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Workplace Report December 2012
Health promotion - Making New Year resolutions? Workplace Report surveys employer initiatives on workers' good health; 2012 survey of earnings - The gender pay gap closed, according to the latest official snapshot of earnings in the UK; Latest case law on contracts and employment tribunals
Pay and prices
As you were on on pay rises (254 words)
The latest figures from LRD’s Payline database show pay rises averaging just 2.1% in the three months to November, unchanged over the ...
Subscribers only
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (224 words)
The figures show median (midpoint) pay settlements among all the agreements monitored through the LRD Payline database. The weighted median (by ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
Source: ASHE 2012 uprated by ... Open access
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 2013 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Performance-related pay gets Gove go-ahead (764 words)
Education secretary Michael Gove has accepted recommendations from the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) that give much greater “freedomȁ ... Subscribers only
Arriva North London bus drivers are anti-freeze (445 words)
It was a case of “trading places” for public and private sector workers last month. Bus drivers at Arriva North London face a possible ... Subscribers only
Action to win Living Wage (319 words)
The continuing campaign for the Living Wage has seen a number of strikes at cleaning companies, while elsewhere there have been successes in getting ... Subscribers only
Are changes on the way for inflation? (267 words)
In October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began a consultation on options they were considering for improving the Retail Prices Index ... Subscribers only
Three-year deal for engineering construction workers (416 words)
Engineering construction workers voted last month to accept a new three-year deal that will see pay rates rise by a total 7.7%. ... Subscribers only
Innovation in pensions (283 words)
Questions about the quality of workplace pensions are inevitable, but the government seems to be serious about improving what’s on offer, the ... Subscribers only
Fair Work Commission (121 words)
Unions21 has established a Fair Work Commission which will run from November 2012 to March 2013. It aims to bring together new ideas on “how ... Open access
Great payroll scandal (137 words)
A new report for construction workers’ union UCATT exposes the scandal of bogus self-employment in the building trade. ... Open access
Equality news
Disabled workers thrown onto job scrapheap (408 words)
Unions have accused the government of cruelty following an announcement to close more of the factories run by disabled employer Remploy, which will ... Subscribers only
Rail union takes lead on neurodiverse conditions (283 words)
Research undertaken by the TSSA rail union is recommending that people with conditions such as dyslexia would benefit from the development of ... Subscribers only
Ethnic minority women losers in jobs market (252 words)
Black and minority ethnic women are twice as likely to be out of work compared to white women, according to a report from the all-party ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Richard review calls for quality apprenticeships (371 words)
The Richard review of apprenticeships was published at the end of November 2012 and calls on the government to improve the quality of apprenticeships. ... Subscribers only
Unionlearn Euro grant (103 words)
The TUC’s learning and skills organisation, Unionlearn, has secured a major grant from the European Union to fund an investigation into ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Collective bargaining ended by Virgin Media (291 words)
Virgin Media has torn up collective agreements with the CWU and BECTU communications unions, following a narrow vote by staff against union ... Subscribers only
Unite recognition at Kellycare nurseries (49 words)
A group of employees of Kellycare nurseries in East Kilbride have voted by 56% in favour of recognition of the Unite union in a re-run of a ... Open access
Blacklisting hit Olympics (107 words)
Blacklisting of construction workers was still taking place during the building of London Olympic sites, according to blacklister Ian Kerr, who was ... Open access
European news
Two Italian unions groups say ‘Deal’, but biggest group says ‘No deal’ (750 words)
CISL and UIL, the smallest of Italy’s three big union confederations, have just agreed two major deals — one covering productivity and ... Subscribers only
Jobs guarantee for older German rail workers (307 words)
EVG, Germany’s main rail union, has reached an agreement with the main railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) on the way the company will cope ... Subscribers only
Law - Contracts
Contracts - the law (449 words)
Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions ... Subscribers only
Demotion over Facebook postings a breach of contract (921 words)
Mr Smith, a practising Christian and occasional lay preacher, worked as a manager for a housing trust (the Trust). ... Subscribers only
What time counts towards permanent status? (340 words)
This case concerns the 2002 Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations, and in particular the meaning of Regulation 8. ... Subscribers only
Employer not required to make guarantee payment (331 words)
The claimants, members of the GMB general union, were hourly-paid workers at the cooker manufacturer Aga Rangemaster, where the union is recognised. ... Subscribers only
Individual must accept some work to rank as employee (282 words)
Mr Knight was a taxi driver who worked seven days a week with the Fairway and Kenwood taxi service (F&K). When the arrangement came to an end, ... Subscribers only
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals - the law (333 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
Tribunal’s language suggested bias over question of costs (226 words)
Ms Oni brought claims of constructive unfair dismissal, race discrimination and victimisation against NHS Leicester City Care Trust. The hearing ... Open access
Claimants must cooperate on expert medical opinions (373 words)
Mr Bacchus, brought a claim against his employer, the British intelligence agency GCHQ, alleging disability discrimination and failure to make ... Subscribers only
Adjournment must be granted to claimant if they’re unfit (458 words)
Mr Iqbal suffered from stress and depression. He brought various tribunal claims against his employer. ... Subscribers only
Claim struck out over missed deadline on ‘Unless’ Order (304 words)
Mr Laing brought a tribunal claim for a subsistence allowance for the cost of meals bought on location. During the claim, the tribunal made an ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Rail unions step up action on threat to safety from cuts (449 words)
Transport unions are stepping up action on safety in response to what they say is the undermining of safety as a result of government cuts and ... Subscribers only
Electromagnetic fields draft directive approved (287 words)
The social and employment committee of the European Parliament has approved a draft directive to improve the safety of workers most exposed to ... Subscribers only
Breast cancer study shows women face ‘toxic soup’ (272 words)
New international research has found that women who work in jobs where they are exposed to a “toxic soup” of chemicals are at a much ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Local council enforcement action on safety nosedives (332 words)
Safety enforcement action by local authorities (LAs) is plummeting, according to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures. ... Subscribers only
Outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease could hit capital (345 words)
London could experience an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease with potentially “catastrophic consequences” because of the poor ... Subscribers only
Olympics was success for HSE (271 words)
Prospect, the union representing HSE inspectors, has welcomed new research highlighting the contribution of the safety regulator in ensuring that ... Subscribers only
Features
Shake off economic blues with some health and well-being (3,107 words)
Some employers have reacted to the recession and spending cuts by cracking down on sickness absence. But as a Workplace Report survey discovered, ... Subscribers only
No real advance on earnings but women fare better (1,755 words)
Full-time average weekly earnings fell in real terms but the gender pay gap narrowed slightly in April 2012, according to official figures. ... Subscribers only