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Workplace Report February 2023
PAY AND PRICES: BARGAINING: Health unions’ patience with review bodies runs out Top Payline deals exceed 8% Strikers at homelessness charity win better deal Latest statistics reflect battles over pay Waste workers cancel strikes after 18% offer EQUALITY: Background is biggest hurdle to career progression Low pay leaves disabled workers exposed to rising costs LEARNING AND TRAINING: UK skills system is failing, committee says Rishi Sunak’s maths problem RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION: Digital proves key to getting out vote EUROPE: Gender pay transparency directive gets go ahead EMPLOYMENT LAW: the latest cases HEALTH AND SAFETY: Research reveals deadly risks to firefighters School buildings are a risk to life Union supports project to counter sexual attacks at sea MPs: smart motorways are endangering lives SERVING THE NEEDS OF: WORKERS IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES In the original “gig economy”, creative freelance workers and unions are teaming up to improve pay and working conditions EUROPE: PAY RISES WIPED: OUT BY RISING PRICES 2022 should have been a good year for pay across Europe, with levels up on the year before – but, in a familiar story, inflation eroded or wiped out the gains
Pay and prices
Private sector pay deals reach 8.3% (130 words)
RPI is down by just under a percentage point at 13.4%%, and is set to decrease further. Meanwhile, unions achieved a median pay rise of 8.3% in the ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of December 2022 ... Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (270 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...
Subscribers only
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (239 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Prices (64 words)
... Open access
2023 Forecasts (39 words)
Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK economy, December 2022. 1 Fourth quarter 2 Calendar year ... Open access
Bargaining news
Mass strikes escalate (793 words)
As we continue into 2023, the high volume of strikes continues, with those of national significance set to grow in size. Talks in January between ... Subscribers only
Strikers at homelesness charity win better deal (94 words)
Over 600 workers at the Shelter homelessness charity have seen their commitment to industrial action result in a much improved pay offer. After two ... Open access
Sunderland Stagecoach drivers win 11% (94 words)
Two hundred drivers who are members of the GMB general union ended their industrial dispute by voting to accept a double digit pay rise of 11% – ... Open access
Luton airport workers win 19% (87 words)
Around 200 staff at GH London Ground Handling Luton airport have called off planned strike action after potentially winning three permanent pay ... Open access
Health unions’ patience with review body runs out (396 words)
Health unions won’t be submitting joint evidence to the NHS pay review body while the current industrial disputes remain unresolved. Instead, the 14 ... Subscribers only
Top Payline deals exceed 8% (398 words)
The best pay deals settled and entered into Payline during the first weeks of January included: ... Subscribers only
Stand up for 17%, performers say (429 words)
West End theatre bosses must raise minimum weekly pay for performers and stage management and improve working conditions, their union Equity is ... Subscribers only
Latest statistics reflect battles over pay (311 words)
More than 1.6 million working days have been lost to industrial action since June of last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ... Subscribers only
Waste workers cancel strikes after 18% offer (95 words)
Nearly 200 Veolia waste workers across Merseyside were due to strike in January but called off the action after the company offered them a new pay ... Open access
Asda drivers win better pay and conditions (183 words)
A hundred tanker drivers have won a pay increase of 12.2%, as well as improvements to their working life which vastly increase the overall value of ... Open access
Older people face post-Covid work barriers (133 words)
Lifestyle changes, caring responsibilities and trouble finding paid jobs are among the hurdles preventing over-50s returning to work after the Covid-1 ... Open access
Firms ‘should embrace neurodiverse workers’ (116 words)
Employers should “actively seek” neurodiverse workers, according to a careers specialist. ... Open access
Equality news
Background is biggest hurdle to career progression (213 words)
A workers’ socio-economic background is a bigger barrier to climbing the career ladder than gender, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation, ... Open access
‘Red wall’ women want action on pay (199 words)
Women in “red wall” constituencies say that policies to tackle the gender pay gap will be a significant factor in deciding which party to vote ... Open access
Low pay leaves disabled workers exposed to rising costs (166 words)
A “massive” income gap means disabled workers are “hugely exposed” to the rising costs of living, according to research by the Resolution ... Open access
Learning and training news
