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Workplace Report May 2015
Living Wage - Around 1,500 UK employers now pay it and more are regularly backing the campaign; Equal pay audits - The coalition’s approach to closing gender pay gap hasn’t worked. Unions are the driving force behinds requests for pay audits; Latest case law on contracts of employment and tribunal procedures
Pay and prices
Median dips to 2.3% in April (259 words)
It’s beeen a while, but there has been some movement in pay settlements. Unfortunately, the movement is downwards. Nevertheless, with inflation ...
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)
Source: ASHE 2014 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Other pay analysts (24 words)
Incomes Data Services ceased publishing pay-related data at the end of March ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (152 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... 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
Network rail pay talks hit buffers over lump sum offer (656 words)
Rail unions have called off a national bank holiday strike after receiving a “revised offer” in their pay dispute with Network Rail. ... Subscribers only
Settlements benefit from inflation safeguards (372 words)
Negative inflation has hit the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), but low-inflation safeguards built into some agreements are proving their worth. The Bank ... Subscribers only
Higher education unions consult on 1% offer (363 words)
Higher Education employers have made a final offer in pay negotiations with sector unions. ... Subscribers only
Security staff will be on equal footing (207 words)
Prospect members working in Scottish airport group HIAL’s security company AMSL have voted to accept a management offer to harmonise their terms ... Open access
Probation officers (89 words)
UNISON members working for the National Probation Service and the 21 outsourced Community Rehabilitation Companies in England and Wales have voted in ... Open access
Offer of 6% to theatre workers with promise of look at Living Wage (381 words)
Entertainment union BECTU is urging members covered by the UK Theatre agreement to support a 6% pay offer over two years. The collective agreement ... Subscribers only
Next in firing line over cuts and Living Wage (390 words)
Retailer NEXT is under pressure from the GMB over what the union describes as a £1,000 a year cut for working on Sundays. ... Subscribers only
Steel workers not allowed to retire with dignity (304 words)
Steel unions are balloting for industrial action after Tata Steel management declined to take up the unions’ offer to re-open discussions over the ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Changes to benefits force longer hours on low-paid parents (368 words)
The pressure to work longer hours is greater for low-paid parents than the better-off finds a new report by the charity Child Poverty Action Group ... Subscribers only
Low ranking for UK women in international study (335 words)
The UK has the third lowest proportion of women in full-time employment out of the 27 OECD countries, according to the annual Women in Work Index ... Subscribers only
BME workers live on margins (285 words)
The number of black and Asian workers in low-paid jobs increased by over 10% between 2011 and 2014, according to a new TUC report. ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Fears for post-16 education after Conservative victory (390 words)
Tory MP Nick Boles has been reappointed as minister for further education and skills — the post he took over in 2014. He also has responsibilities ... Subscribers only
Seven-point career guidance plan for England (108 words)
The Careers Sector Stakeholders Alliance has put forward a comprehensive proposal for a world class career guidance system in England. ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Unintended benefit for PCS (314 words)
The government’s attack on the check-off system of paying union subscriptions direct from wages has had a positive by-product, according to the ... Subscribers only
Unite helpline for Sports Direct workers (108 words)
A confidential advice and support helpline for workers at the Sports Direct retail chain has been launched by general union Unite. ... Open access
European news
Spanish unions and employers sign three-year framework deal (416 words)
After months of difficult negotiations, Spain’s two largest union confederations, CCOO and the UGT, have reached agreement with the employers on ... Subscribers only
Pay flexibility the watchword at the European Commission (311 words)
The European Commission has published its annual “Country-specific recommendations” and once again they include a number of proposals on pay in ... Subscribers only
Study reveals benefits of collective bargaining (106 words)
A new study by Eurofound, the EU agency looking at living and working conditions, has found that sectors where a higher proportion of employees are ... Open access
Real pay increase for Škoda workers (165 words)
The Czech metal working union OS KOVO has reached agreement with the carmaker Škoda for an increase of 3.5% plus a one-off payment of 4,000 CZK (€1 ... Open access
Law - Contracts
Contracts - the law (438 words)
Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions between an ... Subscribers only
Flexibility clause did not permit varying of part-time hours (831 words)
Mrs Hart spent 12 years working as a part-time learning support teacher at a Colchester school until she resigned when the school tried to force her ... Subscribers only
Only core contract terms count where recognition is imposed (591 words)
This case concerns the scope of collective bargaining under the statutory recognition procedure. A claim was brought by pilots’ union BALPA against ... Subscribers only
Holiday pay calculations must include commission (314 words)
The Leicester Employment Tribunal has delivered a ruling in the long-running case of Mr Lock, supported by UNISON, against his employer British Gas ... Subscribers only
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals - the law (735 words)
Nearly all tribunal claims must be brought within three months of the matter complained of. Tribunals can extend the time limit in an unfair ... Subscribers only
Online claim was valid where remission form sent by post (393 words)
This is an important case over the validity of claims over fee remission. ... Subscribers only
Union detriment claim must be heard by full tribunal panel (458 words)
Miss Birring issued claims for unlawful deduction of wages, unfair dismissal and detriment due to trade union activity. A tribunal judge heard all ... Subscribers only
Acas EC mandatory – even in cases of sexual harassment (377 words)
Ms Cranwell, issued a claim for sexual harassment, alleging appalling abuse by her employer, Mr Cullen. The abuse was so bad that she had secured an ... Subscribers only
No stand-alone right to compo for failure on written job details (211 words)
Ms Gultekin resigned without notice and issued a claim for constructive unfair dismissal. The tribunal rejected that claim. ... Open access
Health & safety news
Burden of working in the sun for a living (369 words)
Skin cancers caused by sun exposure at work are killing nearly 50 workers every year, according to the findings of a new study by Imperial College ... Subscribers only
Call for zero tolerance on social media threats (344 words)
The findings of a survey into cyberbullying among journalists in Scotland reveal an urgent need for a zero-tolerance approach to the problem, says ... Subscribers only
Hazardous substances (185 words)
Public services union UNISON has published a newly-updated guide on hazardous substances in response to the findings of a recent survey of its safety ... Open access
Epilepsy guidance (50 words)
Despite legal protection, workers with epilepsy still encounter ignorance, prejudice and discrimination. The TUC has published a new guide to ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
TUC sets out challenges facing safety reps (290 words)
Hugh Robertson, head of health and safety at the TUC, has set out what is likely to lie ahead on the safety front under the new Conservative majority ... Subscribers only
Reps at meetings were ‘at work’ (246 words)
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that a health and safety rep and shop steward at Cheshire-based glass container manufacturers Encirc ... Open access
Inquiry call on flight ‘fume events’ (179 words)
The health effects of so-called “fume events” on airliners should be examined in a public inquiry, says the Unite general union. ... Open access
Sickness absence (113 words)
Following a recent debate on sickness absence in the public sector in the Northern Ireland Assembly, teachers’ union NASUWT called on ministers and ... Open access
Action on road safety (154 words)
Delegates attending shopworkers’ union USDAW’s annual delegate meeting in Blackpool last month called for action to improve road safety, ... Open access
Features
Impetus is behind paying a Living Wage to workers (2,953 words)
One of the legacies of the 2010-15 coalition government must surely be the fall in real earnings, the growth in low-paid employment, and the ... Subscribers only
UK women still suffer a gender pay gap after 45 years (2,272 words)
Equal pay audits were supposed to help close the gender pay gap, as after over 40 years of gender equality law, we still do not have full workplace ... Subscribers only