![[Basket]](images/basket.png){kind=small}
Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/WR202107.jpg)
![[PDF]](images/pdf.gif)
Workplace Report July 2021
How to discover what your employer can really pay - With the pandemic being used as an excuse to freeze pay or push through fire and rehire, it’s more important than ever to be able to understand what an employer can or can’t afford. We show you how to discover a company’s ability to pay; Building back better by backing better building - Pay rises are back in construction, but must take their place in a crowded agenda, where casual employment of one kind or another is now seen as a barrier to “building back better”; Latest case law on discrimination
Pay and prices
Picture improving for earnings (125 words)
Official figures for average weekly earnings in April for regular pay (excluding bonuses) in the whole economy show conditions improving. Single ...
Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (222 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (243 words)
Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of May 2021 ... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail Prices Index (RPI),
Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
2021 forecasts (40 words)
1 Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Acas offers ‘options’ on fire and rehire (818 words)
Weetabix is the latest firm to run into union opposition for its use of “fire and rehire” tactics. Engineers employed at factories in ...
Subscribers only
Electricians win on de-skilling (264 words)
Electricians secured a victory against deskilling this month. Two major contractors, NG Bailey and Balfour Beatty, confirmed that they will no long ... Subscribers only
Unions secure HS2 site access (231 words)
General unions the GMB and Unite have won an important agreement with the major contractor undertaking construction of the new Euston Station. ... Open access
Railworkers prepare for summer of action (552 words)
Railworkers on a number of different lines, including East Midlands Railway, the Caledonian Sleeper and Metro Tyne & Wear, will be taking ... Subscribers only
Survey finds all carers still not getting sick pay (314 words)
A survey by the UNISON public services union has found that a third of care staff are only being paid Statutory Sick Pay of just £96.35 a week for ... Subscribers only
BrewDog workers bite back (364 words)
In June, a group of 139 former and current employees of the BrewDog craft brewery published an open letter on Twitter outlining a “toxic ... Subscribers only
FE strike ballots open after 1% offer (376 words)
University and college union the UCU is balloting its members at 11 further education colleges for strike action over a “paltry” 1% pay rise ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Research reveals scale of gender pensions gap (429 words)
On average, women have 38% less than men in their pension pots and this rises to as high as 57% in some instances when broken down by regional ... Subscribers only
Racism ‘trapping BAME workers in zero-hours work’ (388 words)
A disproportionate number of BAME workers and BAME women in particular are on zero-hours contracts, a joint report by the TUC and social policy ... Subscribers only
Age discrimination complaints rise (321 words)
The number of age discrimination complaints to employment tribunals increased by 74% in the last year, according to research by Rest Less, a digital ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Ex-skills minister recommends redirecting funding (334 words)
A Conservative MP and former skills minister has called on the government to fund apprenticeships in small and medium-sized employers (SMEs) for at ... Subscribers only
Union membership up for fourth year (345 words)
Trade union membership increased in 2020 for the fourth year in succession, confirming predictions from the TUC and others that the evident value of ... Subscribers only
‘Landmark’ deal reached with Uber (325 words)
The TUC has welcomed a “landmark” union recognition agreement signed in May between the GMB general union and Uber, and warned gig economy ... Subscribers only
European news
Unions and employers finally agree on new national deal in Belgium (444 words)
More than four months after the collapse of negotiations on a two-year pay deal for the whole of the private sector (Workplace Report, February 2021, ... Subscribers only
One in 10 French workers saw conditions worsen (433 words)
A major study by the French ministry of labour has produced a detailed picture of how Covid-19 has affected working conditions, and it shows a clear ... Subscribers only
Italy unions sign logistics deal (103 words)
Italian unions have reached a deal for around a million workers in the logistics industry, ranging from bicycle couriers through local delivery ... Open access
Dutch unions and employers agree plans to limit flexibility (89 words)
