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Workplace Report October 2013
The 2012-2013 pay round - The last pay round proved hard going with the average figure for private sector deals showing a fall on a year ago; Latest case law on tribunals and contracts of employment
Pay and prices
Pay falls in real terms (262 words)
With pay settlements still averaging 2.5% and inflation at 3.2% the gap between pay rises and price rises remains substantial. ...
Subscribers only
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (224 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered). ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (48 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (143 words)
1 The latest three-month average. ... Open access
Other pay analysts (25 words)
... Open access
Prices (72 words)
1 Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (33 words)
Fourth quarter 2013 ... Open access
Bargaining news
‘Substantial’ rise needed to restore value of National Minimum Wage (771 words)
The National Minimum Wage is coming under ever greater scrutiny as concerns about living standards rise up the political agenda. Its limitations are ... Subscribers only
Guarded welcome from union for new Fair Deal (426 words)
New guidelines on what should happen to an employee’s pension if they are compulsorily transferred out of the public sector have been published ... Subscribers only
Pay deal ends strike threat on JLR contract (304 words)
The threat of strike action by members of Unite working for DHL on the contract at JaguarLandRover (JLR) has brought about a settlement. ... Subscribers only
Skills gap a drag on IT sector (272 words)
Skills shortages among IT specialists risk holding the economy back, according to a new UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) report, ... Subscribers only
EAT backs Visteon workers over refusal to pay increase (533 words)
An Employment Appeal Tribunal has backed workers at Chelmsford-based car components company Visteon Engineering Services (VES) in a claim against ... Subscribers only
Fight goes on for pension justice (249 words)
Former Ford employees made redundant by Visteon UK in 2009 are continuing their fight for pension justice. ... Open access
Civil service feels chill of Osborne’s austerity (192 words)
The impact of austerity showed clearly in civil service statistics for the year to 31 March 2013.The figures showed that employment in the civil ... Open access
Equality news
Coalition’s targeting of migrants makes us ‘spies’ (278 words)
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite general union, has condemned the government’s recent Immigration Bill and accused the coalition of ... Subscribers only
Ageism rife in recruitment (152 words)
A majority of older jobseekers continue to struggle against deeply embedded structural disadvantages and ingrained ageist attitudes in finding work, ... Open access
Rights of surrogate mothers (219 words)
Public services union UNISON has welcomed an opinion from the advocate general of the European Court of Justice as a “positive first step” in ... Open access
Union factsheets to combat homophobia (160 words)
A new guide for union reps on how to combat homophobia in the workplace has been published by the TUC. ... Open access
Transport cuts will hit people with disabilities (101 words)
Rail union RMT said the House of Commons Transport Select Committee report on disabled access to transport services was a clear warning to both the ... Open access
Learning and training news
More apprentices paid below the minimum wage level (280 words)
The TUC is calling on the government to take urgent action after official figures revealed that three in 10 (29%) apprentices were paid less than ... Subscribers only
Landmark deal in NHS (100 words)
The first ever multi-union learning agreement in an NHS national body in England has been signed with the management and maintenance firm NHS ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Mixed fortunes on deals but Prospect wins out (221 words)
An important union recognition deal has been voluntarily agreed for over 500 staff in the private sector nuclear industry. ... Open access
Going underground at Amazon (80 words)
The GMB general union says it has an underground network of trade unionists secretly organising at the union-averse online giant Amazon. ... Open access
Cut to teachers’ union time (136 words)
The Department for Education (DfE) has joined in the attack on paid time off for trade union duties. It has started consulting on how facility time ... Open access
European news
Agency workers in Germany win above inflation deal (472 words)
Unions in the main German union confederation, the DGB, have reached a new pay agreement with companies providing agency workers. ... Subscribers only
Public sector pay cuts in Portugal (361 words)
The Portuguese government has set out its plans for public sector pay from the start of 2014. And the cuts are bigger and will affect more people ... Subscribers only
Dutch unions in ‘small metal’ bash out 3.5% deal (185 words)
Unions and employers have reached agreement on a pay increase for the 325,000 workers in what is known as the “small metal” sector in the ... Open access
Heady increase in Austrian brewing (93 words)
The first settlements in the annual Austrian pay round were signed this month in the brewing industry, with separate agreements for manual and ... Open access
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals — the law (464 words)
Nearly all tribunal claims must be lodged within three months of the matter complained of. Tribunals can extend the time limit in an unfair ... Subscribers only
Costs order is upheld against an unrepresented claimant (315 words)
Ms Sud issued various claims against her employer in a hearing which lasted 12 days and ended with the withdrawal or dismissal of nearly all her ... Subscribers only
Cases will not always be rescheduled, even for genuine illness (402 words)
Ms Riley worked for the Crown Prosecution Service. She had been off work since 2008 with severe depression resulting from workplace bullying. ... Subscribers only
Non-cooperation over medical reports is not advisable (304 words)
Mr Ahmed, a council street ranger, issued tribunal claims alleging discrimination on grounds of race, religion and disability. He was unrepresented. ... Subscribers only
Tribunal right to hold hearing in absence of ill claimant (431 words)
Mr O’Cathail had issued tribunal proceedings against his former employer, Transport for London (TFL). He had caught a chest infection that ... Subscribers only
Right to be accompanied by union official upheld by EAT (345 words)
Mr Toal raised a grievance with his employer. A meeting was arranged to consider it, but he was not allowed to be accompanied by his chosen ... Subscribers only
Claimant’s ability to pay costs must be considered by tribunal (610 words)
Mr Howman, was summarily dismissed by an NHS Trust for putting a fake letter on the hospital website, pretending to be from the hospital’s chief ... Subscribers only
Law - Contracts
Contracts — the law (366 words)
Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions between an ... Subscribers only
Holiday pay must include overtime and shift premia (477 words)
In a victory for the RMT transport workers’ union, an employment tribunal has confirmed that holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 ... Subscribers only
Token sum of £1 for unused holiday was unlawful (237 words)
Ms Podlasiak worked for Edinburgh Woollen Mills on a zero-hours contract. She resigned to look for other work. When she left, she was owed three ... Open access
Abolition of check-off system was breach of contract (357 words)
In July, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) wrote to Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS civil service union, to end ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Unions need ‘resilience’ over employer gimmick (264 words)
It was World Mental Health Day on 10 October, when events took place to raise awareness about mental health issues. However, the TUC has warned of ... Subscribers only
CWU mental wellbeing initiative at BT (88 words)
The CWU communications workers’ union has announced a partnership with one of the largest employers of its members, BT. ... Open access
Anger over flying time rules (377 words)
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) has called on the government to block European plans to cut UK flight safety standards which have ... Subscribers only
Prison service to put out lights (292 words)
Plans by the government to make all areas of prisons in England and Wales smoke free by 2015 have been welcomed by the POA prison officers’ union. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Watered down reporting regulations ‘dangerous’ (424 words)
Changes to the regulations on reporting injuries and dangerous occurrences came into effect on 1 October. They further downgrade safety reporting, ... Subscribers only
Slip-ups over local authority inspection stats blamed on guidance (251 words)
HSE statistics for 2012 and 2013 have come under criticism in Environmental Health News (EHN), the publication of the professional body for local ... Subscribers only
Blitz highlights folly of HSE cuts (278 words)
An inspection blitz in September by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that targeted the construction refurbishment sector has found a large ... Subscribers only
Features
Upturn in economy has yet to feed into pay settlements (4,872 words)
The economy is growing again, but there is little sign of it in headline trends on pay deals in the private sector. Meanwhile, Chancellor Osborne ... Open access