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Workplace Report April 2024
PAY AND PRICES 2 BARGAINING 3-5 Union ballots for possible strike action Profits vs pay on under-repair M25 No improvement in teacher recruitment and retention Pay increases in automotive sector EQUALITY 6 UK down on gender pay gap index Labour's equality plans 'long overdue' Boardroom diversity rises RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION 7 Amazon 'on the brink' of historic union recognition EUROPE 8 Pay still high despite lower inflation LAW AT WORK 9-12 Employment law — the latest cases HEALTH AND SAFETY 13-14 Bus drivers' safety map Offshore helicopter safety questioned Council campaigns for mandatory 'inclusive' PPE National campaign looks at dangers from livestock Paternity lea ve: the state 15-17 of play Statutory Paternity Pay rises this month, alongside minor changes to the rules and regulations that govern it, but the wider picture for leave entitlements and pay for fathers/new parents remains a very mixed bag indeed refuse workers ' pay and 18-19 conditions in the spotlight The recent cost of living crisis has seen refuse workers up and down the country negotiating, campaigning and striking to restore pay and working conditions in what ‘used to be seen as a good job’
Pay and prices
Wages overtake prices in some sectors (133 words)
The median pay rise achieved in agreements for the last three months to February was 5.3% on the lowest basic rate and 5.1% for all other grades ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of February 2024 ... 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) (204 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Prices (65 words)
... Open access
2024 Forecasts (35 words)
Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK economy, March 2024. Fourth quarter
... Open access
Bargaining news
Public sector to deliver more? (870 words)
Getting more for less out of the public sector workforce, in particular through the application of artificial intelligence (AI), is how the ... Subscribers only
Finance pay (300 words)
Santander agreed a pay increase from 1 March 2024 of 4.5% or £1,300 (pro-rata for part-time), whichever is the greater, for all eligible staff in ... Subscribers only
Pay rises to £12 but Tesco workers lose out for April (413 words)
Due to a technicality in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) regulations, hundreds of thousands of workers at retail giant Tesco will be paid less than ... Subscribers only
Union ballots for possible strike action (362 words)
PCS is to launch a strike ballot across the UK civil service in support of its national campaign for decent pay, pensions justice and job protection. ... Subscribers only
Profits vs pay on underrepair M25 (224 words)
Around 150 M25 maintenance workers, who are members of the Unite union and employed by Balfour Beatty, have voted for strike action over pay. ... Open access
Pay increases in automotive sector (514 words)
With Ford facing the possibility of industrial action by its managers and staff, a range of pay increases have been implemented at other automotive ... Subscribers only
No improvement in teacher recruitment and retention (269 words)
There is no sign of a let-up in teacher recruitment and retention problems in the latest report from the National Foundation for Educational Research ... Subscribers only
Equality news
UK down on gender pay gap index (127 words)
The UK’s high gender pay gap has seen it slip from 13th to 17th on a key international index of pay equality at work, the largest fall of any OECD ... Open access
Rights body issues advice on menopause (139 words)
New guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission aims to clarify employers’ legal obligations under the Equality Act to protect women ... Open access
Labour's equality plans 'long overdue' (252 words)
Rights campaigners and union bodies have welcomed the Labour Party’s plans to introduce mandatory pay gap reporting measures as part of proposed ... Subscribers only
Employers urged to tackle autism barriers (205 words)
The government is urging employers to break down barriers hampering autistic people in the workplace and preventing neurodiverse employees getting ... Open access
Boardroom diversity rises (156 words)
Almost all FTSE 100 companies now have at least one director from a BAME background, according to a report from Thomson Reuters, while nearly ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Amazon 'on the brink' of historic union recognition (291 words)
The GMB general union has grown its membership at Amazon’s Coventry site sufficiently to make a second attempt to gain union recognition. The move ... Subscribers only
Thousands of workers are now covered (481 words)
A number of recognition deals covering thousands of workers have been reached in recent weeks, both on a voluntary basis and via the statutory ... Subscribers only
Promoting unions in Northern Ireland (172 words)
