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Workplace Report January 2023
BARGAINING Strikes and threat of actions bring rewards Employers agree to address cost of living crisis Get ME home safely campaign gains ground Pay deal offers 13% to lowest-paid
EQUALITY Employers urged to tackle disability language
LEARNING AND TRAINING Apprenticeship system critique pulls no punches
RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION RSA unionised after 268 years
EUROPE Report backs plan to regulate work from home
LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases
HEALTH AND SAFETY Work-related ill health reaches all-time high Record number of teachers planning to quit TUC survey of health and safety reps
PAY REBELLION 1990s-level stoppages look set to continue into 2023 as unions defend members from the sharpest fall in real wages for decades, but government obstruction and attempts to undermine working conditions are making the job harder
MINIMUM WAGES ACROSS EUROPE Minimum wages are a crucial part of the system for setting pay levels in the vast majority of EU states, as well as the UK. This year they are going up by more than usual. We examine why
Pay and prices
Pay deals over 7% as inflation pauses (117 words)
The mid-point (median) among pay increases remained at 7.2% on lowest basic rates over the three months to December. ...
Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (193 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (239 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of November 2022 ... Open access
Prices (65 words)
... Open access
Bargaining news
What will inflation be doing in 2023? (923 words)
Many people think inflation will be coming down this year, but that interest rates will be going up. Are they calling it right, or are they in for a ...
Subscribers only
Strikes and threat of actions bring rewards (356 words)
Two thousand London bus drivers called off strikes planned for December after winning a “significant improvement” on the pay offer made by ... Subscribers only
Employers agree to address cost of living crisis (394 words)
Further education staff in Wales have received interim help with the cost of living crisis after a request from the joint trade unions in the sector. ... Subscribers only
Mining museum staff win following strike (145 words)
Pay rises of up 10.5% have been won by workers at the National Coal Mining Museum for England after taking five days of strike action (see Workplace ... Open access
Union welcomes Ford’s commitment to Halewood (129 words)
The Unite general union has welcomed confirmation that the Ford car company will be investing £380 million in new electric drive units to be built ... Open access
Get ME Home Safely campaign gains ground (360 words)
Glasgow City Council – one of the largest in Scotland – has become the eighth local authority to back a campaign by the Unite general union to ... Subscribers only
Pay deal offers 13% to lowest-paid (366 words)
Members of the Accord finance union working for Lloyds bank have voted in favour of a 2023 pay deal which includes a minimum rise of £2,000 for ... Subscribers only
Second civil service union considers action (187 words)
The Prospect professional union is to run industrial action ballots across a broad range of civil service employers after the government confirmed ... Open access
How good is your job? (100 words)
Apparently “job quality” has improved: 82% of UK employees work “satisfactory hours” (less than 48 a week, not under-employed); 13% are paid ... Open access
Equality news
Women take ‘financial hit’ for flexible work (224 words)
Women are taking a pay hit because they are much more likely than men to do flexible work that leads to fewer hours, according to TUC analysis of ... Open access
Employers’ pledge to tackle ageism (215 words)
The Centre for Ageing Better has launched a pledge for businesses and organisations in response to a new poll revealing the extent of ageism in the ... Open access
Older women face widest pay gap (222 words)
Women over 50 face the largest gender pay gap in the country according to Rest Less, an online support community for older workers. ... Open access
Employers urged to tackle disability language (127 words)
The Business Disability Forum (BDF) has launched a guide urging employers to find appropriate language for discussing disability in the workplace. ... Open access
Diversity on the rise (137 words)
The boards of FTSE companies are becoming more ethnically diverse, according to a study by Thomson Reuters that shows two-thirds of FTSE 350 ... Open access
Learning and training news
Apprenticeship system critique pulls no punches (673 words)
A damning review of England’s apprenticeship system has found that many learners are being “badly let down”, with the result that almost half (4 ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
RSA unionised after 268 years (301 words)
A significant union recognition battle has been won by staff at the RSA (the royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce), who have overcome ... Subscribers only
European news
Report backs plan to regulate work from home (342 words)
A new report from the EU research agency Eurofound, which looked at the extent of working from home (telework) across the EU’s 27 member states, ... Subscribers only
Bonus is no solution to bargaining curb (370 words)
Members of Belgium’s two main union confederations, the CSC and the FGTB, were on the streets of Brussels last month to protest against legislation ... Subscribers only
Austrian deals settle at between 7% and 8% (175 words)
Austrian unions have agreed 2023 pay increases of between 7% and 8% in three key industries with more than one million workers in the last few weeks. ... Open access
Extra 5.2% in Portugal (110 words)
Workers at Volkswagen’s Autoeuropa plant in Portugal have agreed an extra 5.2% pay increase to take account of rising prices. The works council, ... Open access
Employment law - Case reports
Dismissal of disabled social worker was fair (1,195 words)
Ms Morgan was employed by Buckinghamshire Council as a supervising social worker in the fostering team. She has dyslexia, dyspraxia, auditory ... Subscribers only
Council did not fail in duty by not slotting employee into role (1,486 words)
Mr Hilaire was employed by Luton Borough Council as a youth support worker. He was disabled with depression and arthritis. The effect on his day to ... Subscribers only
Reductions in compensation (1,051 words)
Mrs Pirie worked for the Unilever group of companies from 1998 until she was dismissed in August 2016 because her fixed-term contract came to an end. ... Subscribers only
Warning and consultation usually required before dismissal (1,047 words)
The Zaika Restaurant is part of the Tamarind collection of three Indian restaurants in London. Mr Teixeira was employed by them as a tandoor chef ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Transport workers denied decent toilet provision (411 words)
Government funding for providing much-needed improved toilet facilities for lorry drivers is entirely unspent a year after the multi-million pound ... Subscribers only
Record number of teachers planning to quit (321 words)
Record numbers of UK teachers and education staff have considered leaving the sector in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental ... Subscribers only
TUC survey of union health and safety reps (78 words)
The TUC is encouraging trade union safety reps to take part in its biennial survey. Hearing from safety reps in this way lets the TUC know the issues ... Open access
Menopause guidance ‘is step forward’ (131 words)
New NHS England guidance on supporting staff through the menopause is “a positive step forward for all women who work in the NHS”, according to ... Open access
Toolkit to prevent sexism and sexual harassment (60 words)
The NEU education union used the International day for the elimination of violence against women to launch its campaign toolkit to prevent sexism and ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Work-related ill health hits all-time high (418 words)
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) annual work-related ill-health and injury statistics for 2021/22 show the level of occupational illness has reached ... Subscribers only
Bereaved families call for dramatic improvements (281 words)
The families of five men crushed to death when a wall collapsed at a Birmingham recycling plant have called for dramatic improvements to health and ... Subscribers only
HSE marks campaign anniversary (120 words)
Manchester University organisational psychology professor Cary Cooper joined HSE chair Sarah Newton in a new podcast to mark the first anniversary of ... Open access
Radiographers welcome CQC report (124 words)
The SoR radiographers’ union has welcomed the Care Quality Commission (CQC) health and social care regulator’s annual report on the Ionising ... Open access
Features
Pay rebellion (2,784 words)
Last year’s strikes and industrial action, triggered by the sharpest fall in real wages since 1977, show every sign of escalating. Entrenched ... Subscribers only
Minimum wages across Europe (1,507 words)
This month, as every January, minimum wage rates in many European states will increase. However, the 2023 increases are likely to be higher than in ... Subscribers only