Unions and employers in the Netherlands have reached an outline agreement on plans to change the Dutch labour market to make it less flexible. In ... Open access
Agreement gives union remote access (85 words)
The German chemicals and energy union, IGBCE, and the employers’ association for the rubber industry have agreed that the union should have digital ... Open access
Law - Discrimination
Discrimination - the law (543 words)
Discrimination law is found in the Equality Act 2010 ( EA10). The EA10 lists nine “protected characteristics”: age; disability; gender ... Subscribers only
‘Gender-critical’ views are protected by Equality Act (972 words)
Maya Forstater, a researcher, writer and adviser on sustainable development, was employed as a visiting fellow by the Centre for Global Development. ... Subscribers only
Interim relief not available in discrimination claims (838 words)
Sabrina Steer was employed by Stormsure Ltd from 12 March 2020 until 15 July 2020. She alleged that she was subjected to sexual harassment, ... Subscribers only
Tribunal must decide reason for dismissal (289 words)
Mr Mohammed was employed as a chief machinist with Cummins Ltd, a global designer and manufacturer of diesel and alternative fuel engines, from 1987. ... Subscribers only
Remedies for unintentional discrimination are adequate (443 words)
Mr Wisbey, a police officer in the City of London Police, was an authorised firearms officer (AFO) deployed to the Tactical Firearms Group. He has a ... Subscribers only
ET failed to consider whether dismissal related to disability (379 words)
Emma Thompson was a Welsh language teacher at Barry Comprehensive School. She was disabled by reason of dyslexia and a hearing impairment. In 2013 ... Subscribers only
ET to consider whether ignorance of time limits reasonable (515 words)
Mr Fothergill, who describes himself as “BME”, was engaged by a housing association as a temporary technical officer. He was required to ... Subscribers only
EU equal pay law has direct effect (400 words)
In this collective equal pay claim, 6,000 female supermarket workers brought proceedings against Tesco Stores Ltd on the ground that they were ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
‘Exhausted’ ambulance workers ballotted (205 words)
Three health service unions will hold a consultative ballot of North West ambulance staff to gauge whether they are prepared to strike over a new ... Open access
Driver fatigue at ‘epidemic’ levels (319 words)
Driver fatigue among professional passenger and freight road transport drivers is “the norm on European roads” and is directly linked to their ... Subscribers only
Unions oppose compulsory vaccination (227 words)
Responding to reports that ministers intend to push ahead with compulsory vaccination of health and social care workers, unions have repeated ... Open access
Survey finds burnout among prison officers (89 words)
Staff working in UK prisons and secure hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic experienced high levels of anxiety and burnout according to a ... Open access
Video marks Grenfell anniversary (92 words)
In a video produced to mark the fourth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower disaster on 14 June, FBU firefighters’ union general secretary Matt Wrack ... Open access
Prison educators’ strike continues (69 words)
UCU university and college union members were set to walk out of 49 prisons and young offender institutions across England last month in a continuing ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
HSE updates asbestos and noise guidance (193 words)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a revised version of Asbestos: The Analysts’ Guide (HSG248) to take account of findings from ... Open access
TUC: employers ‘massively’ under-reporting Covid deaths (558 words)
The government must “fix the deficiencies in how workplace deaths, illnesses and injuries are reported”, the TUC has said, after it found ... Subscribers only
New guidelines offer protection for emergency workers (159 words)
The POA prison officers’ union says judges and magistrates must use new sentencing guidelines introduced on 1 July 2021 to ensure those who assault ... Open access
Union wants bus precautions retained (106 words)
Bus companies must work alongside the police to provide enforcement officers to ensure bus passengers comply with Covid safety rules, the Unite union ... Open access
Features
How to discover what your employer can really pay (3,060 words)
With the pandemic being used as an excuse to freeze pay or try and push through fire and rehire, it’s more important than ever to be able to ... Subscribers only
Building back better – by backing better building (2,015 words)
Pay rises are back in construction, but must take their place in a crowded agenda, where casual employment of one kind or another is now widely seen ... Open access