt – either to reimburse the workers’ expenses, perhaps up to a ...