Pay and prices

Pay and earnings still lagging (265 words)

The latest data on pay and earnings growth match at 2.2% this month, still well behind price inflation which currently stands at 4.7% on ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (74 words)

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

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£598.50All male£655.20All female£510.70Managers£879.40Professionals£798.80Associate professional£618.10Admin & secretarial£419.50Skilled/craft£493.70Services£355.80Sales£330.70Operatives£452.40Other manual£353.30 ...

Annual increase in average weekly earnings including bonuses (43 words)

MonthWhole economyPrivate sectorPublic sectorManu- facturingServicesMay0.60.33.0-0.11.0June (r) 1.00.64.01.21.4July (r)0.1-0.33.5-0.50.6August 0.7-0.33.51.70.5September 0.80.03.81.61.1October 0.5-0.43.81.60.5November 0.80.33.82.01.1December0.70.33.43.20.8January 20101.2-1.04.14.4-0.5February5.76.13.85.45.9March6.27.45.68.66.8April0.7-0.13.12.80.6May1.41.41.13.11.5June 1.30.34.42.71.3July1.91.72.44.11.9Headline rate11.51.22.73.31.6 ...

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end July 2010)1.0%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end July 2010)2.0% ...

Inflation forecasts (18 words)

Fourth quarter 2010 ...

Prices (12 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excl. mortgages July213.4-1.41.2August214.4-1.31.4September215.3-1.41.3October216.0-0.81.9November216.60.32.7December218.02.43.8January 2010217.93.74.6February219.23.74.2March220.74.44.8April222.85.35.4May223.65.15.1June224.15.05.0July223.64.84.8August224.54.74.7 ...

Bargaining news

Unions rise to challenge of ‘fair pay’ review (824 words)

The independent Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector being conducted by Will Hutton at the government’s request is investigating pay scales across ...

Birmingham Council’s plans for cuts condemned as ‘cavalier’ (580 words)

Birmingham City Council this month gave notice of its intention to consult on wide-ranging changes to terms and conditions for non-school staff. The move ...

Scots councils freeze pay (236 words)

A three-year virtual pay freeze has been imposed by local authority employers in Scotland who say they expect a funding shortfall of £3.8bn over ...

Total reward statistics put record straight on public sector (291 words)

The GMB has welcomed figures from the Office for National Statistics demonstrating “like for like” pay and pension parity for public and private sector ...

Pay freezes persist but new deals slightly up (556 words)

The trend among new pay deals remained distinctly modest over the summer with a mid-point increase of 2% on lowest basic rates. ...

Virgin pilots agree holidays (274 words)

A dispute between airline pilots’ union BALPA and Virgin Atlantic has been resolved with agreement on the issue of days off, while improvements have ...

Pay deal includes move to unpaid tea breaks (106 words)

A move to unpaid tea breaks has boosted hourly pay rates at wholesaler Makro, in a pay deal backdated to the beginning of July. ...

Better paternity and sick leave negotiated (89 words)

The April pay deal at Royal Mail Quadrant Catering improved both sick leave and paternity leave as part of a two-stage 18-month agreement. Payment ...

Nuclear pay deals (106 words)

April settlements gave rises of between 1.1% and 3% for workers in different parts of the nuclear industry. The 1.1% rise in basic scales ...

Equality news

Fewer employers plan to make adjustments (456 words)

As disabled people face being hit by drastic government spending cuts two new research projects reveal that they continue to confront many barriers in ...

Criminal record shame (314 words)

Three out five people in the UK say having a criminal record would be the most embarrassing thing to have to reveal to their ...

Pay guidance (175 words)

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the British Chambers of Commerce have jointly published guidance that encourages small and medium sized businesses ...

Sexual harassment (127 words)

Almost one in 10 women feel sexually harassed whilst at work but less than half (44%) go on to report it to another member ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Facility time ‘saves money’ (376 words)

The TUC has produced a briefing paper on the value of facility time — Time off work for union representatives to carry out their ...

