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Workplace Report November 2012
Living wage - The rate for a Living Wage rises this month to £7.45 nationally and £8.55 in London; Shift pay 2012 - Private sector workers have seen a return to normal patterns, but public sector staff are facing premia cuts; Latest case law on transfers, redundancies and dismissal
Pay and prices
Prices and pay gap reopens (251 words)
The gap between pay increases and inflation has widened dramatically, the latest figures show. ...
Subscribers only
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (231 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
Source: ASHE 2011 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Annual increases in average weekly earnings (AWE) (150 words)
Total pay including ... Open access
Other pay analysts (25 words)
... Open access
Prices (75 words)
1 Retail prices index, Jan ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (33 words)
Fourth quarter 2012 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Police staff settlement ‘best achievable’ (741 words)
A pay freeze is now officially in place for police staff in London and the rest of England and Wales, following protracted negotiations which this ... Subscribers only
Progession and sick pay on NHS agenda in England (448 words)
Adjustments to incremental pay progression and sick pay are among a range of changes to Agenda for Change conditions of service in the NHS that ... Subscribers only
Unions respond to parental leave plans (314 words)
The announcement on shared parental leave met with a mixed response from the unions. ... Subscribers only
Pay boosted by long-term agreements (287 words)
Leyland Trucks has concluded a new three-year agreement from September 2012. The deal increases pay by 4% this year then by 3% each year in 2013 and 2 ... Subscribers only
Employers call on all FE colleges to pay increase (460 words)
This year’s national pay settlement for further education colleges in England was “bottom loaded” with a £200 increase for ... Subscribers only
Pay improvements on menu in food industry (331 words)
A number of pay deals have been concluded in the food industry. ... Subscribers only
New pay benchmarking service for local councils (149 words)
The Local Government Association, together with a group of regional employers, has developed a new public sector pay benchmarking service, known as ... Open access
Save the black cab (133 words)
Sacked workers from Coventry-based black cab manufacturer Manganese Bronze are being supported by the Unite unions London black cab members in their ... Open access
Equality news
Women and part-timers don’t score on pensions (457 words)
Low-paid workers are far less likely to have a workplace pension, and those that do have far lower employer contribution rates, according to a new ... Subscribers only
Disabled near tipping point (235 words)
A survey, commissioned by a coalition of over 90 disabled people’s organisations and charities, found that eight out of 10 respondents claim ... Open access
Flexibility for shared parental leave (286 words)
The coalition government announced that from 2015 women will be able to return to work two weeks after giving birth and share the rest of their ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Committee calls for apprenticeship reform (324 words)
A report on apprenticeships from the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) select committee concludes that urgent reform is needed to the ... Subscribers only
Education station (99 words)
More than 40 staff at Newcastle Central Station were presented with certificates for their achievements in literacy, numeracy and IT by the managing ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Derecognition plan is Virgin on the ridiculous (389 words)
Unions at Virgin Media say the telecoms and media giant is planning to derecognise them whatever the results of a company “referendum” ... Subscribers only
Nurses say No to curbs on facility time (133 words)
The non-TUC Royal College of Nursing has added its voice to that of other public sector unions arguing against curbing trade union facility time. ... Open access
European news
Lufthansa workers get pay rise — but at a price (519 words)
The German airline Lufthansa and UFO, the union representing cabin crew, have agreed an above inflation pay increase for next year after more than ... Subscribers only
Austrian employers fail in fragmentation move (248 words)
An attempt by the Austrian employers’ organisation to fragment bargaining in the metalworking industry seems to have comprehensively failed, ... Open access
Six-year deal in Malta (190 words)
Unions representing 30,000 public sector workers on Malta have reached agreement with the government on a long-term pay deal, which increases pay by ... Open access
Spanish job and pay cuts (124 words)
Iberia, the Spanish airline, which in 2011 merged with British Airways to form a new company IAG, is planning job and pay cuts. ... Open access
Law - TUPE
Transfers - the law (253 words)
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) are intended to protect the rights of employees on the transfer of ... Subscribers only
TUPE’d workers did not have to accept ‘self-employed’ terms (339 words)
A local authority put its window-cleaning contract out for re-tender, and the bid was won by F&G Cleaners Limited (F&G). F&G won the bid ... Subscribers only
Harmonisation of contracts led to discord and unfair dismissals (880 words)
Three and a half thousand new staff joined Manchester College, a further education college, as a result of a TUPE transfer of the Offender Learning ... Subscribers only
Law - Redundancy
Redundancy - the law (303 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 ... Subscribers only
European court refuses to rule on consultation failure (324 words)
Some 200 civilians were employed at the US military base at Hythe where they were represented by a staff council. The US government decided to close ... Subscribers only
Legal reversal means less work can lead to redundancy (398 words)
This case revisits the meaning of “redundancy” and is a significant deveopment in the law. The case decides that there does not always ... Subscribers only
What’s the score over selection process for redundancy? (367 words)
Mr Nicholls worked as a field service engineer. The employer needed to make one redundancy and engaged in a selection exercise which resulted in his ... Subscribers only
Consult — then select — or dismissal is unfair (253 words)
Mr Tattersall was in a senior management team of five (the SMT). To cut costs, the brewery’s board of directors decided to make one ... Subscribers only
Law - Dismissal
Dismissal - the law (449 words)
f Employees dismissed unfairly can go to a tribunal if they have been working for at least a year, although some types of dismissal do not require ... Subscribers only
Sacking over misuse of taxi account a reasonable response (395 words)
Mr McCafferty worked as a postman. He was dismissed for gross misconduct after using Royal Mail’s taxi account 87 times over the course of a ... Subscribers only
Constructive dismissal and main reason for resignation (297 words)
Ms Logan resigned from her job as a veterinary nurse because her employer failed to pay contractual sick pay and because of bullying. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Safety reps use body mapping to tackle MSDs (261 words)
Unite workplace safety reps have successfully used the union’s guidance on body mapping to tackle musculo-skeletal disorders (MSDs) in their ... Subscribers only
Recognition for green union projects (126 words)
Union-supported environmental projects have won prestigious Green Gown awards this month. The awards recognise exceptional sustainability ... Open access
Shop staff back Bill that will give them protection (252 words)
Earlier this month, shopworkers’ union Usdaw used Respect for Shopworkers Week to call on MPs to back a Protection of Workers Bill that will ... Subscribers only
Accord works with bank to tackle stress (251 words)
Finance union Accord used National Stress Awareness Day on 7 November to highlight the issue of stress among its members at Lloyds Banking Group and ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Concern over deaths of self-employed builders (367 words)
Construction union UCATT says it has obtained figures showing that there was a large increase in construction fatalities involving self-employed ... Subscribers only
Proposed changes to RIDDOR could cost lives (339 words)
Plans outlined by the the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), to remove requirements on employers to report work-related diseases, dangerous ... Subscribers only
Unions call for national audit of asbestos in schools (288 words)
In the absence of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspections, the Westminster government should follow the lead of the Welsh Assembly and order a ... Subscribers only
Features
Living Wage makes a ‘huge difference’ to workers (2,289 words)
Since its launch in 2001 the Living Wage campaign has helped over 45,000 employees and put over £210 million into the pockets of some of the ... Subscribers only
Normal service is resumed for shiftworkers in private sector (2,510 words)
Shift premia in collectively negotiated private sector agreements have recovered from their blip in the recession. But public sector shift workers ... Subscribers only