![[Basket]](images/basket.png){kind=small}
Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/WR202203.jpg)
![[PDF]](images/pdf.gif)
Workplace Report March 2022
Collective grievances - how submitting a collective grievance can resolve workplace disputes, push for better conditions, strengthen organisation and help build the union; Putting wellbeing on the agenda - more and more employers are embracing the concept of wellbeing. We ask whether it delivers positive outcomes for employees and union members; Latest case law on discrimination
Pay and prices
Inflation skyrockets to 7.8% (112 words)
RPI is at 7.8%, and the “cost of living crisis” does not look like abating any time soon. Pay rises are getting bigger and increasing levels of ...
Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (221 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (237 words)
Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (39 words)
ASHE 2021 median uprated by AWE ... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of January 2022 ... Open access
Prices (77 words)
1 Retail Prices Index (RPI),
Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
2022 forecasts (40 words)
1 Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Must ending Covid-19 restrictions mean cutting support too? (887 words)
The winding down of Covid-19 restrictions, starting from last month, will involve the withdrawal or potential withdrawal of health-related support ...
Subscribers only
Union wins changes to ‘draconian’ injunction (487 words)
Security guards at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) continue their strike action this month, after their union, United Voices of the ... Subscribers only
Hope for care workers (396 words)
There is finally some good news for care workers, as three large public sector employers have committed to pay uplifts for staff. ... Subscribers only
News from Payline (293 words)
The latest deals of note on LRD’s Payline this month include: above inflation rises for HGV and bus drivers, an RPI-linked rise for CAF Rail across ... Subscribers only
Drivers continue to take action (574 words)
The UK’s refuse workers and bus drivers continue to take industrial action across the country this month (see previous issues). The latest to vote ... Subscribers only
Independent school teachers walk out (279 words)
Teachers from all schools within the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) are taking strike action in opposition to their employers’ plans to withdraw ... Subscribers only
UCU strikes kick off again (294 words)
A further 10 days of strike action by members of the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) began at universities across the UK last month over cuts ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Shorter week ‘might narrow gender gap’ (385 words)
A shorter working week could help close the gender pay gap while aiding Britain’s transition to a green economy, says a new policy paper from think ... Subscribers only
Third of young returners are on atypical contracts (479 words)
One in three young people who experienced worklessness during the last lockdown have returned to atypical contracts. They are also likely to be ... Subscribers only
Government consults on disability workforce reporting (171 words)
The government is undertaking a consultation on whether workforce reporting on disability should be introduced for employers with 250 or more ... Open access
Firm offers public holiday choice (105 words)
In a bid to extend flexible working practices, the Deloitte professional services company says its UK employees can now choose when to take their ... Open access
Learning and training news
Apprenticeships should be used to boost social inclusion (410 words)
Almost nine in 10 employers who hire apprentices plan to maintain or increase the number they take on over the next year, according to a survey ... Subscribers only
Guide helps members find way around union (59 words)
Public services union UNISON has launched an interactive online learning module to help new members navigate their way around the union. ... Open access
Adult education devolution (68 words)
More local areas are to get the chance to control their adult education budget, according to the government’s Levelling up the United Kingdom white ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Union launches drive to offset Covid squeeze (374 words)
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has embarked on a month-long recruitment blitz to offset a net loss in membership it suffered during the Covid ... Subscribers only
Unions show their value (118 words)
Last month saw unions and their activists showcasing the value of unions during #HeartUnions week. ... Open access
European news
Pay increases move upwards in Spain (405 words)
There are early signs of higher pay increases in Spain, although they still lag behind inflation. ... Subscribers only
Italian unions want to change basis for calculating pay rises (416 words)
Italian unions are becoming increasingly concerned that current price increases are not being reflected in the pay increases they are able to ask for. ... Subscribers only
Strikes threatened in Poland (131 words)
A series of strikes have been threatened in Poland, as employees seek to maintain their living standards, with inflation recorded at 9.2% in January 2 ... Open access
Hospital agreement in the Netherlands (159 words)
Unions and employers have reached agreement on a new pay settlement for hospital staff. The deal, which is backdated to 1 July 2021, runs for 19 ... Open access
Law - Discrimination
Discrimination — the law (680 words)
Discrimination law is found in the Equality Act 2010 (EA10). The EA10 lists nine “protected characteristics”: age; disability; gender ... Subscribers only
Decision to dismiss influenced by disability (890 words)
P2CG Ltd was a relatively new company with three founding directors, Mr Peel, Mr Knight and Dr Rawling. They were good friends and referred to ... Subscribers only
Dismissal discriminatory despite performance concerns (949 words)
Mr Bennett was employed by MITAC as UK sales manager. He had been recruited in March 2018 by Stuart Balaam, who he had previously worked with and who ... Subscribers only
Employer did not know of disability at date of dismissal (907 words)
Ms Stott was employed from October 2017 as a paralegal with a law firm, Ralli Ltd. She worked with two solicitors who supervised her work. From the ... Subscribers only
Justification of dismissal was unclear (855 words)
Mr Gray was employed by Portsmouth University. In 2014 he was signed off work on sick leave for three months. Around the same time he was also ... Subscribers only
Withdrawal of secondment was justified (570 words)
Ms Judd had successfully applied to be seconded to a role in Montenegro. Before she could take it up she needed medical clearance. A risk assessment ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Union celebrates working time victory with tour (240 words)
The CWU communications union celebrated a victory on working time last month as management switched off the “despised” personal travel time (PTT) ... Open access
Campaign launches on murder anniversary (203 words)
The IWGB union launched a new driver safety campaign on the anniversary of the death of Gabriel Bringye, a private hire driver who was murdered while ... Open access
Chorus of protest over Covid rules removal (357 words)
Unions are continuing to warn the government that Covid has not gone away and they say abolishing the requirement to self-isolate is “going too ... Subscribers only
Nine in 10 teachers report increased stress (287 words)
The NASUWT’s teaching union general secretary Patrick Roach has called for an end to a damaging toll on teachers’ health and wellbeing being ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
HSE updates guidance after challenge (311 words)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says it is “working with trade unions and industry groups to ensure that guidance is up to date” after the ... Subscribers only
Rail union calls on regulator to act over cuts (172 words)
The TSSA transport union has called on the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) regulator to act after Network Rail increased the scale of planned budget ... Open access
Covid transmission study continues (260 words)
The PROTECT Covid-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment will continue until March 2023. The UK-wide PROTECT (Partnership for ... Subscribers only
Grenfell inquiry ‘must consider wider context’ (291 words)
The lawyer for the FBU fire brigades’ union, Martin Seaward, gave evidence to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry warning against scapegoating the Fire and ... Subscribers only
Features
Keeping it together: collective grievances (3,302 words)
In January, 70% of staff at MacMerry 300, a Scottish pub chain that manages 13 bars across Glasgow and Dundee, signed a collective grievance ... Open access
It’s OK to not be OK: putting wellbeing on the agenda (2,242 words)
Employee wellbeing has clearly been undermined during the pandemic. In a recent survey by the NASUWT education union nine out of 10 teachers said ... Subscribers only