Workplace Report March 2019

Banking and insuranceWorkplace Report examines the official data in the sector as well as the rather large remuneration packages given to executives; Northern Ireland - What’s on the bargaining agenda in Northern Ireland? Workplace Report examines what workers want; Latest case law on contracts of employment

Pay and prices

Pay deals post real-terms rise 
 (100 words)

Collectively agreed pay settlements posted a 2.8% increase in the three-months to February — the same increase as for the January period.
 ...
Open access

Labour Research Department’s Payline Database 
 (234 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered)
 ...
Open access

Average weekly earnings (AWE)
 (258 words)

Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases ...
Subscribers only

Full-time weekly average earnings
 (40 words)

ASHE 2018 median uprated by AWE. ...
Open access

XpertHR (19 words)

Median increases for three months to February 2019 ...
Open access

Prices (77 words)

1 Retail Prices Index (RPI), 
Jan ’87=100 ...
Open access

2019 forecasts (39 words)


1 Fourth quarter ...
Open access

Bargaining news

Link top pay to rest of workforce, say MPs
 (758 words)

An “aggressive and proactive” regulator is needed to bear down on excessive levels of executive pay, MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial ...
Subscribers only

New people framework faces rejection by BT
 unions
 (484 words)

Unions at the BT telecoms giant have expressed serious concerns over the company’s “People Framework” which seeks to introduce new pay, jobs ...
Subscribers only

Landmark reached in Living Wage employer numbers
 (213 words)

The University of Manchester has become the 5,000th organisation to be accredited as a “Living Wage employer” by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF). ...
Open access

Civil servants win race and age bias cases
 (200 words)

Dozens of civil servants have won compensation from the Home Office after being discriminated against because of their race or age. 
 ...
Open access

Royal Mail pension scheme gets green light
 (87 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union has welcomed the government’s promise to allow the CWU/Royal Mail Collective Defined Contribution pension ...
Open access

EE staff vote in favour of first collective pay deal
 (363 words)

Staff at the BT-owned EE mobile giant are to receive their first-ever collectively bargained pay rise after voting to accept a deal reached between ...
Subscribers only

CWU members overwhelmingly back Telefonica pay deal (62 words)

CWU members at communications giant Telefonica have voted by 96% in favour to accept an across-the-board pay deal of 2.75%, fully consolidated, the ...
Open access

Above-inflation uprating in minimum wage rates
 (309 words)

Statutory minimum wage rates increase on 1 April. 
 ...
Subscribers only

Employment tribunal compensation limits increase next month
 (251 words)

New limits to the compensation payable in successful employment tribunal cases come into effect on 6 April.
 ...
Subscribers only

Equality news

Passport to help disabled people prosper at work
 (501 words)

The TUC and the GMB general union have launched a new disability passport to help the nearly one million disabled people who fall out of work or ...
Subscribers only

Inaction over closing pay gap
 (321 words)

One in three employers say their organisation has not tried to reduce its gender pay gap over the last year — and one in 10 say that women are paid ...
Subscribers only

Changes to Child Benefit have hit families hard
 (281 words)

Struggling families are losing out on hundreds of pounds a year as a result of changes to Child Benefit over the past decade, reveals public services ...
Subscribers only

Learning and training news

Single parents shut out from apprenticeships (414 words)

Although single parents are “ideal candidates to take up apprenticeships” there are substantial barriers preventing them from accessing and ...
Subscribers only

Recruitment and organisation news

Ballot victory for Boots pharmacists
 (470 words)

The long-running battle for collective bargaining rights for thousands of Boots pharmacists has finally ended in victory, after they voted ...
Subscribers only

NUJ looks to build on success at Springer
 (137 words)

The NUJ journalists’ union is starting the push for a further recognition agreement at magazine publishers Springer, after a successful campaign on ...
Open access

European news

Two-year deal signed but not yet delivered in Belgium
 (559 words)

Negotiators for the unions and employers in Belgium have reached agreement on a two-year national deal which guarantees above-inflation pay increases ...
Subscribers only

Boost for lowest paid
 in German regional government (258 words)

