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Workplace Report October 2019
Pay round 2018-19 - Workplace Report’s annual survey of pay deals is based on a record number of agreements; Latest case law on employment tribunals and contracts
Pay and prices
Year-low for settlements (91 words)
Settlements
have hit their lowest level this year, latest figures from LRD’s Payline database show.
...
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) (250 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 September 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
How union reps are taking back control over Brexit (760 words)
Brexit uncertainty is causing huge problems in the workplace and should be treated as a bargaining issue, in order to help overcome the “fatigue ... Subscribers only
Strike action by contractor staff gets its reward (407 words)
In the longest ever indefinite strikes by outsourced workers in Whitehall, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have won better ... Subscribers only
Unions in dispute with wide range of employers (287 words)
Strikes may be at a historic low level, but union members are certainly not “sitting on their hands”.
... Subscribers only
Industry-leading deal at Home Bargains (164 words)
Hundreds of drivers working for the Liverpool-based Home Bargains are in line for an 11.4% pay increase over two years.
... Open access
Matalan deal agreed (120 words)
A long-running strike at fashion and homeware retailer Matalan was called off after members of the GMB general union accepted an improved deal.
... Open access
Advice on law around non-disclosure agreements (341 words)
New guidance for employers on the use of confidentiality agreements in discrimination cases has been published by the Equality and Human Rights ... Subscribers only
CWU secures breakthrough on annual leave for ISS security staff leave (349 words)
Agreement has been reached between the CWU communications workers’ union and facilities group ISS on the issue of how security guards on the BT ... Subscribers only
Living Wage toolkit for local councils (148 words)
A Local Authority Toolkit to encourage and support councils to accredit as Living Wage Employers has been launched by the Living Wage Foundation.
... Open access
State pensions increase (149 words)
State pensions will rise by 3.9% from next April.
... Open access
Equality news
Negotiating a no-go area for half of women professionals (373 words)
More than half of all female professionals have never attempted to negotiate a pay rise, according to research by recruitment consultants Totaljobs ... Subscribers only
One in six job adverts offer flexible working (360 words)
The number of job ads that offer flexible working still lags far behind candidate demand, new research shows.
... Subscribers only
Long-term unemployment among over 50s (279 words)
People aged over 50 are significantly more likely to be unemployed for more than 24 months than the under 50s, according to analysis by job advice ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Apprenticeship levy just doesn’t add up, says UNISON (541 words)
New research from public services union UNISON reveals that more than £200 million is languishing unused by hard up NHS Trusts in England because of ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Rights reclaimed after recognition campaign (275 words)
Workers at a social enterprise providing support to vulnerable adults have reclaimed collective bargaining rights after their union was derecognised ... Subscribers only
TSSA targets tour operator TUI Group (100 words)
The TSSA travel staff union is seeking union recognition at the TUI Group which, following the collapse of Thomas Cook, is the sole major tour ... Open access
European news
New way agreed on assessing Italian unions’ right to sign deals (441 words)
CGIL, CISl and UIL, the three main Italian union confederations, and Confindustria, the main employers’ association, have reached agreement with ... Subscribers only
Three-year Telefónica deal linked to early retirements (283 words)
Telefónica, Spain’s largest telecommunications business, which owns O2 in the UK, has reached a three-year deal with the unions, with ... Subscribers only
Job security guarantee at Germany’s Postbank (60 words)
The latest agreement signed by the German services union Ver.di and Postbank, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, extends the guarantee that there will be ... Open access
Rise in national minimum wage in Belgium on hold (143 words)
Belgian unions and employers have failed to reach agreement on an increase in the country’s national minimum wage.
... Open access
Cross-border working (67 words)
The European Labour Authority, an EU body charged with helping national labour inspectors with the enforcement of legislation linked to cross-border ... Open access
Law - Tribunal procedures
Employment tribunals - the law (458 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
Breach of ‘Unless Order’ means automatic strike-out (842 words)
The Claimants were two black British GPs who had taken over a GP practice previously staffed by white English GPs. They brought tribunal proceedings ... Subscribers only
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
Duty to keep minimum wage data in TUPE transfers (567 words)
This case concerns the employer’s statutory obligation under section 9 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA) to keep records to show that ... Subscribers only
Unite to appeal to Supreme Court over inducements case (499 words)
This case concerns the statutory right for members of a recognised independent trade union (or one that is seeking recognition) not to be made offers ... Subscribers only
Holiday pay for part-year staff should not be prorated (846 words)
Ms Brazel is a visiting music teacher at an independent school.
... Subscribers only
Employers must record daily working time, says ECJ (508 words)
This is an important ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ).
... Subscribers only
Agency worker not entitled to equal number of hours (388 words)
Mr Kocur, an agency worker, works for employment agency Angard Staffing Solutions Limited. Angard supplies agency workers to Royal Mail “as ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Work-related stress an issue among NHS staff (416 words)
Ambulance workers are suffering epidemic levels of mental health problems, according to new figures published by the general Unite union to coincide ... Subscribers only
Call for a safe railway 20 years on from disaster (279 words)
Rail union RMT has warned that government policy is in danger of “dragging the railways back” to the same “poisonous cocktail of conditions” ... Subscribers only
Menopause guidance (161 words)
Public services union UNISON marked World Menopause Day on 18 October by sending its branches and reps new guidance on improving the workplace for ... Open access
RMT victory on noise (91 words)
Earlier this month, the RMT suspended indefinite industrial action by drivers on four London Underground lines after securing a victory over ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Government failures to blame for Grenfell fire (334 words)
Successive governments have failed to properly regulate high-rise residential buildings for fire safety and
allowed the expertise of firefighters ... Subscribers only
Campaign targets safer silica dust standards (352 words)
The Unite general union is backing a Hazards magazine campaign calling on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to halve the maximum legal exposure ... Subscribers only
CWU calls for review of Scottish dog control laws (199 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has joined growing calls for legal reform to deal with dangerous dogs after the Scottish Parliament debated a ... Open access
Usdaw calls on MSPs to back the Protection of Workers Bill (80 words)
Retail union Usdaw released shocking statistics from its annual survey showing that an average Scottish shopworker is verbally abused, threatened or ... Open access
Features
‘Slow burn’ as pay settlements increase by 2.7% on average (4,155 words)
This time last year, Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane thought he saw signs of a “new dawn” breaking for pay. Instead we’ve seen ... Open access