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Workplace Report May 2023
PAY AND PRICES
BARGAINING Health workers split over latest offer Teachers consider new strikes Hospital cleaners brought in-house Strikes win new offer Payline top deal hits 26%
EQUALITY EHRC: study impact before redefining ‘sex’ Most long Covid sufferers treated unfairly at work
LEARNING AND TRAINING Lifelong learning plans ‘fail older and less qualified’
RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION Recognition drive gathers pace following company’s rejection
EUROPE Hospital strike produces above-inflation increase
LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases
HEALTH AND SAFETY Workers blacklisted for raising safety concerns Teaching unions want action on workloads Multi-million pound fines follow prosecutions
ILL-DEFINED BENEFITS: WHAT THE UNIVERSITIES PENSION WIN TELLS US In April, the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) finally won its struggle to save university pensions after an epic six-year battle that featured the largest strikes ever seen in UK higher education. We tell the story behind the victory
CHANGING PAY STRUCTURES Whether they are part of a pay settlement or stand-alone negotiations, pay structure changes can have a significant impact on workers’ pay
Pay and prices
Inflation dips but food prices soar (134 words)
RPI inflation came down a notch to 13.5% in March. This was less than predicted and many prices, including food at 19.2%, are still soaring . It is ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of March 2023 ... Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (271 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...
Subscribers only
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (237 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Prices (64 words)
... Open access
2023 Forecasts (37 words)
Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK economy, March 2023. 1Fourth quarter 2Calendar year
... Open access
Bargaining news
What can we do about AI? (830 words)
Artificial Intelligence is here, now, having an impact on our jobs and working lives. We need a workers’ voice capable of influencing its use, and ... Subscribers only
Hospital cleaners brought in-house (110 words)
Nearly 300 cleaning and catering staff at a London hospital trust are to be brought back in-house after a year-long campaign by public services union ... Open access
North Sea strikes go ahead (153 words)
In April, more than 1,300 offshore workers began strike action with a 48-hour stoppage that caused “severe” problems for major oil and gas ... Open access
Health workers split over latest offer (640 words)
Workers across the NHS in England and the ambulance service are voting on whether to accept the government’s latest pay offer. After successive ... Subscribers only
Teachers consider new strikes (183 words)
The government could see wider disruption in schools in England following rejection of its pay offer, with additional unions considering industrial ... Open access
Strikes win new offer (299 words)
Postal workers are being recommended to accept a new pay deal that would end the long-running dispute with the Royal Mail. Called the Business ... Subscribers only
Top Payline deal hits 26% (316 words)
A 26% pay rise for car park attendants at the Woolwich Ferry in London topped the list of pay deals recorded on the LRD Payline database over the ... Subscribers only
Profits to blame, not wages (163 words)
Soaring company profits, not rising wages, are driving the cost of living crisis, according to research commissioned by general union Unite. ... Open access
Waterways staff win 8.2% rise (135 words)
Public services union UNISON has secured an 8.2% pay rise plus a £250 lump sum for workers at the Canal and Rivers Trust charity after talks at the ... Open access
Strike action at St Mungo’s suspended (153 words)
A planned four-week strike due to begin in April by St Mungo’s workers was suspended after their union, Unite, decided to ballot members on the ... Open access
Equality news
Progress stalled on gender pay gap (153 words)
Lack of progress on closing the gender pay gap was described as “disappointing” by campaign group the Fawcett Society after the latest reporting ... Open access
Rise in pension age delayed (132 words)
The government has decided not to accelerate a rise in the state pension age from 67 to 68 despite a 2017 review that recommended the change be ... Open access
EHRC: study impact before redefining ‘sex’ (248 words)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has told the government it needs “detailed policy and legal analysis” before changing the ... Open access
Most long Covid sufferers treated unfairly at work (224 words)
Two-thirds of employees with long Covid have been treated unfairly at work while one in seven have lost their jobs, according to the research by the ... Open access
Autism employment review (192 words)
The government has announced a review of the barriers preventing people with autism from gaining and staying in work. ... Open access
Learning and training news
Lifelong learning plans ‘fail older and less qualified’ (439 words)
