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Workplace Report March 2013
Personal injury claims - Government reforms that come into force in April will bring changes to way civil litigation cases are processed; Energy sector - There has been over most of the last six years a positive energy pay gap; Latest case law on contracts and employment tribunals
Pay and prices
Settlements still lag prices (253 words)
Pay continues to be eroded by inflation. The latest figures from the Labour Research Department’s Payline database of collective agreements ...
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 2012 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (151 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual ... Open access
Other pay analysts (25 words)
... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (33 words)
Fourth quarter 2013 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Progression to be hit by chancellor’s pay curbs (775 words)
Chancellor George Osborne announced in his 2013 Budget that he is extending his public sector pay curbs to the system of pay progression and is also ... Subscribers only
Bring back wages councils, says TUC’s O’Grady (483 words)
The re-introduction of wages councils, abolished by the last Conservative government in 1993, should be part of the solution to the crisis in living ... Subscribers only
National or local bargaining? (267 words)
Two unions — Unite and Unity — have taken two different approaches to industry bargaining. ... Subscribers only
‘Aberdeen Weighting’ agreed (263 words)
British Gas has agreed a system of retention payments or “Aberdeen Weighting” which will apply to eligible grades including technical ... Subscribers only
Fears about inflation rates as RPI gets downgraded (409 words)
Two new measures of inflation have been introduced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, the longstanding Retail Prices Index (RPI) ... Subscribers only
College unions put their 5% claim in early (326 words)
Pay rises due last year had only just been applied at some of England’s further education colleges when unions met employer representatives ... Subscribers only
Lords oppose sale of rights (251 words)
In a victory for union campaigners, the House of Lords has voted against the coalition government’s move to allow employees to give up some ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Call for investigation over maternity discrimination (401 words)
Worrying findings have led to calls for a new maternity discrimination investigation amid concerns that “attitudes are hardening”. ... Subscribers only
Pay gap is just one issue facing women in their 50s (370 words)
Women in their 50s earn nearly a fifth less than men of the same age, making it the widest gender pay gap of any age group, according to a recent ... Subscribers only
Increase in unpaid parental leave (157 words)
As of last month parents are entitled to an additional five weeks’ unpaid parental leave. ... Open access
Flexible working code (123 words)
Conciliation service Acas has launched a consultation on a draft code of practice to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees. ... Open access
Learning and training news
Incentives for apprenticeships (276 words)
Two new reports from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) focus attention on the role of employers in increasing training and job ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Union fights back over scrapping of recognition at Virgin Media (275 words)
Virgin Media, which tore up agreements with its two recognised unions last December, will be forced to fight again this year to keep the unions out. ... Subscribers only
More recognition successes (139 words)
Health service union UNISON has signed what it calls a “historic” recognition agreement with Cornwall’s out-of-hours GP ... Open access
UNISON Target is 100% (173 words)
Public services union UNISON has launched a major recruitment drive in what general secretary Dave Prentis described as “the most traumatic ... Open access
European news
Irish unions are divided over Croke Park II agreement (514 words)
Members of Irish public sector unions are currently voting on a new deal on pay and conditions. Although Ireland’s largest public sector ... Subscribers only
Above-inflation rise agreed in German public sector (214 words)
Unions have reached an agreement on a pay rise for the around 800,000 public sector employees working at the regional level in Germany. ... Open access
IG Metall pay claim (59 words)
Germany’s largest union —IG Metall — has agreed its claim for 3.7 million employees in the metalworking and electrical industry. ... Open access
Workers at Ford Genk agree redundancy terms (181 words)
Workers at Ford’s assembly plant in Genk, Belgium, which is being closed, have accepted the redundancy terms being proposed by the company. ... Open access
Danish municipal workers pen deal (112 words)
Unions representing some 500,000 local government workers have reached agreement on wage increases over the next two years. ... Open access
Law - Contracts
Contracts - the law (424 words)
Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions ... Subscribers only
Employment contract starts from date of accepting job offer (652 words)
In January 2009, Mr Welton joined the Sheffield store of his employer, with a working week from Sunday to Saturday. The store closed down on 23 ... Subscribers only
Cabin crew bound by signed employment contract (621 words)
The two claimants worked in the UK as airline cabin crew for the UK subsidiary of the Australian national carrier Quantas on a secondment arrangement. ... Subscribers only
Employee bound by contract he did not sign or return (287 words)
Mr Lacy joined his employer as a graduate entrant and then worked for several years under a signed contract that contained no restrictive covenants. ... Subscribers only
Employment status hinges on employer’s right to control (225 words)
White and Todd were caretakers/managers of a small Surrey estate for absentee owners who visited once or twice a year. Their contract gave them ... Open access
Rules in agreement on job evaluation process not binding (373 words)
Ms Simpson was employed as a bilingual teaching assistant by the London Borough of Hackney. She started work on Pay Grade 1. Over a period of around ... Subscribers only
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals - the law (296 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 claim ruled out of time as it was filed one day late (419 words)
Ms De Souza, a recruitment consultant at Manpower UK Limited, was refused permission to continue with claims of unfair dismissal and race ... Subscribers only
Claims can be struck out at pre-hearing review (416 words)
Ms Eastman took a four-year career break policy from supermarket chain Tesco. Under the retailer’s career break policy, staff who took a ... Subscribers only
Legal representation refusal at disciplinary and human rights (441 words)
Ms Parry, a probate registrar, argued that her dismissal was unfair, partly due to a refusal by her employer, the Ministry of Justice, to allow ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Increased risk of breathing problems for cleaners (327 words)
Strong evidence for a link between cleaning jobs and the risk of developing asthma has been found by a recent study. ... Subscribers only
‘Justice denied’ on deaths (246 words)
Construction union UCATT is calling for urgent action to be taken to ensure that companies responsible for the death of a construction worker are ... Open access
Public not private testing of lorries (122 words)
The privatisation of heavy vehicle testing will have a detrimental impact on road safety, unions from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency ... Open access
Reps should get training (117 words)
Union safety reps should take time out for training to make sure they maximise their effectiveness, says the TUC in a new factsheet. ... Open access
Inspections make for safer workplaces (156 words)
Trade unions want to see more inspections of all businesses as it is the most effective way of ensuring compliance with the law. That’s the ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Reps can check workplaces are safe from killer gas (388 words)
The deaths of a number of people at home from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning highlight the need for proper installation and maintenance of gas ... Subscribers only
Protecting lone workers (321 words)
There are between three and four million lone workers operating in the UK at any one time, according to estimates from the Office for National ... Subscribers only
HSE advice on new First aid rules (268 words)
Changes to the 1981 Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations are expected to come into force this October. The main change is that there will be no ... Subscribers only
Features
Trade unionists will be among the millions who will lose out (3,242 words)
Government reforms changing the way that civil cases are processed and funded will start to take effect next month. The reforms apply across civil ... Open access
Is there renewed confidence in power generation and supply? (1,846 words)
By labour market standards the energy sector is small but strategically important and often packs a punch when it comes to pay and conditions. It ... Subscribers only