Pay and prices

RPIX and CPI inflation up but not RPI (258 words)

The latest figures from the Payline database show whole economy median (mid-point) increases remain at 2.0% for negotiated settlements in the three months to ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (75 words)

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

Full-time weekly average earnings (17 words)

All workers£587.90All male£643.60All female£501.70Managers£863.90Professionals£784.70Associate professional£607.20Admin & secretarial£412.10Skilled/craft£485.00Services£349.50Sales£324.80Operatives£444.40Other manual£347.00 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (65 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 (22 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end October 2009)1.2%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end September 2009)2.0% ...

Inflation forecasts (19 words)

Fourth quarter 2009 ...

Prices (13 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excl. mortgages September218.45.05.5October217.74.24.7November216.03.0 3.9December212.90.92.8Jan 2009210.10.12.4February211.40.02.5March211.3-0.42.2April211.5-1.21.7May212.8-1.11.6June213.4-1.61.0July213.4-1.41.2August214.4-1.31.4September215.3-1.41.3October216.0-0.81.9 ...

Bargaining news

“Period of calm” for Royal Mail negotiations (589 words)

A deal signed on 5 November between the CWU communication workers’ union and Royal Mail has agreed a “period of calm” between the two ...

CWU conclude deal at G4S (63 words)

The CWU has also concluded a deal at security company G4S (Cash Centres), where members voted by 69% to accept a pay rise of ...

Bank jobs under threat (380 words)

Unions representing workers in the financial sector say around 40,000 jobs have been lost from banks in the financial crisis so far, with a ...

Poll supports pay audits (477 words)

A MORI poll conducted on behalf of UNISON and equality campaign organisation the Fawcett Society showed that almost nine out of 10 women (89%) ...

Pay deals on Payline (224 words)

Pay freezes have continued to make up around one quarter (25%) of all new settlements for the three-month period between August and October 2009. ...

Manifesto for Theatre (61 words)

Equity performers’ union is holding meetings throughout the autumn and winter to back up talks with theatre employers on improving pay and conditions in ...

Employers back out of “Red Book” pay offer (312 words)

Local government employers have backtracked on a pay deal unions believed was concluded at the end of October. Construction union UCATT together with general ...

NHS “staff passport” to protect rights on transfer (218 words)

A “staff passport” agreed between all the NHS unions, employers and the Department of Health, has been launched to enshrine NHS staff rights on ...

Corus pays out on agreed bonus (149 words)

Steel unions have succeeded in winning back a bonus paid to Corus (formerly British Steel) workers that was suspended in 2009. The bonus has ...

Commuting time (122 words)

UK workers spend 21.8 million hours a day commuting to work, according to the TUC’s analysis of official statistics. This equates to £266 million-worth ...

Ban bullying (135 words)

UNISON public sector union stepped up its campaign against workplace bullies on Ban Bullying at Work Day this month (9 November). A UNISON survey ...

Corrections: Higher education and Morrisons’ pay (125 words)

Morrisons supermarkets will pay 2% on basic pay in a deal agreed with USDAW, not 1.42% as reported in last month’s magazine (Workplace Report, ...

Equality news

Mental health issues not supported at work (386 words)

Employees with poor mental health report a variety of challenges at work, while less than one in four feels their employer supports people with ...

EHRC’s business guide to flexible working (318 words)

Britain’s equality watchdog has produced a guide to flexible working for managers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) describes Working better: the managers’ ...

Disabled workers and bullying (255 words)

...

Recruitment and organisation news

Recruitment drive nets school support staff (305 words)

A local organising initiative by public services union UNISON has resulted in hundreds of school support staff in Manchester joining the union. ...

Strike over sacking (56 words)

The UCU lecturers union is balloting members at Glyndwr University on strike action to support a sacked colleague. ...

Communication resource (42 words)

The NASUWT teaching union has produced a Communicate to recruit resource to help activists produce high-quality information for members. Available from the members-only section ...

Learning and training news

Progress on basic skills (437 words)

Some prominent employers, notably Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of supermarket giant Tesco, recently made headlines for complaining about the lack of basic skills ...

Record apprentice starts (92 words)

Provisional data released in October by the Office for National Statistics showed a record 234,000 people started apprenticeships in 2008-09 and 126,900 people completed ...

European news

Italian unions split again over metalworking settlement (708 words)

Employers and two of the unions representing Italy’s 1.3 million metalworkers have reached a settlement on pay and conditions over the next three years. ...

