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Fact Service January 2015
Issue 4 (29/01/2015) - Multi-lingual guide put online by TUC; Unity ceramics union merges with GMB; Flexibility in sickness absence policies; Economic outlook for 2015 rosier; Shop staff still face violence and threats; Another year of executive excess; An earnings measure to include self-employed?
Issue 3 (22/01/2015) - Free school meals; Unemployment down on both counts; Earnings growth fails to match inflation rise; How to cope with winter travel disruption; Austerity uncovered
Issue 2 (15/01/2015) - Stronger enforcement call on minimum wage; November sees slower rise in factory output; Private firm cuts and runs from NHS hospital; Retail price inflation at five-year low; Tesco closes defined benefit scheme; Abandon CPI and RPI inflation measures
Issue 1 (08/01/2015) - Four out of five deterred by fees; Limit to backdated holiday pay claims; The year ahead; Fat cat Tuesday on second working day; UK's trading position worsens in autumn; Pension downside of umbrella companies; UK rail commuters hit by January rise
Issue 4
Multi-lingual guide put online by TUC (255 words)
Unscrupulous employers have been known to take advantage of the fact that migrant workers are often unaware of their employment rights. A new online ...
Subscribers only
Unity ceramics union merges with GMB (122 words)
The 4,000-strong ceramics union Unity has voted overwhelmingly to merge with the GMB general union. The members voted by 93% in favour of ...
Open access
Flexibility in sickness absence policies (510 words)
A Work Foundation report has called on the government to support measures to increase the flexibility of sickness absence policies, to allow ... Subscribers only
Economic outlook for 2015 rosier (121 words)
The outlook for 2015 is looking slightly better now than it was in December 2014, according to the latest forecasts from City and independent ... Open access
Shop staff still face violence and threats (262 words)
In the last twelve months on average 241 shop staff are assaulted every day, according to the retail and distribution workers’ union Usdaw. ... Subscribers only
Another year of executive excess (577 words)
Twenty-five highly paid executives feature in Fact Service’s first pay table of 2015. ... Subscribers only
An earnings measure to include self-employed? (395 words)
A call for an improved official earnings measure that captures all workers and not just employees has been made by the left-of centre think tank, the ... Subscribers only
Issue 3
Free school meals (229 words)
Schools across Scotland are now serving up free school meals to every Primary 1-3 pupil, following the Scottish government’s expanded free schools ... Open access
Unemployment down on both counts (551 words)
Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count, unemployment fell by 58,000 to 1.91 million in the three-month period September to November from the ... Subscribers only
Earnings growth fails to match inflation rise (585 words)
In November, earnings growth for the whole economy was 1.8% down from the revised figure of 2.0% for October, according to the Office for National ... Subscribers only
How to cope with winter travel disruption (357 words)
Travel disruption can affect an employee’s ability to get to work on time or in some cases at all, the employment relations service Acas says. For ... Subscribers only
Austerity uncovered (526 words)
A growing funding crisis in local government is threatening the future of local public services in England, according to a new analysis by the Centre ... Subscribers only
Issue 2
Stronger enforcement call on minimum wage (408 words)
Enforcement of the National Minimum Wage must be continuously improved in order to combat those employers who are actively trying to find ways not to ... Subscribers only
November sees slower rise in factory output (193 words)
Growth in manufacturing output has slowed, latest official figures show. ... Open access
Private firm cuts and runs from NHS hospital (278 words)
The first private firm to manage an NHS hospital has said it wants to “withdraw from its contract”. Circle Holdings, which operates ... Subscribers only
Retail price inflation at five-year low (487 words)
The retail inflation rate was at its lowest level for over five years, official figures show. ... Subscribers only
Tesco closes defined benefit pension scheme (222 words)
Supermarket giant Tesco has confirmed plans to close its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme and to introduce a flexible benefits package for store ... Open access
Abandon CPI and RPI inflation measures (615 words)
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) should be abandoned as the UK’s main measure of inflation, according to a new report. More importantly for trade ... Subscribers only
Issue 1
Four out of five deterred by fees (526 words)
People are being put off holding unfair employers to account by too-high fees and a lack of awareness about support, Citizens Advice has found. ... Subscribers only
Limit to backdated holiday pay claims (314 words)
The business-friendly coalition government has introduced legislation to reduce potential costs to employers following the recent court decision on ... Subscribers only
The year ahead (163 words)
The economy is expected to pick up in 2015, according to the latest forecasts collated by the Treasury. ... Open access
Fat cat Tuesday on second working day (347 words)
By the end of Tuesday, 6 January, Britain’s top bosses had made more money in 2015 than the average UK worker earns in an entire year, according to ... Subscribers only
UK's trading position worsens in autumn (216 words)
In the third quarter of 2014, Britain’s trading position with the rest of world deteriorated with the UK’s current account deficit widening to £2 ... Open access
Pension downside of umbrella companies (296 words)
The explosion in the use of umbrella companies is undermining the implementation of the government’s auto-enrolment scheme, the construction ... Subscribers only
UK rail commuters hit by January rise (392 words)
Commuters on the UK’s privatised railways could be spending more than twice as much of their salary on rail travel as passengers on publicly-owned ... Subscribers only