A new 33-month settlement for 936,000 employees in German regional government provides above-inflation increases for all staff, with bigger increases ...
Subscribers only

Little progress on closing gender pay gap in EU 
 (158 words)

Women still earn 16.0% less than men in the EU according to the latest figures from Eurostat, the official EU statistics agency. The figures, for 2017 ...
Open access

Real-terms increase in Fiat’s long-term deal 
 (143 words)

Italian car maker Fiat has agreed a four-year deal providing increases of 2.0% a year for its 87,000 staff, along with higher bonuses linked to ...
Open access

Law - Contracts

Contracts - the law (446 words)

Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are important legal distinctions between an ...
Subscribers only

Court of Appeal confirms that Uber drivers are workers
 (1,074 words)

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Uber against the tribunal ruling that its private hire drivers are workers, entitled to worker rights, ...
Subscribers only

‘Huge win’ as Addison Lee drivers are ruled to be workers
 (1,077 words)

Addison Lee (AL), a professional private hire firm, has around 4,000 drivers. The claimants brought a tribunal claim for holiday pay and the national ...
Subscribers only

Right to written statement of employment particulars
 (484 words)

The claimants, who were Polish nationals, worked as waiting staff at the Maritime Hotel. They began work on various dates from 21 April 2016 until ...
Subscribers only

Implied contract terms and long-term disability benefits
 (714 words)

Mr Awan worked for American Airlines as a security agent. His employment contract entitled him to a valuable long-term disability benefit plan paying ...
Subscribers only

Deliveroo riders not ‘workers’ so denied statutory recognition
 (657 words)

In 2017, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) applied to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for statutory recognition on behalf ...
Subscribers only

Health & safety news

Growing tide of violence and abuse across workplaces 
 (396 words)

Workers are being exposed to shocking levels of bullying, harassment and violence across a number of sectors, according to their unions.
 ...
Subscribers only

Concern over health and safety in disruptive Brexit
 (196 words)

The Unite general union warned the government that its failure to consult over Brexit planning risks the safety of road users and is likely to make ...
Open access

‘Invisible women’ in workplace
 (116 words)

GMB national health, safety and environment officer Lynsey Mann used International Women’s Day in early March to highlight new research by the ...
Open access

Repercussions of long hours among women
 (81 words)

Women who work more than 55 hours a week are at a higher risk of depression, according to a new UCL-led study with Queen Mary University of ...
Open access

Drugs and drug testing — new guidance
 (66 words)

Drug testing is not a substitute for a good drugs and alcohol policy, the TUC makes clear in new guidance for workplace reps. 
 ...
Open access

Bullying, harassment and violence in the NHS 
 (80 words)

The latest annual NHS staff survey, published at the end of February, shows that almost one in five staff report personally having experienced ...
Open access

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Campaigners call for removal of innovation principle
 (210 words)

Over 70 trade union, safety and environmental organisations have called for the immediate and complete removal of “an industry-created tool to ...
Open access

Unions set out their air safety demands
 (268 words)

Trade unions from across Europe are calling on the European Parliament and Commission to oppose measures they say would restrict the right to strike ...
Subscribers only

Best practice on mental health first aid
 (114 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union has welcomed new best practice guidance for employers on how to implement mental health first aid (MHFA) in ...
Open access

Letter box victory for CWU
 (121 words)

The government is set to change the building regulations following an intensive campaign by the CWU communication workers’ union to prevent the ...
Open access

Consultation on fire safety design in schools
 (138 words)

The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a call for evidence on how non-statutory guidance, Building Bulletin 100: design for fire safety in ...
Open access

Features

Gender pay gap still as big a problem than ever in banking and insurance
 (2,356 words)

It’s now 12 years since the banking system went into meltdown. Workplace Report looks how pay in the banking and insurance sector has fared since ...
Subscribers only

Northern Ireland plays catch up on pay but picture is still less than rosy
 (2,058 words)

All eyes are on Northern Ireland as the Brexit process enters its decisive stage. Critical as that is, particularly for workers most affected by ...
Subscribers only