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Workplace Report February 2012
Public sector threats - Employers have been cutting into workers' terms and conditions as coalition government cuts hit home; What young workers earn - Research from a range of organisations shows that young workers' pay rates are falling further behind adult pay rates; The latest case law on contracts of employment and tribunals
Pay and prices
Pay and prices gap narrows (268 words)
With settlement figures rising and inflation falling, the gap between pay and price rises has narrowed substantially, but living standards are still ...
Subscribers only
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (223 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered). ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
Source: ASHE 2011 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Annual increase in average weekly earnings (AWE) including bonuses (147 words)
1The latest three-month average. ... Open access
Other pay analysts (25 words)
... Open access
Prices (74 words)
1 Jan ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (31 words)
Fourth quarter 2012 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Ford workers buoyed by joining the 6% club (751 words)
Hourly-paid workers at Ford, members of the general union Unite, have voted against taking strike action over the closure of the final salary ... Subscribers only
Bank and opera give nod to Living Wage idea (333 words)
The Living Wage concept has been used to help boost pay levels in the banking and arts sectors in recent negotiations involving finance union Unite ... Subscribers only
Ex-Woolies staff in award win but some left potless (398 words)
Over 24,000 workers formerly employed by the Woolworths retail chain, which collapsed at the end of 2008, have won almost £68 million in a ... Subscribers only
Civil servants and teachers take action (273 words)
Public sector workers have voted for or taken part in industrial action on a range of issues at sites around the country. ... Subscribers only
Collective bargaining is winner in West Midlands (434 words)
Collective bargaining is the basis for a new grading and pay structure being introduced at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands. ... Subscribers only
Freeze on earnings limit will boost pension saving (293 words)
The TUC has called on the government to boost pension saving by freezing key earnings-related thresholds that govern the operation of the statutory ... Subscribers only
On target at OCS (96 words)
OCS cleaners working on the Eurostar contract are set to achieve the RMT rail union’s “interim objective” of £8 an hour by ... Open access
5.2% for theatre staff (87 words)
West End theatre staff represented by the BECTU media union have secured a new staged deal running until September 2014 that delivers a 5.2% ... Open access
Primark staff primed for industrial action (102 words)
Members of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, employed by Primark clothes stores in Northern Ireland (NI), have temporarily lifted the threat of ... Open access
Equality news
RMT campaign to derail sexist culture at work (380 words)
Over 70% of women members of the RMT rail union think there is a sexist culture in their workplace, according to a recent survey by the union. ... Subscribers only
Commission funds age bias cases in top court (356 words)
There is an urgent need for clarification to the law banning age discrimination in employment, according to the Equality and Human Rights ... Subscribers only
Parental postponement (167 words)
The extension of the right to unpaid parental leave has been postponed by a year by the government. Under the Parental Leave Directive, the parents ... Open access
Equality helpline (106 words)
The government is to set up a new Equality Advisory and Support Service after axing the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s helpline. ... Open access
Learning and training news
Boost to apprenticeships will aid young workers (336 words)
A raft of government and other initiatives have been announced to coincide with National Apprenticeship Week held earlier this month. ... Subscribers only
Apprenticeship guide - Quality and quantity key (111 words)
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has issued new guidance, with trade union involvement, designed to ensure government ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Reps on paid facility time more than pay their way (306 words)
The TUC has two launched two publications of interest to union reps — one combating the current fashion for attacking paid facility time for ... Subscribers only
Unite drive gets recognition at Eddie Stobart (57 words)
General union Unite has gained negotiating rights at distribution firm Eddie Stobart for 85 warehouse staff working at its Daresbury Warehouse. ... Open access
European news
Three-year agreement for moderate pay increases in Spain (606 words)
Spain’s two largest union confederations, the CCOO and the UGT, have reached an agreement with Spanish employers which provides for moderate ... Subscribers only
Lufthansa pay lift-off (211 words)
The German services union Verdi and the airline Lufthansa have reached agreement on pay increases for around 33,000 of the company’s ground ... Open access
Bulgaria miners return to work after bonus deal (174 words)
Miners at Bulgaria’s largest coal mining company, the state-owned Mini Maritsa Iztok, have gone back to work after winning at least part of ... Open access
Two-year pay deal in Danish manufacturing (92 words)
Pay negotiations between the unions and employers for 140,000 workers in Danish manufacturing industry have ended with a modest 2.55% increase agreed. ... Open access
Law - Contracts
Contracts - the law (485 words)
Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions ... Subscribers only
Four-year delay in disciplinary was not breach of contract (540 words)
This case involved a consultant anaesthetist, Dr Lim, who sought a High Court injunction against his employer, the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals ... Subscribers only
No civil court damages for manner of dismissal (733 words)
In these two cases, the Supreme Court considered whether employees are entitled to claim contractual damages in the High Court for losses resulting ... Subscribers only
New guidance on incorporating collectively agreed terms (666 words)
Dr Husain was a consultant paediatrician employed by Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust). She was involved in the care of a baby with ... Subscribers only
Offshore workers forced to take annual leave onshore (612 words)
Offshore oil and gas workers worked a shift pattern of two weeks offshore followed by two weeks onshore, described as a “field break”. ... Subscribers only
ECJ guidance on carrying over holiday after sickness absence (527 words)
Mr Schulte worked as a locksmith for the German firm KHS AG. His employment was subject to a collective agreement which stated that when a worker ... Subscribers only
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals - the law (255 words)
Most tribunal claims must be lodged within three months of the matter complained of. Tribunals can extend the time limit in unfair dismissal claims ... Subscribers only
Unfair to refuse adjournment for sick claimant (478 words)
The claimant, Mr O’Cathail, was dismissed by Transport for London (TfL) in December 2010 after two years of sickness absence. He complained ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Network Rail in dock over Grayrigg derailment (352 words)
Network Rail is to face criminal proceedings for the 2007 derailment at Grayrigg in Cumbria. ... Subscribers only
Agency work comes with health warning, says study (206 words)
Temporary working has grown in importance over the past 20 years. New research explores how and when being employed on a temporary rather than ... Open access
Asbestos in schools is poorly maintained (106 words)
The problem of asbestos in British schools has been highlighted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health. ... Open access
Guidance on how to tackle stress at work (118 words)
New practical advice on how to identify and mitigate stress at work has been published by the United Nations agency, the International Labour ... Open access
Dangerous dogs (155 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has renewed its call for the government to follow Scottland and Northern Ireland and update the law on ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Löfstedt ‘concerned my review could be misused’ (393 words)
The expert who reviewed UK health and safety legislation is concerned at the way the government is interpreting his report. ... Subscribers only
Threat of violence at work (239 words)
People assaulted or threatened at work are more than likely to be repeat victims, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). ... Open access
Injury reporting rules weakened (96 words)
Revised reporting rules come into effect from 6 April 2012, when employers will only be required to report the incapacitation of a worker where the ... Open access
TUC wants reps’ views on personal protection (204 words)
The TUC has been concerned for some time about the failure of some employers to make personal protective equipment (PPE) available. PPE includes ... Open access
Paltry fine for burns (78 words)
Molten material sprayed from the back of one of JVM Castings (Worcester) Ltd’s die cast machines onto a worker. The metal (heated to 650oC) ... Open access
Features
Public sector employers try to do government’s dirty work (3,319 words)
No-one likes a pay freeze but some employers have been going further, eroding the very terms and conditions on which workers are employed. Nowhere ... Subscribers only
Young workers face widening pay gap with other age groups (1,614 words)
Young people are facing unprecedented levels of joblessness. Even when they get a job, the pain does not end as employers are paying them less than ... Subscribers only