![[Basket]](images/basket.png){kind=small}
Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/WR202109.jpg)
![[PDF]](images/pdf.gif)
Workplace Report September 2021
Do co-operatives and mutuals make a difference? - co-ops and mutuals have weathered the Covid storm and may be well-placed to grow, but do their democratic and social credentials guarantee good outcomes for workers? Labour shortages – what’s the impact? - what do the labour shortages being widely reported in the media mean for unions and for pay? Latest case law on discrimination and compensation
Pay and prices
Average earnings recovering (122 words)
Double digit earnings growth now being recorded in parts of the private sector is in no way matched by median pay settlements on Payline (see below). ...
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) (241 words)
Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
All workers £639.90 Male £676.60 Female £593.50 Managers £932.20 Professionals £849.10 Assoc professional £666.20 Admin & secretarial £505. ... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of July 2021 ... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail Prices Index (RPI),
Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
2021 forecasts (41 words)
1 Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Will we see a ‘daughter of furlough’? (830 words)
Furlough – the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – is due to finish at the end of this month and, as Workplace Report went to press, a replacement ...
Subscribers only
University workers strike to save all colleagues (290 words)
Staff at Liverpool University took 10 days of strike action in August in a fight for jobs in the faculty of health and life sciences. ... Subscribers only
Charter upholds dignity for terminally ill (258 words)
Unions and managers at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stepping Hill Hospital and community NHS services across the town, have signed up ... Subscribers only
Driver strikes likely to mean beer shortages (542 words)
Around a thousand draymen who deliver beer to pubs around the country are set to strike over pay. According to the Unite general union, the workers ... Subscribers only
NHS pressures prevent leave but provide pay boost (520 words)
During the pandemic, many NHS nurses have seen their leave cancelled, creating a huge backlog. However, current pressures on the service – which, ... Subscribers only
Workers determined to hold Rolls-Royce to terms (216 words)
After winning a huge victory earlier in the year that saved the historic factory from planned closure, workers from Barnoldswick are again downing ... Open access
Fight continues on railways (394 words)
Transport union the RMT has balloted Transport for Wales (TfW) cleaners for action over the company reneging on its commitments. Following a dispute ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Inquiry launches into menopause and discrimination (269 words)
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee is to consider whether existing legislation does enough to protect women from menopause-related ... Subscribers only
Union input evident in proposed domestic abuse act (279 words)
The government is to recognise that home and work cannot be neatly separated in terms of domestic abuse after years of campaigning and lobbying by ... Subscribers only
Gender pay gap reaches 56% by retirement (494 words)
The gender pension gap is 17% at the beginning of women’s careers and reaches 56% at retirement compared to men, according to research by Legal ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Investment in skills plummets (458 words)
Employers’ investment in skills, already in long-term decline, has fallen again sharply during the Covid pandemic, says a report from the Learning ... Subscribers only
Union launches learning fund replacement (137 words)
The PCS civil service union has launched a new national learning programme for members in response to the government’s abolition of the England ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Recognition deal is a first for freeports (420 words)
The first union recognition agreement at one of the UK’s new “freeports” has been reached between general union Unite and logistics giant XPO. ... Subscribers only
European news
International framework agreement numbers decline (377 words)
Transnational company agreements, signed by employee representatives – generally unions – and senior management, potentially provide a way of ... Subscribers only
Pandemic hits German pay settlements (417 words)
German pay rises have fallen short of inflation in the first half of this year – the first time this has happened for 10 years. This is the key ... Subscribers only
Dutch metalworkers reach above-inflation deal (184 words)
After five months of disputes, unions and employers in the metalworking industry in the Netherlands have reached agreement on a new pay deal. The ... Open access
French TV workers sign first ever deal (107 words)
Unions in the French television industry have signed the first collective agreement covering their industry after more than two years of negotiations. ... Open access
Law - Dismissal
Dismissal – the law (355 words)
The law on unfair dismissal is contained in part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 96). ... Subscribers only
Reporting unfounded allegations to police was a detriment (939 words)
Chris Purnell was appointed director of The Edinburgh Mela, a charity that ran the world music and dance festival, in November 2011. He became aware ... Subscribers only
Medical evidence obtained after dismissal should not be considered (1,087 words)
Dawn Brightman started work for South Downs Health NHS Trust in 2008 and in 2014 her employment was transferred under the Transfer of Undertakings ... Subscribers only
Employer should have waited longer for medical improvement (636 words)
Mark Edwards was employed part-time as an assistant officer at HMP Cardiff, where he worked as a complaints clerk logging and processing complaints ... Subscribers only
Compensation - the law (449 words)
Compensation in a claim of unfair dismissal includes a basic award and a compensatory award. ... Subscribers only
Failure to provide evidence of mitigation reduced compensation (425 words)
Mr Gavli and Mr Ali were dismissed from their jobs as passenger service operatives after allegations had been made that they had bullied, harassed ... Subscribers only
Failure to apply uplift in compensation was perverse (601 words)
Ms Brown was employed by Veolia ES, from April 2001, as a business development manager. In March 2018, Veolia began an investigation, and ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
New law on mandatory vaccination (200 words)
The government has passed a new law compelling care homes to ensure almost all workers are vaccinated against Covid-19. An amendment to the Health ... Open access
Survey spotlights homeworking health and safety (245 words)
New research by journalists’ union the NUJ highlights health and safety problems for those working at home without a dedicated working space. It ... Open access
Striking for safety (236 words)
Last month, train manager members of the RMT transport union at East Midlands Railways kicked off a programme of action that will continue this month ... Open access
Drivers’ hours relaxation extended (333 words)
A temporary relaxation of the enforcement of drivers’ hours that applied until 8 August 2021 has been extended to 3 October 2021. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Committee calls for asbestos evidence (171 words)
The deadline for submissions to the Work and Pensions Committee inquiry into how the HSE manages the continued presence of asbestos in buildings is ... Open access
Work-related suicides go uncounted (226 words)
Employee suicides are still largely treated as an individual mental health problem that has no direct relevance for work or the workplace, according ... Open access
PPE protests at DHSC and HSE (331 words)
Unions and safety campaigners took part in demonstrations to protest at failures to require sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) to tackle ... Subscribers only
HSE now consultee on high-rise homes (292 words)
From 1 August 2021, the HSE has been a statutory consultee for planning applications involving relevant high-rise residential buildings and “will ... Subscribers only
Features
Do co-operatives and mutuals make a difference? (3,291 words)
Co-operatives and mutuals have weathered the Covid storm and may be well-placed to grow, but do their democratic and social credentials guarantee ... Subscribers only
Labour shortages: what’s the impact? (2,202 words)
What do the labour shortages being reported in the media mean for unions and for pay? ... Open access