The first Trade Union Week to be held on the island of Ireland will run from 29 April to 6 May 2024, the Northern Ireland office of the Irish ... Open access
European news
Danish local government settles (102 words)
As expected, unions and local authority employers in Denmark have agreed a two-year pay settlement for around 500,000 employees, the largest public ... Open access
Briefing reveals minimum wage growth (193 words)
The European Trade Union Institute has produced a new briefing on the 2022 minimum wage directive which is set to come into force in November this ... Open access
Pay still high despite lower inflation (411 words)
Pay increases in the Netherlands are still running at near record levels, even though inflation is less than half as high as it was a year ago. ... Subscribers only
Fall in representation linked to Macron changes (354 words)
The proportion of French companies where there is an elected employee body has fallen again for the fourth year since the French president Emmanuel ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
No protection from discrimination by another company in employer’s group (548 words)
Mr Fasano was employed by Reckitt Benckiser Health Ltd (RB Health), a company in the Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB Group) until his retirement aged 57 ... Subscribers only
Unequal pay justified by material factor (552 words)
Ms Barnard was employed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority from 2009 to 2017 in an administrative role on its Green Book terms. ... Subscribers only
Tribunal wrong to strike out discrimination claim (342 words)
Mr Logo, a native English speaker, was employed by Payone, a German company with a small presence in the UK, from November 2016. Most of Payone’s ... Subscribers only
Privacy orders revoked in case of alleged sexual assault (586 words)
Mr Z is Black British of Nigerian heritage. He started working for Commerzbank on 1 May 2019. He alleged discrimination against Commerzbank and ... Subscribers only
Tribunal must consider ability to comply with deposit order (486 words)
Mrs Carryl’s claims of unfair constructive dismissal and part-time worker discrimination were heard by an employment judge sitting alone. The ... Subscribers only
Claimant with PTSD could be disabled despite having no symptoms for years (526 words)
Mr Linton was employed by the Althestan Trust as a school ICT technician from September to November 2020. ... Subscribers only
Tribunal's decision on comparators upheld (661 words)
Mr Martin worked at St Francis Xavier 6th Form College from 2001 to 2017 as an English teacher. He is Black British of Jamaican heritage. ... Subscribers only
Liability for discrimination did not transfer under TUPE (629 words)
Mr Moore was employed by Sean Pong Tyres Ltd (SPTL). He complained of discrimination by a colleague, Mr Owusu. In April 2021 Moore resigned in ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Bus drivers' safety map (440 words)
The Unite general union has launched a road map to improve the safety of bus workers in Scotland after driver Keith Rollinson died following an ... Subscribers only
Council campaigns for mandatory 'inclusive' PPE (309 words)
Members of East Riding of Yorkshire council have voted to call on the government to mandate STEM science, technology, engineering and maths ... Subscribers only
Offshore helicopter safety questioned (199 words)
The RMT transport union has criticised the possible re-introduction by Airbus of the Super Puma helicopter to transport offshore workers to oil and ... Open access
Union condemns return to five-day working (86 words)
The IWGB Game Workers Union has condemned a move by Rockstar Games, one of the world’s largest games studios, to force workers into the office five ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Unions lodge complaint over sexual harassment at McDonald’s (260 words)
An international coalition of UK, US and global trade unions and civil society allies have filed a complaint with the British government about sexual ... Subscribers only
National campaign looks at dangers from livestock (363 words)
Agriculture is one of the most dangerous of all the main industrial sectors across the country, with an average fatal incident rate 21 times higher ... Subscribers only
Eight years after demolition deaths, still no prosecution (376 words)
Eight years after the collapse of Didcot Boiler House, which killed four experienced demolition workers, the FACK families against corporate killers ... Subscribers only
Features
Paternity leave: the state of play (2,239 words)
This month sees a rise to Statutory Paternity Pay from £172.48 to £184.03, as well as minor amendments to the rights of new fathers and/or partners ... Subscribers only
Refuse workers' pay and conditions in the spotlight (2,075 words)
Refuse workers, whether contracted-out or directly employed, are a key part of the local authority workforce. They’ve inevitably been affected by ... Subscribers only