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Workplace Report September 2016
TUC Equality Audit 2016 - Unions have not let equality slip off bargaining agenda; Pensions - Closures of final salary or defined benefit schemes continue to be opposed by unions; Latest case law on dismissal, transfers and redundancy
Pay and prices
No change in median rise (258 words)
The increase in pay settlements has remained stubbornly at 2.0%.
...
Subscribers only
Labour Research Department’s Payline Database (226 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered)
...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
Source: ASHE 2015 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (152 words)
Total pay including bonuses. Percentage annual increases
... Open access
XpertHR (19 words)
Median increases for three months to July 2016 ... Open access
Prices (77 words)
1 Retail Prices Index (RPI),
Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (38 words)
Fourth quarter 2016 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Unions call for National Minimum Wage increase and end to age rates (833 words)
TUC and union submissions to the Low Pay Commission inquiry into National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for the year from April 2017 have emphasised the ... Subscribers only
Minimum wage rises but uncertainty in agriculture (501 words)
Some National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates are due to rise next month, but what exactly that will mean for most agricultural workers is unclear.
... Subscribers only
Record bonus payout (296 words)
Bonus payments hit record levels in the 2015-16 financial year with a total of £44.3 billion paid out — a 4.4% rise on last year’s figure of £42 ... Subscribers only
Tata steel (282 words)
The crisis over Tata steelworkers’ pensions remains unresolved. Three unions — Community, Unite and GMB — met with Tata Steel management on 31 ... Subscribers only
Holiday pay improvements in rail sector in light of legal rulings (451 words)
The TSSA and other rail unions have used the summer months to negotiate improvements in holiday pay.
... Subscribers only
Redesign for local government pay scales (296 words)
Local government pay and pay structures for over a million workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are to be updated and adjusted so that ... Subscribers only
Executive excess (177 words)
It took Britain’s highest paid chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, less than 45 minutes to earn what an average UK worker earns over an entire ... Open access
Rise in number of workers on zero-hours contracts (119 words)
The number of people saying they work on a zero-hours basis has increased by a fifth.
... Open access
Equality news
Barriers to work faced by Muslim women (436 words)
A report by the Women and Equalities Committee found that the disadvantages faced by Muslims will remain unless targeted support is introduced and ... Subscribers only
Deaf face discrimination in workplace (239 words)
One in four workers with hearing loss has been forced to quit a job because of discrimination, according to a survey by the totaljobs online ... Open access
How to combat racist abuse in workplace (114 words)
The TUC has issued guidance on combatting racist abuse at work.
... Open access
Class culture in banking (161 words)
Young people from working class backgrounds are being locked out of jobs in investment banks, according to a new report.
... Open access
Learning and training news
Close skills gap to help cut poverty (352 words)
Closing the skills gaps can help to reduce poverty and improve life chances, a new report says.
... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Lidl told stop ‘union busting’ (274 words)
The GMB general union has called on German retailer Lidl to stop its fight against union recognition at its distribution centre in Bridgend, South ... Subscribers only
Boost to recognition in energy (126 words)
A joint recognition deal has been agreed between energy regulator Ofgem and the PCS and FDA civil service unions.
... Open access
Work of union reps recognised (150 words)
The TUC’s Organising Representative Award 2016 was won by Darren Barber, an activist with public services union UNISON. As branch secretary at the ... Open access
European news
French women face harassment at work (473 words)
Women are more likely to suffer hostile behaviour linked to their sex in areas where fewer women are employed. This is one of the key findings of a ... Subscribers only
Spanish unions want pay increases to make up for lost ground (255 words)
Spain’s two main union confederations — CCOO and UGT — have called on the main employers’ associations to begin talks on pay increases in 2017 ... Subscribers only
Finnish council workers get assurances on funding (150 words)
The Finnish municipal workers’ union JHL has backed away from its threat to withdraw from the country’s “competiveness pact” after the ... Open access
Largest Dutch union sets latest pay demand (141 words)
FNV, the largest union organisation in the Netherlands, which is both a union and a union confederation, has called for a 2.5% increase in the next ... Open access
Law - Dismissal
Dismissal - the law (694 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
Ignorance may not be bliss over whistleblowing (416 words)
Ms Jhuti was employed as a media specialist by the Royal Mail Group. Jhuti made disclosures to her manager (Mr W) about breaches of rules and ... Subscribers only
Undue influence of HR on investigatory report (353 words)
Mr Dronsfield was employed as a professor at Reading University. In accordance with university policy, if a member of staff entered into a ... Subscribers only
Head teacher failed to disclose relationship sex offender (501 words)
Ms A commenced employment as head teacher on 1 September 2009. She had 23 years of unblemished service in primary school teaching. She was in a close ... Subscribers only
Acas Code does not apply to ill health dismissals (388 words)
Mr Holmes is disabled. He was employed as a security guard for Qinetiq from 1996 to 2014. He was dismissed on the grounds that due to ill health he ... Subscribers only
Protected conversation and its content inadmissible evidence (727 words)
Ms Bailey was employed as an office secretary at surveyors Faithorn Farrell Timms (FFT) from 16 March 2009 until she resigned on 26 February 2015.
... Subscribers only
Law - TUPE
Transfers - the law (194 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
Tribunal failure over principal purpose of organised grouping (515 words)
Mr McLeod, along with the 12 other claimants, was employed by Millbrook Furnishings Ltd (MF). MF had a longstanding relationship with the Ministry of ... Subscribers only
Law - Redundancy
Redundancy - the law (194 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 ... Open access
Were vacant posts suitable alternative employment? (470 words)
Dr Missirilis was employed as a lecturer in cell biology at the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences (SCBS), Queen Mary University, a ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Unions express concern over workers’ mental health (685 words)
Six years of austerity have taken a heavy toll on the mental health of teachers and young people, delegates representing education unions told TUC ... Subscribers only
FBU launches cancer guidance (139 words)
The threat of cancer as a result of exposure to contaminants will be on the agenda of every brigade, says the fire brigades’ FBU union.
... Open access
Dump dated dress codes, says TUC (272 words)
High heels in the workplace should be a choice not a condition of the job, says TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.
... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
An end to consensus with government appointments? (465 words)
The TUC has reacted with anger at the government’s appointment of a former employer and business leader to a seat to represent workers on the board ... Subscribers only
Company director jailed after worker killed on site (255 words)
Company director Kenneth Thelwall has been jailed over the death of a worker.
... Subscribers only
More action needed on lasers and drones (125 words)
Aviation regulators and the government have been “pitifully slow” to respond to the BALPA pilots’ union call for action following an increasing ... Open access
Fine for Legionnaire’s disease failings (173 words)
Security giant G4S has been handed a £1.8 million fine after Harlow Council successfully prosecuted the company for failing to protect its workers ... Open access
Features
Unions press on with equality bargaining in tough climate (3,193 words)
The last couple of years have been a challenging time for unions to negotiate improvements on equality at work, with continued austerity, a hostile ... Subscribers only
Final salary pension schemes are on critical list but not dead yet (2,300 words)
Unions are still facing up to the challenge of trying to defend final salary or Defined Benefit pensions despite the tide running in favour of less ... Subscribers only