German post compromise deal (410 words)

The German services union Verdi and the management of Deutsche Post, the German postal business, have agreed a deal on pay, jobs and outsourcing ...

Law - TUPE

Transfers – the basic legal rules (156 words)

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) state that, when a business or part of a business is transferred from one ...

Transfers - the key developments (203 words)

• When deciding whether there has been a service provision change under regulation 3(1)(b) of TUPE, the first question is whether the “activities” carried ...

Impact of changes to working conditions (889 words)

Ms Tapere worked for the Lewisham Primary Care Trust. On 1 April 2007, she was transferred to the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. ...

Service provision change (366 words)

Migrant Helpline, on behalf of the Home Office, had a contract with Churchill Dulwich to provide accomodation for asylum seekers. Before that contract expired, ...

Legal implications (385 words)

Royal Mail Group (RMG) operates the UK’s post office network. Since 1986, several branches have been converted to privately-run franchises. RMG had a policy ...

Service not “fundamentally or essentially the same” (411 words)

The company operated a catering contract at BMW’s car plant at Cowley. There was a central restaurant supported by four “satellites” and a shop. ...

Law - Dismissal

Dismissal – the basic legal rules (276 words)

Employees dismissed unfairly can go to a tribunal if they have been working for at least a year. There are special rules for retirement ...

Dismissal - the key developments (111 words)

• When deciding whether to order reinstatement for a successful claimant in an unfair dismissal case, the tribunal should take into account whether there ...

Reinstatement (318 words)

Mr Abimbola was employed as a psychiatric nurse at Hillingdon Hospital. He was dismissed for gross misconduct, after allegedly holding an agitated patient in ...

Loss of pension (391 words)

Ms Roberts was unfairly dismissed by Aegon. She obtained a new job with Just Retirement Ltd, where her pay package, including benefits, but not ...

Law - Redundancy

Redundancy - the basic legal rules (229 words)

A redundancy situation exists where an employer closes or intends to close the workplace or reduce the number of employees doing a particular kind ...

Redundancy - the key developments (64 words)

• The obligation to consult with workers’ representatives arises when a group of undertakings adopts strategic decisions or changes in activities which compel the ...

Obligation to consult in collective redundancy (576 words)

Fujitsu Siemens Computers Oy (FSC) was a subsidiary of Fujitsu Siemens Computers (Holding) BV (the parent company). At a meeting on 7 December 1999, ...

Health & safety news

Action needed to reduce violent assaults on staff (277 words)

UNISON public services union in Scotland has called for decisive action from public sector employers and the Scottish Parliament to reduce violent assaults on ...

Shift and night work guidance from Unite (267 words)

Union safety reps should intervene to protect the health of shift and night workers – that’s the message in new guidance from Unite general ...

Temporary workers’ safety at Royal Mail (111 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union has demanded that Royal Mail takes temporary workers’ health and safety seriously in the run up to Christmas. ...

Usdaw safety and recession guide (122 words)

shopworkers’ union USDAW has sent its 4,600 safety reps a leaflet reminding them of the importance of using their legal functions to defend health ...

Guidance on hazards faced by cleaners (128 words)

Cleaners are exposed to a wide range of hazards and work in precarious circumstances, according to a new report from the European safety agency, ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Government health and safety priorities (247 words)

A government response to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee provides some clues on its health and safety priorities over the next ...

Workers’ Memorial Day must be for campaigning (282 words)

Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April should be officially recognised as a day both for remembrance and for safety campaigning from April 2010, the ...

Employers’ statements on cost of Gangmasters Act are untrue, UCATT says. (131 words)

UCATT construction union argues that employers’ description of the proposed extension of the Gangmasters Licensing Act to construction as adding “a lot of cost ...

HSE figures warning (187 words)

Safety campaigners warned against complacency after a significant reduction in the numbers of people killed, injured or suffering work-related ill-health last year according to ...

Rail death fines (90 words)

Carillion and Network Rail have been fined £1 million and ordered to pay £100,000 costs between them, following the deaths of two rail workers. ...

Features

Unions’ equality agenda widens (3270 words)

The legal and social climate in relation to equality at work has changed enormously in recent years, resulting in a great deal of detailed ...

Negotiating better mental health (2332 words)

A number of recent reports have highlighted the mental health of workers as a workplace issue requiring a sympathetic approach from employers, not least ...