Pay and prices

Pay deals close the gap on inflation (212 words)

The latest figures from LRD’s Payline database show that the median for all settlements in the three months to December moved up to 3.9% ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (71 words)

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

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end December 2007)3.7%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end December 2007)3.4% ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£565.20All male£623.10All female£475.80Managers£850.60Professionals£762.70Associate professional£583.10Admin & secretarial£389.10Skilled/craft£474.90Services£334.20Sales£315.10Operatives£439.90Other manual£342.80 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (53 words)

* 2000=100. ...

Prices (13 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excluding mortgages November 2006201.13.93.4December202.74.43.8January 2007201.64.23.5February203.14.63.7March204.44.83.9April205.44.53.6May206.24.33.3June207.34.43.3July206.13.82.7August207.34.12.7September208.03.92.8October208.94.23.1November209.74.33.2December210.94.03.1 ...

Inflation forecasts (17 words)

Fourth quarter 2008 ...

Bargaining news

Teachers’ three-year deal starts with 2.45% (509 words)

The first public-sector pay award of 2008 was announced this month when the government accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB) recommendations for a ...

Police staff get fully backdated 2.5% rise (214 words)

While police officers protested at the government’s refusal to backdate their 2.5% award last month, unions were ensuring that civilian staff working for police ...

Bus workers’ strike threat ends prolonged dispute (562 words)

Strike action at First West London Buses was averted last month after last-minute talks at conciliation service Acas resulted in an improved offer from ...

Unions reach for the sky (215 words)

Cabin crew at Virgin Atlantic are set to receive a 4.8% pay rise this year, and have been given a guarantee that their pay ...

GMB drives a hard bargain at Wincanton (273 words)

Drivers of bulk tankers at haulage firm Wincanton Air Products in Manchester are to move to a four-day week, under a settlement that will ...

Plumbers are flushed with success over two-year deal (226 words)

A pay settlement worth 4.6% on the hourly rate in each of its two years has been agreed for thousands of plumbers in Scotland ...

Broadcasters send out mixed signals to unions (482 words)

Unions at television company ITV have negotiated an inflation-linked two-year deal which will also improve employees’ terms and conditions. ...

Compulsory Christmas working plan is thwarted (135 words)

Electricians and engineers at Jacob’s Bakery in Liverpool have successfully rebuffed plans to force them into working over the festive season. ...

Opera workers get 8% (75 words)

Technical, production and cleaning staff at Glyndebourne Opera have received an 8% pay rise under a new two-year, single-stage deal negotiated last month by ...

Post Office settlements (48 words)

Pay awards negotiated by the CWU communications workers’ union for admin, Crown Office and supply chain staff at Post Office Limited (see Workplace Report, ...

Equality news

Part-time Tesco staff move into more senior positions (348 words)

Low-paid shop staff working for retail giant Tesco now have greater opportunities to improve their work-life balance, thanks to a project between the supermarket ...

Diversity policies don’t stop homophobia at work (368 words)

New research has revealed that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) jobseekers are reluctant to work for organisations that don’t have equality and diversity policies ...

Disability work programmes face reform (253 words)

The government has launched a consultation on plans to improve the specialist disability employment programmes run via the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Major events could give unions a sporting chance (157 words)

The potential for and pitfalls of union organising around major sports events such as the London Olympics and the 2010 football World Cup in ...

Unite is recognised at another Newsquest site (111 words)

Production staff at the Worcester site of newspaper publisher Newsquest have voted 100% in favour of recognition for the union Unite in a ballot ...

Good practice will travel fast at conference (111 words)

“Speed dating” is to be a feature of next month’s TUC organising conference, which will focus on the exchange of good organising practice between ...

Learning and training news

ESOL funding will focus on cohesion (476 words)

Government plans to change the funding priorities for language training in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) have been welcomed by the UCU ...

European news

Germany’s train drivers agree settlement at last (601 words)

After ten months of negotiation and sporadic industrial action, the GDL train drivers’ union in Germany has finally agreed to settle its dispute with ...

Spain renews its national pay pact (263 words)

Spanish employers and unions have agreed to extend their 2007 agreement on pay and other issues, reached at the beginning of last year, for ...

Three-year deal breaks mould in Italy (178 words)

Italian banks and the country’s finance-sector unions have signed an agreement worth a total of 11.5% over three years. ...

Law - Contracts

Contract law (468 words)

f An employee’s refusal to return to work was a breach of contract which was accepted by her employer, not a dismissal (case 1). ...

Wrongful dismissal (200 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Employee status (203 words)

Case 2: The facts ...

Trainees and minimum wage (210 words)

Case 3: The facts ...

Implied terms (217 words)

Case 4: The facts ...

Variation of contract (296 words)

Case 5: The facts ...

Constructive dismissal (628 words)

Case 6: The facts ...

Law - Tribunal procedures

Tribunal case law (523 words)

f A tribunal was entitled to make a “wasted costs” order on the basis of inadequate witness statements, non-disclosure of documents and a refusal ...

Costs awards (266 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Time limits (523 words)

Case 3: The facts ...

Striking out a claim (199 words)

Case 5: The facts ...

Amending a claim (168 words)

Case 6: The facts ...

Uplift of compensatory award (222 words)

Case 7: The facts ...

Tribunal bias (364 words)

Case 8: The facts ...

Health & safety news

NHS Employers charge for vital safety information (217 words)

UNISON public services union and other unions with members in the NHS have protested strongly against a decision by the NHS employers’ organisation to ...

Migrants get health and safety training (83 words)

The Community union has persuaded clothing manufacturer Courtaulds to give special safety training to its growing number of eastern European migrant staff. ...

Pilots praise call for fatigue probe (161 words)

Airline workers have welcomed a parliamentary committee’s call for a study into the long-term effects of fatigue on aircrew. ...

Bus drivers take action over excessive hours (151 words)

Almost 400 drivers at the Wilts & Dorset bus company held three one-day strikes this month in a dispute about excessive driving time and ...

Crane campaigners’ HSE demonstration (135 words)

Construction workers and safety campaigners demonstrated outside the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last month to highlight the continuing hazards involving cranes. ...

CWU fights for postal workers’ footwear (150 words)

The CWU communication workers union is campaigning for better safety footwear, after Royal Mail delivery staff were issued with substandard boots. ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

HSE lashes out against unions’ cancer research (280 words)

In a desperate effort to head off mounting criticism of its own approach to work-related cancer, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched ...

Health and safety figures show a lack of vitality (163 words)

The Health and Safety Executive has admitted that targets for improving workplace health and safety, set out in the government’s Revitalising health and safety ...

Legionnaires’ marches on (155 words)

Safety professionals have expressed concern at the rise in the number of cases of legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia which can be contracted ...

Union supports Better Backs campaign (105 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union is lending its support to the Health and Safety Executive’s “Better Backs” campaign over the next two months. ...

New simplification plan (85 words)

The Health and Safety Executive and the Health and Safety Commission have published their second annual simplification plan, setting out “soft-focus” plans for deregulating ...

Work stress guidance (59 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new guidance on managing work-related stress. ...

Features

German revival helps to keep ‘old Europe’ ahead of inflation (2109 words)

Workplace Report’s annual review of key pay settlements in the European Union (EU) has expanded this year, reflecting the growth of the EU itself. ...

Higher days for holidays (1599 words)

According to LRD’s Payline database of pay and conditions, service-related leave is one of the most common benefits offered by employers to reward staff ...