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Workplace Report December 2018
Mental health - Unions want prevention not cure, but say there should be mental as well as physical health first aid provision in workplaces; Pensions - Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pension schemes are the new kids on the pensions block; Latest case law on contracts of employment and tribunals
Pay and prices
Healthy rise in settlements (92 words)
There were no fireworks in November, but pay settlements posted a healthy increase.
...
Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline Database (225 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered)
... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (247 words)
Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases
... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (40 words)
ASHE 2018 median uprated by AWE. ... Open access
XpertHR (19 words)
... Open access
Prices (77 words)
1 Retail Prices Index (RPI),
Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
2018 forecasts (39 words)
1 Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Tories set out stall on labour market reform (735 words)
On 17 December, Theresa May’s Conservative government announced a broad framework for labour market reform.
...
Subscribers only
Wellbeing at heart of new NHS Wales attendance at work policy (434 words)
A strong emphasis on employee wellbeing and a “less prescriptive” approach have helped to shape the new NHS Wales Managing Attendance at Work ... Subscribers only
Appeal court rules BT can’t change pensions inflation link (303 words)
Telecoms giant BT has failed in its attempt to reduce inflation indexation arrangements for Section C of the BTPS final salary pension scheme. ... Subscribers only
Two-tier problems in probation (261 words)
Efforts are now underway to secure pay parity among the private probation contractors who run parts of the service, following the National Probation ... Subscribers only
More flexiblity on hours for racing staff in new pay deal (421 words)
Racing staff no longer have to work to 85-hour fortnightly rotas, instead their working time arrangements will be based on the 40-hour week to which ... Subscribers only
Attendance bonus goes in three-year Communisis pay deal (310 words)
The latest pay deal negotiated by the Unite and Accord unions at print, mail and marketing specialist Communisis changes it stance on absence.
... Subscribers only
Early doors for pay rise at Wetherspoons (290 words)
The annual pay rise for staff at JD Wetherspoon pubs has been brought forward by six months to November, the BFAWU union reports, shortly after a ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Pressure on employers to publish disability pay gap (458 words)
The TUC has called on the government to make it compulsory for employers to publish their disability pay gaps. The call comes as new TUC analysis ... Subscribers only
Plea for more part-time jobs for older workers (273 words)
Nearly 80% of over 50-year olds would rather work flexible hours, confirms a poll commissioned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial ... Subscribers only
Resources on hearing loss (87 words)
Charity Action on Hearing Loss has launched a range of resources including videos and quizzes to highlight what employers can do to make the ... Open access
Advice on dealing with sexual harassment (155 words)
Employment relations service Acas, has published new guidance for employers and employees outlining what kind of workplace behaviours could be ... Open access
Learning and training news
UK manufacturers are favouring apprentices over graduates (375 words)
New research from the manufacturing employers’ organisation EEF has found that employers are favouring apprenticeships over graduates with the ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
UNISON’s ‘Grovember’ campaign a success (236 words)
Public services union UNISON last month notched up a monthly recruitment record with its “Grovember” campaign, when it signed up 18,000 new ... Open access
Landmark recognition win for GMB (129 words)
In a landmark case, the GMB general union has won statutory recognition on behalf of around 100 workers at the Jarrow-based care home Careline ... Open access
Manx Co-op pens recognition deal with Usdaw (98 words)
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has signed a recognition agreement with the Manx Co-op Society, a subsidiary of the Co-op Group which has joined the Co-op ... Open access
European news
Working time moves up German bargaining agenda (516 words)
Agreements giving employees greater freedom over their working time arrangements have been a feature of the 2018 bargaining round in Germany and a ... Subscribers only
Super Spanish supermarket deal (300 words)
Mercadona, Spain’s largest
supermarket chain and the country’s second largest employer, has signed a five-year agreement with the unions which ... Subscribers only
Unions oppose overtime rules in Hungary (141 words)
Government plans to increase the limit on the number of overtime hours that workers can be asked to work from the current 250 to 400 a year have been ... Open access
Union concerns over pay freeze in Belgium (154 words)
Belgium’s two main union confederations — the CSC and FGTB — have expressed their concern about the national deal that will set private sector ... Open access
Law - Contracts
Contracts - the law (396 words)
Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions between an ... Subscribers only
Zero-hours employee entitled to normal wages while suspended (764 words)
Ms Obi worked front-of-house for a restaurant called Rice Shack, on a zero-hours contract (ZHC).
... Subscribers only
Zero-hours worker protected by Agency Worker Regulations (738 words)
Mr Matei worked as a security guard for 21 months until his dismissal.
... Subscribers only
Tribunal can construe contractual terms in wage claim (754 words)
The Court of Appeal (CA) heard the following two cases together because they both concern the same issue, namely the extent to which employment ... Subscribers only
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals - the law (528 words)
Nearly all tribunal claims must be brought within three months less one day of the matter complained of. Tribunals can extend the time limit in an ... Subscribers only
Correspondence ‘sent to parties’ despite use of wrong address (648 words)
This case concerns the deadline for submitting an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Under EAT rules, appeals must be submitted at the ... Subscribers only
Tribunal enforces strict deadline rules for claim (571 words)
Mr Miah worked for his employer, Axis, as a building security manager until his summary dismissal by letter dated 18 October 2016.
... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Unions give thumbs up to Scottish Government bad weather charter (391 words)
Professionals’ union Prospect has welcomed a new severe weather charter developed jointly by the Scottish Government and Scottish Trades Union ... Subscribers only
Campaigners say don’t let DowDuPont bury Bhopal (225 words)
Campaigners have marked the 34th anniversary of the catastrophic gas leak in Bhopal, India with a renewed call for justice for the victims.
... Open access
Compensation for injury sustained abroad (88 words)
A member of the PCS civil service union has been awarded compensation for an injury he sustained while working at the British Embassy in Washington ... Open access
Vow to fight on against claims limit increase (272 words)
Five union general secretaries have pledged to continue their fight against goverment plans to the increase the small claims limit for personal ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Pressure on health and safety enforcement (237 words)
A paper presented to the HSE board earlier this month confirms there is “ongoing pressure” on local authority health and safety enforcement.
... Open access
‘Too little, too late’ — ban on combustible cladding (443 words)
Unions say the government’s ban on combustible materials on new high-rise homes and new support for councils to carry out emergency work to remove ... Subscribers only
Many schools don’t manage asbestos safely (272 words)
School employers have only provided assurances that they are complying with their legal duty to manage asbestos safely in around half of schools in ... Subscribers only
Features
First aid provision yes — but prevention is better than cure (3,397 words)
Last month, trade unions and business leaders called on the government to prioritise its manifesto pledge to amend first aid regulations and require ... Subscribers only
CDC schemes could be the next big thing in pensions (2,154 words)
The gap for a middle way between guaranteed and individual savings-based pensions could soon be filled if a new government consultation exercise ... Subscribers only