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Workplace Report April 2015
The 2014-15 pay round - Higher settlements are yet to take hold as average rise dips to 2.3%; Deaths at work - A worker’s life comes cheap judging by the sentences handed out for deaths on the job; Latest case law on dismissal, transfers and redundancy
Pay and prices
Settlements stuck at 2.5% (247 words)
There’s been a lack of movement in pay settlements, but with inflation falling the average organised worker is now seeing some improvement in ...
Open access
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)
Source: ASHE 2014 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (153 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Other pay analysts (24 words)
Incomes Data Services ceased publishing pay-related data at the end of March ... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail prices index, Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (35 words)
Fourth quarter 2015 ... Open access
Bargaining news
New government faces unfinished business on firefighters pensions (786 words)
Continuing, intermittent strike action by Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members over “reforms” pursued by the outgoing Conservative-led coalition ...
Subscribers only
Royal Mail and BT Deals stick despite sharp fall in RPI inflation (356 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has secured previously agreed pay rises for postal and telecoms workers despite clauses that allowed the ... Subscribers only
Lower paid higher education staff get lift (424 words)
Public services union UNISON has negotiated a deal for lower paid staff at Newcastle University that will give a pay rise to more than 400, mostly ... Subscribers only
Living Wage successes (133 words)
The GMB general union has secured the London Living Wage for patient transport staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, following lengthy ... Open access
Employment tribunals (128 words)
Tribunal compensation limits increased by 2.3% on 6 April. ... Open access
Victories for P&O ferry staff and Co-op funeral workers (368 words)
Transport union RMT and retail workers union Usdaw have both secured important victories in the campaign against the spread of zero-hours contracts. ... Subscribers only
Ballots over North Sea employers’ cuts on pay (350 words)
Offshore unions have resorted to consultative ballots over industrial action in the face threats and cuts in terms and conditions. ... Subscribers only
Industrial action at Windsor Castle (184 words)
Low-paid workers at one of the Queen’s palaces have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action. ... Open access
Young Vic pay proposal (120 words)
Entertainment union BECTU has welcomed a proposal to increase ushers’ pay at the Young Vic theatre, London to £9.00 an hour. It is part of a 2% ... Open access
Equality news
Parents have been hit by inflation-busting rises in cost of childcare (379 words)
The cost of a part-time nursery place for a child under two has increased by a third over the course of this parliament more than double the rate of ... Subscribers only
Disabled staff and students hit by government austerity (282 words)
Disabled education workers and students are suffering under the coalition government’s austerity measures, finds a new TUC report. ... Subscribers only
Stereotypical attitudes survive in civil service (171 words)
Three reports published on the same day in March have highlighted the barriers to career progression facing black, disabled and LGBT civil servants. ... Open access
LGBT solidarity charter (114 words)
The TUC has launched a new Charter for International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Solidarity but said that decisions regarding when, ... Open access
Learning and training news
Adult education - dead as a dodo by 2020? (350 words)
Adult education and training in England will not exist by 2020 if the government continues with its swathe of cuts, says the Association of Colleges ... Subscribers only
FBU’s learning centre achieves high standard (103 words)
The Fire Brigades Union Learning Centre and Union Learning Fund (ULF) Project Team have attained matrix Standard accreditation — the ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Union reps are positive influence at workplace (362 words)
Employers looking to cut the costs of trade union facility time should take account of the benefits union reps can provide in fostering staff ... Subscribers only
Union subs (83 words)
This month’s annual conference of the TSSA transport staff union will be asked to approve a banded system for membership subscriptions, where ... Open access
Recognition success (41 words)
Unite has won the right to conduct collective bargaining for 196 cabin crew employed by the Aeroprofessional agency who work for Norwegian Air ... Open access
European news
German Workers’ industrial muscle wins real terms pay rises (639 words)
Two more major German bargaining groups have reached above-inflation settlements, which both contain elements that go beyond an across-the-board pay ... Subscribers only
Spanish unions still pushing for general agreement (114 words)
Spain’s two main union confederations have made it clear that they still want to reach a framework national agreement with the employers on pay ... Open access
Italian banking staff in four-year deal (286 words)
Unions have agreed a new four-year pay deal for 309,000 bank employees in Italy and have been able to resist attempts by the employers who wanted to ... Subscribers only
Law - Dismissal
Dismissal - the law (686 words)
f Employees dismissed unfairly can go to a tribunal if they have been working for at least two years. Some specific types of dismissal do not ... Subscribers only
No need to always investigate every line of defence (761 words)
Mr Shrestha worked as a support worker for the Genesis Housing Association. Part of his job involved car travel, journeying to visit clients at their ... Subscribers only
Contract is revived if employer allows appeal over dismissal (551 words)
Three employees working for care provider Castlebeck were dismissed for gross misconduct before a TUPE transfer of the business to another care ... Subscribers only
Law - TUPE
Transfers - the law (243 words)
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) are intended to protect the rights of employees on the transfer of ... Open access
State guarantee only applies to pre-transfer employment debts (509 words)
Response FM, a company 90% owned by Mr Sibley, had a contract for emergency maintenance work on the M25. The company got into financial difficulty ... Subscribers only
Law - Redundancy
Redundancy - the law (275 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 of ... Subscribers only
Mobile workers’ contract and job context key in redundancy (905 words)
The two claimants in this case worked as HGV delivery drivers for their employer, Exol Lubricants, a manufacturer and distributor of lubricants. ... Subscribers only
UK didn’t breach EU directive over redundancy consultation (501 words)
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has released a disappointing Opinion in the challenge by retail workers’ ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Call for stiffer fines to tackle attacks on workers (359 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has welcomed the consultation on sentencing guidelines for dangerous dog offences. ... Subscribers only
Teachers ‘bombarded with emails’ day and night (307 words)
Teaching union NASUWT has found that growing numbers of teachers are receiving work-related emails outside working hours. ... Subscribers only
Has fire service learned over major injury? (307 words)
A former firefighter has been awarded substantial compensation after suffering major injuries while at work at a West Yorkshire fire station, ending ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Milestones or gravestones in safety reforms? (351 words)
The Unions are not impressed with the progress report from the Department for Works and Pensions that has highlighted the “major milestones” the ... Subscribers only
Business needs to get to control of accident hazards (336 words)
The 2015 Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) that come into effect on 1 June 2015 aim to prevent and minimise the effects of major ... Subscribers only
A 13-point safety plan for new government (262 words)
Workplace safety campaigners are challenging Britain’s politicians to take action to protect people at work. ... Subscribers only
Features
Most workers still waiting for return of good times on pay (3,064 words)
On the eve of the 2015 general election, low inflation has taken hold. But has that impacted on pay settlements? Now at its halfway point, Workplace ... Open access
Sentencing guidelines with clout needed to cut death toll at work (2,341 words)
Each year trade unionists and safety campaigners mark Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April under the slogan, Remember the dead, but fight for the ... Subscribers only