The Lifelong Learning Bill currently passing through Parliament discriminates against older workers, and conflicts with the government’s new ... Subscribers only
Guarded welcome for returnerships plan (156 words)
Experts have welcomed a plan for “returnerships”, part of a package of measures announced in the Spring Budget to encourage people back into the ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Recognition drive gathers pace following company’s rejection (367 words)
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) is to launch a major campaign for statutory union recognition at trade tools retailer Screwfix following a ... Subscribers only
European news
Greek minimum wage rises by 9.4% (106 words)
The Greek government has increased the national minimum wage by 9.4% to €780.00 a month from 1 April. This is more than twice March’s inflation ... Open access
Spanish unions and employers discuss pay (185 words)
The two main Spanish trade union confederations, CCOO and UGT, and the CEOE employers’ association have held further discussions on a possible ... Open access
Hospital strike produces above-inflation increase (488 words)
Dutch unions have signed an agreement on pay and conditions in hospitals which includes an above-inflation pay increase and action on workload ... Subscribers only
Unions back agreement (292 words)
Belgium’s three union confederations, the CSC, FGTB and CGSLB have all backed a new national agreement which covers a series of important ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
EAT says conduct arose from short temper not neurodivergence (912 words)
Mr McQueen was employed as a registration officer with the General Optical Council (GOC) for over five years. He was neurodivergent, having dyslexia ... Subscribers only
No ‘last straw’ where no earlier improper conduct (823 words)
Mr Achi was a trade union official identifying as Black African who began temporarily working for GMB Southern region before transferring on a ... Subscribers only
Duty of care did not extend to risk of criminal proceedings (640 words)
Mr Benyatov was a banker with Credit Suisse before its takeover. He was based in Romania and was arrested, prosecuted and later convicted in ... Subscribers only
No bonus payable as sum not agreed (882 words)
Ms Thom is a chartered surveyor who was employed by Hobart Real Estate Partners Ltd from October 2016 as a director of asset and development ... Subscribers only
‘Unless order’ was appropriate (489 words)
Mrs Rojha presented several complaints to the employment tribunal following her dismissal by Zinc Media (ZM) for redundancy. She alleged that there ... Subscribers only
Judge was wrong to reconsider (714 words)
Mr Acton Davis was employed by Ebury Partners UK Ltd, a financial services and electronic money business focused on providing international payments. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Workers blacklisted for raising safety concerns (387 words)
Construction members of the Unite general union’s executive council, Frank Morris and Tony Seaman, have warned that workers who are prepared to ... Subscribers only
Teaching unions want action on workloads (309 words)
Commenting on the findings of a long-awaited DfE education department survey looking at the working lives of teachers, NEU teaching union joint ... Subscribers only
Covid Safety Pledge week of action (101 words)
A Covid Safety Pledge week of action stressed why it is important to carry on mitigating and preventing Covid infections. The pledge makes clear that ... Open access
Period dignity victory (83 words)
The PCS public and commercial services union has reported “a massive victory” after the DWP department for work and pensions began to receive ... Open access
Freeports ‘must not lead to lower safety standards’ (90 words)
The RMT transport union says new freeports must not lead to attacks on working conditions and “super exploitation” of seafarers, following news ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
HSE supports Stress Awareness Month 2023 (191 words)
The HSE and its 22 Working Minds campaign partner organisations joined forces to urge workplaces to take action on work-related stress and mental ... Open access
Safety ‘won’t be forgotten in race to Net Zero’ (81 words)
Safety will be a central part of Britain’s move to Net Zero, the HSE’s top scientist, professor Andrew Curran, has pledged. He said HSE ... Open access
First step on ‘forever chemicals’ welcomed (420 words)
A new HSE health and safety executive report setting out the extent to which PFAS Poly- and perfluroalkyl substances are used provides “the most ... Subscribers only
Multi-million pound fines follow prosecutions (280 words)
Morrisons supermarket was fined £3.5 million following a successful prosecution by Tewkesbury Borough Council for failing to ensure the health and ... Subscribers only
Features
Ill-defined benefits: what the universities pension win tells us (3,343 words)
Last month, UCU union members voted to accept an agreement reached with university employers association Universities UK (UUK) and the trustee of its ... Subscribers only
Changing pay structures (2,262 words)
How pay is organised, including the structure of grades and pay points, is always open to change. It’s something local government workers in ... Subscribers only