Pay and prices

Pay rises still falling behind inflation (222 words)

The latest figures from LRD’s Payline database show settlements running at 3.9%; this is the three-monthly median to June and is unchanged from the ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (72 words)

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

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£571.20All male£629.70All female£480.80Managers£859.70Professionals£770.80Associate professional£589.30Admin & secretarial£393.30Skilled/craft£480.00Services£337.80Sales£318.50Operatives£444.60Other manual£346.50 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (60 words)

* 2000=100. ** Average of earnings increases for latest three months compared to a year earlier. (r) revised. (p) provisional. Source: National Statistics. ...

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end June 2008)3.2%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end May 2008)3.5% ...

Inflation forecasts (17 words)

Fourth quarter 2008 ...

Bargaining news

Finance employers focus on variable pay (523 words)

The finance and insurance sector, hit by the credit crunch and related difficulties, may be looking more closely at variable earnings as a way ...

Airport deal links pay to absence (187 words)

THE latest pay deal at Prestwick International Airport links workers’ pay to sickness absence through a bonus scheme and potential reductions in the value ...

Union welcomes 4% offer in agriculture (328 words)

THE Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales is consulting on a new Wages Order that will come into force on 1 October, increasing ...

Tesco deals means at least 3.8% for retail staff (493 words)

Tesco, the supermarket chain and the UK’s biggest private sector employer, has agreed to increase all pay rates by a minimum of 3.8%, with ...

Long-term deals are still on offer (296 words)

The rise in inflation doesn’t yet seem to have put negotiators in the private sector off long-term deals that promise inflation-linked rises in their ...

Housing association deals create two-tier workforce (822 words)

Most housing associations are awarding pay rises of between 3% and 4% this year but behind these headline figures a split in the workforce ...

Voluntary sector deals (74 words)

The Save the Children charity has agreed a 3% pay rise across the board, with no other changes to terms and conditions. ...

Bonus payments (220 words)

New or altered bonus schemes feature in a number of recent deals on the Payline database ...

Equality news

Study claims being out at work boosts performance (399 words)

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees who are able to be out at work are “significantly” more likely to feel they can do a ...

Survey finds race blocks managers’ progress (261 words)

A third of Asian and a fifth of black managers feel that racial discrimination has significantly inhibited their career progression compared to fewer than ...

TUC claims equality legislation could benefit millions (133 words)

The TUC welcomed last month’s publication of the long-awaited Equality Bill as “a landmark piece of legislation”. ...

MPs unaware of older workers’ employment issues (119 words)

Few MPs are aware of the employment problems faced by older workers, says a report from The Age and Employment Network (TAEN). ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Union accuses telecoms company of unfair tactics (551 words)

The union recognition legislation is not ensuring that unions and employers are operating on a level playing field, according to the CWU communications union. ...

Learning and training news

Report reveals apprenticeship failure (392 words)

Earlier this month construction union UCATT published a damning report, Apprenticeships — a firm foundation, which reveals that employers have completely failed to recruit ...

European news

Union manages to retain retail industry bargaining (376 words)

Earlier this month services union Verdi signed a new agreement with the HDE retail employers’ association after one of the longest disputes in German ...

French stress agreement goes beyond EU text (333 words)

French unions and employers have signed an agreement on stress at work which goes well beyond the framework arrangements agreed at European Union (EU) ...

Construction workers to get initial training (241 words)

Italian unions and the employers have included new arrangements for initial training in the latest agreement for the building industry. ...

Law - Contracts

Contract law (194 words)

f A “partnership agreement” was a sham when the individual had to attend work every day and was paid directly; he was an employee ...

Employment status (276 words)

Mr Szilagyi was given work as a plasterer. He was provided with a van and tools and signed a “partnership agreement” that identified him ...

Continuity of service (247 words)

Mrs Haggerty was employed as a bindery assistant for a printing firm. She was part of a bank of casual employees who the company ...

Working time (321 words)

Mr Miles worked as a houseparent in a care home on a shift pattern that required him to be at work for almost 48 ...

Illegal contracts (306 words)

In two cases the Court of Appeal had to decide whether the employees concerned were working under illegal contracts in that their employment status ...

Unlawful deductions (404 words)

Concierge Mr Cowan and 51 fellow members of the GMB general union brought claims for unlawful deduction of wages after their local authority employer ...

When does contract begin? (237 words)

Mr Toon accepted a job offer which was intended to start some two months later. Around a week after the contract was signed the ...

Law - Tribunal procedures

Employment tribunals (211 words)

f An employment tribunal was right to ban an employer from a case after one of its witnesses intimidated the claimant (case 1). ...

Conduct of parties (168 words)

During a break in the preliminary hearing for Mr Hatfield’s unfair dismissal claim, a witness for his former employer threatened him with physical harm. ...

Statutory grievance procedures (269 words)

After she resigned Ms MacAulay brought claims of constructive dismissal and disability discrimination. She had issued a grievance in the form of a letter ...

Time limit (322 words)

Mrs Harris brought a claim for unfair dismissal after she was made redundant. Although she did not appeal against her dismissal at the time ...

Delay in judgment (258 words)

Mr Carpenter, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was dismissed after several years at work because he was unable to perform a substantial part of ...

Wasted costs (216 words)

Mr McDonald brought claim of unfair dismissal but the employer argued he did not have a year’s length of service. McDonald said he had ...

Mental capacity (275 words)

Mr Johnson brought a claim of unfair dismissal in which he alleged, principally that his dismissal had been orchestrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses. His former ...

Strike out (207 words)

Ms Peixoto, who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, brought a claim of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination in early 2004. After three years and ...

Health & safety news

Oil platform safety is still an issue 20 years after Piper Alpha (122 words)

On the 20th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, oil workers argue that safety is still being compromised offshore. ...

TUC issues new safety guidance for migrant workers (120 words)

Trade unionists understand the importance of fighting to protect the most exploited and vulnerable workers, and therefore will welcome new TUC online safety guidance ...

Union criticises Tesco meat supplier over toilet breaks (295 words)

The Unite general union awarded supermarket chain Tesco and its meat supplier Brown Brothers a golden toilet last month for its draconian toilet break ...

Firefighters call for more funds to deal with floods (290 words)

A year after summer floods caused havoc, the safety of rescue crews remains at risk because Fire and Rescue Services are under resourced to ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Unions disappointed by government safety stance (206 words)

The government’s response to a Commons select committee report on the role of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is “disappointing and complacent”, according ...

Safety staff take industrial action over relocation (238 words)

Members of the PCS civil service union began a campaign of industrial action this month over the closure of the Health and Safety Executive’s ...

More workplace deaths than murders, report claims (238 words)

At least twice as many people die from fatal injuries at work than are victims of homicide, suggests a report published last month by ...

Report puts work deaths still at four a week (181 words)

Provisional figures for work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last month revealed that 228 workers were ...

Features

Employers adopt very varied approaches to redundancy (3456 words)

Major house building firms like Bovis, Barratt and Persimmon have all recently announced substantial job cuts. The industry body, the House Builders’ Association, estimates ...

Corporate manslaughter law is main safety legal change (2005 words)

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c.19) came into force on 6 April 2008, the result of persistent campaigning by unions and ...