Pay and prices

RPI inflation surges at the end of 2009 (256 words)

The news that the Retail Prices Index (RPI) had shot up by 2.4% in the year to December puts the latest settlement figures in ...

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£592.60All male£648.80All female£505.70Managers£870.80Professionals£791.00Associate professional£612.10Admin & secretarial£415.40Skilled/craft£488.90Services£352.30Sales£327.40Operatives£448.00Other manual£349.80 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (62 words)

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

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end December 2009)1.2%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end November 2009)1.6% ...

Inflation forecasts (18 words)

Fourth quarter 2010 ...

Prices (13 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excl. mortgages Nov 2008216.03.03.9December212.90.92.8Jan 2009210.10.12.4February211.40.02.5March211.3-0.42.2April211.5-1.21.7May212.8-1.11.6June213.4-1.61.0July213.4-1.41.2August214.4-1.31.4September215.3-1.41.3October216.0-0.81.9November216.60.32.7December218.02.43.8 ...

Bargaining news

Unions seek fair deal for ordinary bank staff (855 words)

The continuing public row over banking bonus payments, despite the introduction of a 50% tax on discretionary bonuses above £25,000, suggests that finance sector ...

TUC hails progress for pension auto-enrolment (372 words)

Legal arrangements requiring employers to auto-enrol employees into an employer-backed pension scheme came a step closer this month with the publication of detailed rules ...

IT company is praised for approach to new pension (306 words)

Unions at the French-owned IT company Steria have negotiated a legally binding defined contribution pension scheme, which they hope will provide “parity of outcome” ...

Job security is priority in further education (254 words)

UCU, the university and college union, has now accepted the 1.5% offer from further education (FE) employers, after members failed to back strike action ...

Contractor is exposed for undercutting UK wages (378 words)

Despite repeated denials by both business secretary Lord Mandelson and Alstom, the main contractor at Nottinghamshire’s Staythorpe power station, an independent audit conducted for ...

Flower pickers (33 words)

In a move to prevent exploitation, particularly of overseas workers, the Gangmasters Licencing Authority’s has published guidance for contractors in the flower picking industry. ...

MPs criticise IBM for its new early retirement rules (264 words)

Computer company IBM’s plans to close its final salary pension scheme and alter early retirement arrangements were criticised by MPs in a Westminster Hall ...

Pay freeze continues as RPI soars (277 words)

News that the annual RPI increase for the year to December rose to 2.4% coincided with evidence that pay freezes are still on the ...

Equality news

Jobless data shows ethnic groups hit by recession (329 words)

People from ethnic minorities have seen a marked increase in their rate of unemployment since the start of the recession in 2008, according to ...

Legal option of working beyond 65 is a possibility (396 words)

Harriet Harman, the equalities minister, has announced plans to scrap the compulsory retirement age at 65. ...

Pay proposals are published (262 words)

Employers that choose to analyse and publicise their gender pay gaps will receive limited immunity from investigation, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHCR) ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Union members earn more (185 words)

Unionised workers earn 12.5% more pay per hour than non-unionised staff, according to a report produced by the TUC to help unions attract new ...

Volunteers must be valued and not used as subsitutes for paid staff, says new charter (146 words)

The role of volunteers should complement the work of staff and not substitute it, says a charter signed by the TUC and Volunteering England, ...

Recognition win for NUJ (74 words)

the national Union of Journalists has won recognition for editorial staff at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health/Chadwick House Group Ltd after taking the ...

Learning and training news

Details on the new right to train are published (353 words)

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published guidelines on the new right to request time to train which becomes effective from ...

Print apprenticeships (121 words)

Unite is calling for the print industry to promote apprenticeships, as part of its support for the 2010 National Apprenticeship Week being held on ...

European news

Italian chemical unions accept staged pay rise (558 words)

Unions and the employers in Italy have signed a new agreement for the chemical industry and its 200,000 employees. But while the deal increases ...

Value of word is finally fixed (241 words)

After six years of negotiations, the two main unions representing journalists in Germany, the DJV and the dju (part of the services union Verdi) ...

