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Workplace Report September 2014
Parental leave and pay - Rights for parents are set to change next year. Workplace Report sets out the changes and looks at the top deals on maternity and paternity leave and pay presently available; Homeworking - Flexible working has boosted numbers working from home. Workplace Report has the answers to what makes a good homeworking policy; Latest case law on Discrimination
Pay and prices
Pay and cost of living at 2.4% (269 words)
Collectively agreed pay settlements kept pace with the rise in the cost of living in August, but official earnings figures continue to make grim ...
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 (41 words)
All workers £607.90 All male £663.10 All female £522.20 Managers £948.20 Professionals £770.00 Associate professional £653.90 Admin & ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (160 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Other pay analysts (23 words)
... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail prices index, Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (36 words)
Fourth quarter 2014 ... Open access
Bargaining news
UNISON in landmark deal with National Society (765 words)
Over 800 employers have become accredited Living Wage employers and the number is set to grow further. ... Subscribers only
Pay and jobs the focus of bus and train staff (412 words)
Pay and jobs are on the transport agenda as London bus workers demand sector-wide negotiations and councillors in Liverpool back a union demand to ... Subscribers only
Threat of industrial action brings deal for BBC staff (305 words)
Union members at the BBC have voted to accept a revised pay offer of £800 for those earning below £50,000 and £650 for those earning above. ... Subscribers only
Disciplined action (57 words)
ASLEF drivers at Arriva Trains Wales voted overwhelmingly this month for strike action over the company’s continued failure to resolve matters ... Open access
That’s the ticket (69 words)
Traffic wardens in the London Borough of Ealing, employed by the support services group NSL, have won a 2% pay rise, followed by a further 1.5% in 201 ... Open access
Living Wage oasis (49 words)
Oasis Community Learning Trust is to apply for accreditation as a Living Wage employer in an agreement reached with UNISON. The trust runs a chain of ... Open access
Minimum wage pledge (104 words)
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady welcomed Ed Miliband’s pledge at the Labour Party’s annual conference to raise the National Minimum Wage ... Open access
Strike action looms over pay in councils and NHS (402 words)
Ten days on from the historic referendum on Scottish independence, UNISON Scotland will know whether its local government members have voted to take ... Subscribers only
Cost savings are hitting contracted-out staff (307 words)
evidence that contracted-out workers would benefit from protections like the Living Wage and the two-tier workforce code of practice emerges from a ... Subscribers only
Increase overtakes wages growth (266 words)
A total of £40.5 billion was paid in bonuses in the year to April 2014 – a 4.9% rise on the previous year. That compares with median pay ... Subscribers only
Equality news
LGBT staff and young workers to be targeted by unions (376 words)
Unions are stepping up campaigns to encourage under-represented groups into active membership, the 2014 TUC Equality Audit shows. ... Subscribers only
Need for employers to help victims of domestic violence (305 words)
The far-reaching consequences of domestic violence and its impact on the workplace have been highlighted by the TUC. ... Subscribers only
Gender pay scheme flops (151 words)
A government initiative to encourage companies to report on the gender pay gap among their staff and actions to address failings, has fallen flat ... Open access
First job guide (121 words)
New guidance for young workers and others starting their first job to help them understand their employment rights has been launched by the Acas ... Open access
Learning and training news
Cuts threaten Unionlearn (434 words)
The positive role that the TUC’s Unionlearn plays in supporting unions and union learning reps to help workers to improve their literacy and ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Fight to keep subs facility (267 words)
The TUC is to press government departments to continue to deduct union subscriptions from wages following a Home Office decision to end the facility. ... Subscribers only
Recognition successes (100 words)
Two unions have recently won collective bargaining rights through the statutory recognition process. ... Open access
Trade union positives (107 words)
A TUC pamphlet, The union advantage, outlines how unions benefit not only individual workers but also employers and society as a whole. ... Open access
European news
European equality pact is signed by French banking group (405 words)
BNP Paribas, the French-based banking group, has reached an agreement with its employee representatives on action to improve the position of women ... Subscribers only
Strikes win fast-food deal in Germany (311 words)
Workers at the Autogrill chain of service stations on Germany’s motorway network have won their struggle for better conditions. After a series of ... Subscribers only
Spanish union slates employers on bargaining (268 words)
CCOO, one of Spain’s two main union confederations has strongly criticised the action of some of employers in blocking negotiations and setting up ... Subscribers only
Law - Discrimination
Discrimination - the law (1,269 words)
Discrimination law is found in the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010). The EA 2010 lists nine “protected characteristics”: age; disability; gender ... Subscribers only
Claimant only has to show evidence of disadvantage (418 words)
A test case was brought against the Home Office on discovering that a disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic (BME) candidates over the ... Subscribers only
Mandatory retirement age of 65 was not direct age discrimination (429 words)
Mr Seldon was a partner at a firm of solicitors. He was forced to retire at age 65 by a term in the firm’s partnership deed. He brought a tribunal ... Subscribers only
Duty of reasonable adjustments is only owed to disabled person (338 words)
Ms Hainsworth worked in Germany for the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Her teenage daughter had Down’s Syndrome. ... Subscribers only
Illegality of arrangement does not prevent discrimination claim (540 words)
Ms Hounga entered the UK illegally from Nigeria with the help of her employer, Mrs Allen. Hounga was aged around 14 when she entered the UK on a ... Subscribers only
Cost and burden of proof on disability falls on claimant (489 words)
Ms Ling, was employed as an “Asda Ace Janitor” for City Facilities Management, an outsourcing company that held the contract to provide on-site ... Subscribers only
Claimant picked on wrong age group as comparator (577 words)
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) decided to restructure its specialist advice division, where the claimant worked. Ms Palmer was aged 49, but was very ... Subscribers only
Severe obesity can amount to disability if obstacle at work (284 words)
Mr Kaltoft worked as a childminder for his local municipal government. He was severely obese. When his employment was ended, he issued a claim ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Unions want more help for workers with mental health problems (391 words)
Dame Sally Davies, the government’s chief medical officer (CMO), has called for more support for those with mental health problems at work in her ... Subscribers only
Coalition tries to turn the clock back over 40 years (366 words)
Media and entertainment union BECTU says the Conservative Party is trying to turn the clock back by watering down health and safety protection for ... Subscribers only
Don’t let the sun catch you frying (265 words)
Construction union UCATT is telling building workers that they are at a particular risk of developing skin cancer because they regularly work ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Backing for Fee for Intervention scheme, but union wants new model (479 words)
An independent review of the Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme, which was introduced in 2012, has been said that the scheme should stay. ... Subscribers only
HSE has form for breaches (236 words)
The HSE has issued a new form for union appointed health and safety representatives. The form should be used where the safety rep believes that ... Open access
Robust welcome to new HSE chief executive (203 words)
Dr Richard Judge has been appointed as chief executive of the HSE and will take up the role in November 2014. ... Open access
Use of lifting equipment (84 words)
A consultation on the proposed draft Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) on the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 is being held ... Open access
Features
What new parents can expect in best pay and practice policies (2,688 words)
The introduction of a new right in 2015 to Shared Parental Leave means that paternity and maternity policies will need to be modified in the coming ... Open access
Key issues for the many workers who want to do their job at home (2,211 words)
Extended rights to request flexible working, coupled with cost-cutting pressures, are helping to drive an expansion in the number of employees ... Subscribers only