UK skills system is failing, committee says (517 words)
The skills system in England is “failing to deliver the skills we need”, according to a strongly critical report by the House of Commons Public ... Subscribers only
Union launches careers service for members (69 words)
All members of the UNISON public services union now have access to free personal careers advice and guidance, following a successful trial of a ... Open access
Rishi Sunak’s maths problem (95 words)
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to ensure everyone continues to learn maths until age 18 is “disappointing in its lack of vision”, according ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Digital proves key to getting out vote (305 words)
Unions involved in the wave of strikes this winter have been making extensive use of digital technologies to engage staff in their industrial action ... Subscribers only
European news
Minimum wages in Spain and Slovenia (102 words)
Unlike most other EU states, minimum wages in Spain and Slovenia did not increase on 1 January 2023 (see Workplace Report, January 2023, pages 18-19). ... Open access
German plans to support collective bargaining (101 words)
The German government has begun consultation on how public procurement can be used to support collective bargaining. The intention is that the ... Open access
Finnish negotiations deadlocked (71 words)
Pay negotiations across a range of sectors in Finland are deadlocked as both sides await the outcome of negotiations in the technology industry. This ... Open access
Gender pay transparency directive gets go ahead (485 words)
The European Parliament and the European Council, the body representing national governments in EU states, have reached agreement on a directive ... Subscribers only
Two deals – but without the largest union (265 words)
Dutch employers have recently reached two important settlements with unions, but in both cases the country’s largest union body, the FNV, was not ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
PCP must be clear before adjustments are considered (1,245 words)
The questions of whether there was a PCP that put a disabled worker at a disadvantage and whether adjustments had been made should be considered ... Subscribers only
Employer had no knowledge of disadvantage (2,515 words)
There was no duty to make reasonable adjustments when an employee had failed to establish that his disability put him at a substantial disadvantage. ... Subscribers only
Reopening a disciplinary case was fair (1,098 words)
In a rare case, it was fair for an NHS trust to re-open a disciplinary matter that had already been concluded because of the employee’s leadership ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Research reveals deadly risks to firefighters (394 words)
The FBU firefighters’ union has demanded more action on prevention and health monitoring, as well as on facilities and contracts for proper ... Subscribers only
School buildings are a risk to life (343 words)
The DfE department for education has identified the collapse of some school blocks as one of six key risks in its 2022 annual report, published last ... Subscribers only
Calls for protection for Parliament workforce (105 words)
The Prospect specialists’ union has called for further reform to protect those working in Parliament, following reports that a Labour MP shared a ... Open access
Union supports project to counter sexual attacks at sea (58 words)
The Nautilus International maritime union is supporting a UK project aimed at countering sexual attacks at sea and improving the reporting of onboard ... Open access
Redbridge Council issues fine for sexual harassment (103 words)
Redbridge Council has become the first London local authority to issue a fixed penalty notice to a man for harassing a woman in the street. It used a ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
HSE targets moving and handling risks (178 words)
The HSE health and safety executive has taken enforcement action after it found a worker lifting an 80kg kerb on his own without any assistance from ... Open access
HSENI calls on employers to prevent MSDs (85 words)
The HSENI health and safety executive for Northern Ireland has urged employers in the haulage and logistics sector to make a New Year resolution to ... Open access
MPs: smart motorways are endangering lives (267 words)
New figures published by the ORR rail and road regulator show that shortcomings and missed targets in the technology used to detect broken-down ... Subscribers only
MPs: smart motorways are endangering lives (409 words)
A new blog on the HSE-led Protect Covid-19 NCS national core study website, by University of Leeds environmental engineering professor Cath Noakes ... Subscribers only
Features
Serving the needs of workers in the creative industries (3,290 words)
Do you know someone working in publishing, film, TV, radio, video, live events or the performing arts? If so, there is a strong chance they are a ... Subscribers only
Europe: pay rises wiped out by higher prices (1,895 words)
Pay increases in 2022 were higher than in 2021 in almost all EU member states. Despite this, real pay, that is after taking account of inflation, ... Subscribers only