Fact Service April 2012

Issue 17 (26/04/2012) Age discrimination rulings by Court; Employers need to update on training; Lansley faces fight over local pay in NHS; Union membership 2011; UK economy slips back into recession; Strike possibility at Ford over pensions

Issue 16 (19/04/2012) Earnings are still losing their value; RPI inflation down; Tax is for little people; Agency workers; Unemployment falls, claimants climb

Issue 15 (12/04/2012) Factory output posts only weak rise; Firms circumvent agency worker rules; Tax avoiders; Manufacturing take-home pay rises; Apprenticeships for young people; Executive pay under attack at Barclays; Deal lifts strike action at Primark; All apprenticeships to last at least 12 months

Issue 14 (05/04/2012) Pension promise broken; Police to be balloted on right to strike; Auto-enrolment triggers set by government; Prescription charges; Changes to employment law take effect; Missing £250; Coalition must come clean on losers; Are pay committees the new closed shop?

Issue 17

Age discrimination rulings by Court (610 words)

A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court has outlined the powers that employers have to force workers to retire. ...
Subscribers only

Employers need to update on training (246 words)

Employers are relying on outdated training methods and techniques when developing their staff, according to research published by the Chartered ...
Open access

Lansley faces fight over local pay in NHS (330 words)

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has outlined his support for regional pay in the Department of Health’s evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body, ...
Subscribers only

Union membership 2011 (612 words)

Trade union membership levels fell for the fourth consecutive year, according to an annual analysis — Trade union membership 2011 — ...
Subscribers only

UK economy slips back into recession (225 words)

The UK economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), has returned to recession, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012, ...
Open access

Strike possibility at Ford over pensions (289 words)

Ford UK has been given notice by the general union Unite of its intention to hold a ballot for industrial action over pensions. ...
Subscribers only

Issue 16

Earnings are still losing their value (579 words)

Average earnings growth recovered somewhat in February. Average weekly earnings, including bonuses, for the whole economy posted a provisional ...
Subscribers only

RPI inflation down (437 words)

Retail price inflation fell slightly, according to the Office for National Statistics. ...
Subscribers only

Tax is for little people (213 words)

Britain’s tax-dodging millionaires were officially exposed when new Treasury figures revealed that many are paying a lower rate of income tax ...
Open access

Agency workers (225 words)

The majority of employers give temporary workers the same basic conditions as permanent hires from day one of their assignments, despite not having ...
Open access

Unemployment falls, claimants climb (717 words)

There was some small comfort for the coalition government in the fall in unemployment figures, but the number of benefit claimants rose for the ...
Subscribers only

Issue 15

Factory output posts only weak rise (243 words)

Manufacturing output rose by just 0.2% in the three months to February on the previous three months, according to the Office for National Statistics ...
Open access

Firms circumvent agency worker rules (357 words)

Nearly two-thirds of respondents are relying on at least one or more exclusions to the 2010 Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) to soften their impact, ...
Subscribers only

Tax avoiders (332 words)

Unions have accused chancellor George Osborne of being wet behind the ears over the amount of tax avoided by the rich. ...
Subscribers only

Manufacturing take-home pay rises (128 words)

Manufacturing take-home pay grew year on year by 3.7% during the three months to March, according to the pay processors VocaLink. In a halt to the ...
Open access

Apprenticeships for young people (413 words)

Apprentices who had completed work experience, course tasters or vocational study were more likely to make good progress in their apprenticeship ...
Subscribers only

Executive pay under attack at Barclays (152 words)

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond should not get any bonus at all, the shareholders advisory group Pirc has said. ...
Open access

Deal lifts strike action threat at Primark (208 words)

The threat of industrial action at Primark in Northern Ireland has finally been lifted after members of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw members ...
Open access

All apprenticeships to last at least 12 months (362 words)

The government has announced a new minimum duration of 12 months for all apprenticeship schemes receiving funding, in a bid to boost training scheme ...
Subscribers only

Issue 14

Pension promise broken (233 words)

Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has accused the chancellor of breaking a promise over his ...
Open access

Police to be balloted on right to strike (150 words)

Police officers in England and Wales are set to vote on whether they should have the right to strike, the Police Federation has announced. ...
Open access

Auto-enrolment trigger set by government (285 words)

The government has aligned auto-enrolment rates for pensions for the next tax year with tax and national insurance (NI) thresholds. ...
Subscribers only

Prescription charges (179 words)

The cost of NHS prescriptions in England went up 25p to £7.65 an item on 1 April — a 3.4% increase. ...
Open access

Changes to employment law take effect (381 words)

Each April, the government introduces changes to employment legislation. The following are the main changes. ...
Subscribers only

Missing £250 (197 words)

Hundreds of thousands of low paid local government workers including home carers, residential care workers, cleaners and teaching assistants will ...
Open access

Coalition must come clean on losers (467 words)

The government should immediately release figures for the number of couples with children who will lose all of their Working Tax Credit from 6 ...
Subscribers only

Are pay committees the new closed shop? (420 words)

Unions have argued that having employee members on the pay or remuneration committees of companies would provide a dose of reality on boardroom pay. ...
Subscribers only