Protecting staff from abuse (257 words)

AFB, the French banking employers’ association, has signed a new agreement with five banking unions which aims to protect staff against abuse and violence ...

Law - Discrimination

Discrimination – the basic legal rules (325 words)

It is unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of sex, race, disability, gender reassignment, religion or belief, sexual orientation or age. For the purposes ...

Discrimination law — the key developments (294 words)

f Compensation for a discriminatory dismissal can be reduced to reflect the chance that the claimant would still have been dismissed even if s/he ...

Racist redundancy scoring (770 words)

Mr Chagger, (of Indian ethnic origin) was employed by Abbey National from 2001 until his dismissal for redundancy in 2006. He was one of ...

Assessing the size of injury to feelings awards (298 words)

Ms Da’Bell claimed disability discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal in the employment tribunal. She lost her constructive dismissal claim because she had waited too ...

Amending legislation to cover discrimination by association (475 words)

Ms Coleman worked as a legal secretary for a solicitors’ firm. She was the principal carer for her disabled son. She claimed that she ...

When exemplary damages are applicable (470 words)

Ms Fletcher was subjected to sexual harassment by the Army, followed by disciplinary action when she tried to complain. She won her tribunal case ...

Holding a philosophical belief (347 words)

Mr Nicholson was employed by the company in a senior position until his dismissal, allegedly for redundancy, in July 2008. He brought a tribunal ...

Relaxing immigration rules (349 words)

Ms DeBique was a soldier in the army, originally coming from St Vincent and the Grenadines. She was a single parent with a young ...

Providing justification for service-related pay (671 words)

Mrs Wilson was employed as a band 3 inspector in the Health and Safety Executive. Her pay was partly determined by an incremental pay ...

Justifying dismissal on the grounds of equal opportunities (545 words)

Ms Ladele worked as a registrar. In December 2005, Islington Council designated all its registrars as civil partnership registrars. Ms Ladele could not reconcile ...

Health & safety news

Women engineers slate protective equipment (364 words)

Women are being put off careers in technology, science and engineering because of a lack of suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) says the Women’s ...

TUC advises on travel to work in bad weather (269 words)

As hazardous snowy and icy conditions wreaked havoc with the transport system across much of the country, the TUC issued new guidance for union ...

Temperatures at work (92 words)

The cold weather has raised the issue of temperatures at work. John McClean, the health and safety officer for the GMB general union, said ...

NUJ campaigns against FT’s workloads (129 words)

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Financial Times newspaper stepped up their campaign against unsustainable workloads last month with a ...

Unions support swine flu jab for care workers (144 words)

Public services unions are calling on social care employers to ensure that all eligible staff are given suitable and reasonable access to the H1N1 ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Focus of asbestos control moves to non-LEA schools (307 words)

Asbestos campaigners have given a cautious welcome to the news that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and LACORS, which regulates services delivered by ...

Two are jailed over deaths (196 words)

The manslaughter convictions of the owner of a fireworks factory and his son have been welcomed by the FBU firefighters’ union. ...

Tory donor’s wife fined for safety breaches (165 words)

A farm owned by the Lady Carole Bamford, wife of the prominent Tory donor and JCB chair Sir Anthony, has been prosecuted over the ...

Teaching union’s reps and HSE meet over stress (150 words)

This month, representatives of the ATL teachers’ and lecturers’ union and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will meet in an exploratory meeting to ...

HSE enforcement in the spotlight after payout (134 words)

An accident which resulted in a £450,000 payout was not judged to be serious enough to investigate by the HSE, according to the TUC’s ...

Features

It’s going to get tougher: bargaining prospects for 2010 (2202 words)

The economy is growing again but very slowly and with the risk of a double-dip recession. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 0.1%, initial ...

Pay bargaining gets tougher as the financial crisis hits Europe (3128 words)

The economic crisis, which hit in the autumn of 2008, has had a dramatic impact on pay bargaining in Europe. Every single EU state, ...