Union fights off derecognition attempt at JJB Sports (106 words)

The GMB general union has fought off an attempt by JJB Sports to derecognise the union at the company’s Wigan distribution premises. ...

(106 words)

Learning and training news

Unionlearn sets out route to reverse apprenticeship divide (439 words)

Women apprentices get poor careers advice, continue to experience sexual stereotyping and sexual discrimination, and to add insult to injury, they earn a fifth ...

European news

Italian unions concerned for industry agreement (447 words)

The Italian employers’ association Federmeccanica, which covers the engineering and automotive industry, has announced that it is pulling out of the agreement for the ...

Polish teachers’ 7% pay hike (314 words)

The Polish minister of education and representatives of the three major teaching unions have signed a joint statement guaranteeing that teachers’ pay will go ...

Irish construction workers facing pay cut (268 words)

Seven Irish unions representing construction workers have started consulting their members on a proposal to cut their basic rates by 7.5%. ...

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 (113 words)

f For dismissals on a TUPE transfer to be for an “economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce”, it is not ...

Dismissal arising from transfer (721 words)

Mr Bonnett and Mr Smith-Galer brought claims for unfair dismissal arising from the transfer of the Portman Building Society, where they were employed, to ...

Transfer definition dependent on retaining identity (841 words)

The Legal Complaints’ Service (LCS) was set up by the Law Society to deal with complaints about solicitors’ professional service. LCS staff were employees ...

Additional service for pension does not count on transfer (365 words)

This was a test case for 46 claimants bringing identical claims. Mr Worrall claimed that the respondents acted in breach of contract following his ...

Law - Dismissal

Dismissal law — the key developments (136 words)

f Substantial delay in conducting disciplinary action can in itself make a dismissal unfair if there is no good reason for it, even if ...

Delayed investigations (705 words)

Mr Mansfield was a prison officer at Pentonville. In April 2006, allegations were made against him of orchestrating violence among prisoners and planting drugs ...

Misconduct dismissal (573 words)

Ms Roldan was a Filipino nurse. A newly recruited health care assistant, Ms Denton, complained that Ms Roldan had mistreated a patient on 22 ...

Approach to pension loss arising from dismissal (498 words)

Ms Sibbit was employed as a school teacher from 1985 until her dismissal in June 2008. She had been intending to retire on 31 ...

Health & safety news

Sacked safety rep critical of employment tribunal (267 words)

A safety rep with the Scottish teaching union the Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) who was disciplined and then sacked after carrying out an ...

Workers right to sit down (215 words)

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) reports that two union reps at the BBC appear to have established a precedent by winning the right ...

Vote defends rail safety (204 words)

The RMT rail union reports that its members have voted by 76% for strike action and by 88% for action short of a strike ...

TSSA wants safety reps (127 words)

After what it describes as long years of negotiation the TSSA rail union reports that it, along with the other unions within Network Rail, ...

Victory for firefighter sacked after safety email (158 words)

The FBU fire brigades’ union and Thompsons Solicitors have won a ground-breaking victory for a firefighter who was sacked after sending an email to ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Inspect and protect is key to safe maintenance (376 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has joined forces with organisations including the TUC, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) ...

Cancer from rubber fear (147 words)

A survey carried out for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as part of the Disease Reduction Programme Cancer Project has found that rubber ...

Director fined £10K (84 words)

The director of a sheet metal manufacturer in Norfolk was fined £10,000 after workers were exposed to high levels of lead. The director of ...

New online stress exercises for safety reps (132 words)

Safety reps have a key role to play in preventing work-related stress according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). ...

HSE targets hazardous substances in motor vehicle repair (98 words)

As part of a European campaign on risk assessments for hazardous substances initiated by safety enforcement inspectors, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors are ...

Features

Getting the most out of defined contribution pensions (3152 words)

The one-third of private sector workers who do receive a pension contribution from their employers are increasingly in lower-value defined contribution (DC) schemes based ...

Equality Act 2010 extends and strengthens coverage (2175 words)

The Equality Act 2010 covers the same characteristics that were formerly protected by a number of separate pieces of equality legislation: age, disability, gender ...