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Workplace Report February 2013
Casualised working - Workplace Report asked union reps and officials about the rise of irregular work arrangements such as zero-hours contracts; WERS - The latest study covers issues faced at workplaces by trade unionists in the economic downturn; Latest case law on transfers, redundancies and dismissal
Pay and prices
Settlements post 3.0% rise (239 words)
Pay settlements averaged 3.0% in the three months to December according to the latest figures from Labour Research Department’s Payline database. ...
Open access
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (223 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
Source: ASHE 2012 uprated by ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (149 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual ... Open access
Other pay analysts (25 words)
Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end December 2012) 2.0% Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end December 2012) 2.0% ... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail prices index, Jan ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (33 words)
Fourth quarter 2013 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Construction unions defend their national agreements (678 words)
Workers and their unions in the construction industry signalled their determination to defend nationally negotiated terms and conditions with a ...
Subscribers only
Auto-enrolment into pensions (464 words)
Automatic enrolment of workers into workplace pensions is gathering pace and it should soon become clear whether employers are “levelling down” ... Subscribers only
Rail cleaners campaign on pay (249 words)
The RMT transport union’s campaign for better pay and conditions for staff at Churchill Cleaners on Tyne and Wear Metro and Arriva Trains Wales ... Open access
New deals running at 2.6% to 2.7% (274 words)
January pay deals hit a midpoint of 3% on the Labour Research Department’s Payline database, but if the effect of long-term deals is stripped out, ... Subscribers only
Regulator to campaign over ‘pension liberation fraud’ (427 words)
The Pensions Regulator, working with a multi-agency team of tax, finance crime and pensions advice agencies, has launched a campaign to alert people ... Subscribers only
ILO confirms ‘double dip’ in wages (299 words)
Stronger institutions for wage setting, stronger protection for low-paid workers and more re-distribution are needed to get global wages growing at ... Subscribers only
‘Work your proper hours’ (284 words)
For nine years, the TUC has been holding a “Work your proper hours day” and this year it falls on 1 March. It is the day when the average person ... Subscribers only
Equality news
New parents get right to shared leave in first year (433 words)
A new system of shared parental leave and the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees are included in the Children and ... Subscribers only
Survey finds practice fails to match up to policies (296 words)
The initial findings from the Workplace Employment Relations Study 2011 (WERS) show that, while Britain’s workforce is increasingly diverse and ... Subscribers only
Sickness absence and discrimination guide (102 words)
The TUC has issued a negotiator’s guide on sickness absence and disability discrimination covering current case law and existing good practice. ... Open access
Professor deficit (155 words)
Women and black and minority ethnic (BME) university workers are disproportionately under-represented at professorial level, according to the UCU ... Open access
Learning and training news
Fall in construction apprenticeship starts (227 words)
The latest statistics from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) reveal that there were just 24,000 apprenticeship starts in ... Open access
Unions lobby over apprenticeship fees (80 words)
Members of UNISON, the University and College Union and Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the National Union of Students, lobbied MPs at the ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Unions sign landmark accord at care provider (255 words)
A landmark recognition agreement in the home care sector has been signed by the GMB and UNISON unions and the non-TUC Royal College of Nursing. ... Subscribers only
Ballot for strike action over derecognition (152 words)
The Unite general union has agreed to ballot 450 paramedics and other ambulance workers for industrial action following the union’s derecognition ... Open access
Unionised workplaces (136 words)
Amid the range of not-so-comforting statistics about union membership comes one piece of good news: the proportion of unionised workplaces with shop ... Open access
European news
PSA Peugeot Citroen agreement aims to avoid compulsory job losses (550 words)
Unions and management at the car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen have reached an agreement on the terms under which one plant, employing 3,000, will be ... Subscribers only
German energy workers win inflation beating deal (226 words)
IGBCE and Verdi, the two unions representing workers at the German energy company E.ON have agreed a settlement which will see pay rise by 2.8%, as ... Open access
Italian telecoms deal protects workers at subcontractors (250 words)
Agreement has been reached on a new three-year deal for the 160,000 employees in the Italian telecommunications industry after 13 months of ... Subscribers only
Law - TUPE
Transfers — the law (284 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
Duty on employers to supply information on agency workers (447 words)
UNISON has won an important tribunal victory, enforcing the duty to provide information about agency workers in collective consultation under ... Subscribers only
Law - Redundancy
Redundancy — the law (200 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 ... Open access
Redundancy policy in staff handbook can be contractual (397 words)
In 1999, the employer, a manufacturer of engine valves, reached an agreement with its Joint Works Council for enhanced redundancy payments. ... Subscribers only
Law - Dismissal
Dismissal — the law (569 words)
f Employees dismissed unfairly can go to a tribunal if they have been working for at least a year (or two years for all new employees who started ... Subscribers only
Failure to interview witnesses made dismissal unfair (471 words)
Mr Stuart was a ground services agent at City Airport. He had an unblemished service record in a position of trust and his most recent appraisal ... Subscribers only
Notice must be clear and unambiguous (658 words)
Mr Geys was a highly paid managing director. In a meeting in November 2007, he was told by his employer that his employment was to end immediately, ... Subscribers only
EAT gives important new guidance on warnings (698 words)
Mr Stone had ten years service working for Wincanton as a driver. He was dismissed for pulling out of a loading bay when the light was red. At the ... Subscribers only
Reinstatement can be ordered even if compensation is cut (369 words)
Mr Eleftheriou, a bus driver for Arriva London was dismissed for capability reasons after an accident at home left him unable to drive. ... Subscribers only
‘Band of reasonable responses’ does not breach human rights (420 words)
Mrs Turner worked as a conductor for East Midlands Trains for 12 years. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Ten simple steps could change safety landscape (451 words)
The TUC has issued a 10-point manifesto for improving the UK’s workplace safety record. It believes that, taken together, these 10 simple steps ... Subscribers only
Firms out of REACH (299 words)
Some companies are ignorant of their obligations under the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals Regulation (REACH), said the EEF ... Subscribers only
Corporate death cases rise (272 words)
The number of corporate manslaughter files opened by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) increased by 40% last year. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Sharps regulations won’t apply outside healthcare (298 words)
At the end of 2012, the HSE consulted on its proposed implementation of European Directive 2010/32/EU (“the Directive”) concerning preventing ... Subscribers only
Risks of oxygen at work (293 words)
It may sound strange but working with oxygen can have its risks, so guidance from the HSE on working safely with the gas is welcome. ... Subscribers only
Safety charges pay (191 words)
The new Fee for Intervention scheme, which was introduced by the HSE last October, is generating considerable revenue. ... Open access
Using chainsaws (95 words)
New guidance on using chainsaws safely has been published by the HSE. ... Open access
HSE regulation of offshore activities (95 words)
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2013 is expected to come into effect on 6 April 2013. ... Open access
Features
Zero-hours contracts on the increase across all sectors (3,370 words)
Casualised work arrangements, such as “zero-hours” contracts, are spreading. The recession seems to be a lot to do with it, but there is also a ... Open access
In the shadow of recession – the 2011 workplace survey (2,102 words)
For over 30 years the Workplace Employment Relations Study has examined the issues facing employees, trade unionists and employers. There is, with ... Subscribers only