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Workplace Report May 2024
PAY AND PRICES BARGAINING TATA steelworkers plan action over redundancies New regs sow uncertainty Staged deals achieve up to 18% Charity pay examined EQUALITY Neurodiverse employees forced to skip work Young people report ‘shocking’ racism at work LEARNING AND TRAINING PM’s apprenticeship support ‘a drop in the ocean’ RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION Fight is on over derecognition EUROPE Train drivers win 35-hour week LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases HEALTH AND SAFETY Conferences look at teachers' suicide risks Plea for action on asbestos Health unions highlight burnout danger Union demands laws on extreme weather working Where next for the MINIMUM WAGE? As the minimum wage reaches both its 25th anniversary and its pay-level target, Workplace Report looks at what it’s doing right, where it needs to do more, and how it could be used next to strengthen change FLEXIBLE WORKING AND THE LAW Last month saw the introduction of important new rules on flexible working. The changes are welcome but still fall short of an automatic right to work flexibly – just the right to request it. We look at how the situation now stands
Pay and prices
Pay gaining on falling inflation (140 words)
The median pay rise achieved on all pay rates in the three months to March was 5.3%, according to LRD Payline. Pay growth is staying steady despite ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
Brightmine (formerly XpertHR) (20 words)
Median increases for three months to end of April 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) (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, April 2024. Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Keeping humans safe and in the loop (879 words)
The TUC has responded to the surge in new AI applications in UK workplaces with its new "Artificial Intelligence (Regulation and Employment Rights) ... Subscribers only
NHSE in change of mind over hybrid working (275 words)
NHS England (NHSE) seems to have backtracked on its "return to the office" policy – to some degree at least – having announced in January that ... Subscribers only
TATA steelworkers plan action over redundancies (359 words)
Workers at TATA Steel from three different unions have voted or are voting on whether to take industrial action over the company's plan to close its ... Subscribers only
New regs sow uncertainty (416 words)
New rules affecting holiday pay, particularly for workers with irregular employment, have come into effect under the Employment Rights (Amendment, ... Subscribers only
Staged deals achieve up to 18% (453 words)
This April several groups of workers got their top-ups as part of substantial multi-stage deals. In transport and logistics: ... Subscribers only
Charity pay examined (375 words)
The average salary for a charity worker was £36,100 in 2023, a 4% increase from 2022, when it was £34,800, says the new Salary Report 2024 from ... Subscribers only
Cabin crews win 20% (303 words)
Cabin crew members from the easyJet airline will see their basic pay increase by 20% over the next year, following negotiations led by the Unite ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Neurodiverse employees forced to skip work (136 words)
Lack of support is driving half of neurodivergent employees to take time off work, an increase of 5% on last year, according to City and Guilds' ... Open access
Pay gap growing (139 words)
The pay gap between mothers and fathers has grown by 93 pence per hour since 2020, the Pregnant then Screwed charity has stated. The group's analysis ... Open access
Young people report 'shocking' racism at work (208 words)
Young BAME workers are facing "shocking" levels of racism in the workplace according to polling by the Youth Futures Foundation. ... Open access
'Unfair' rules hit young (190 words)
Young workers risk being "left hugely out of pocket" by "unfair" minimum wage rules, the TUC has said. ... Open access
MPs slam slow progress (262 words)
Members of Parliament have slammed 'shocking' levels of sexual harassment in the financial sector after a Treasury Committee report found a ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
PM's apprenticeship support 'a drop in the ocean' (372 words)
An announcement by prime minister Rishi Sunak intended to boost the number of apprenticeships in small and medium businesses has received a muted ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Fight is on over derecognition (445 words)
Two unions are fighting employer attempts to de-recognise them for collective bargaining purposes while a third has won its battle against ... Subscribers only
Recognition agreements (136 words)
The Unite general union has signed a voluntary recognition agreement with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) for staff below senior ... Open access
European news
Central government staff get 8.5% plus (116 words)
Unions in the Netherlands have signed an 18-month deal that increases pay by 8.5% plus €50 a month from July 2024 for the around 140,000 employees ... Open access
Spanish unions sign ceramics deal (92 words)
Unions from Spain's two main union confederations, CCOO and the UGT, have signed a two-year deal with the employers' association representing ... Open access
Negotiations on work for older employees fail (82 words)
National negotiations in France on ways of making it easier for older employees to continue in employment seem to have failed. The government asked ... Open access
Train drivers win 35-hour week (479 words)
After four months of negotiations and six strikes that brought the German railway system to a halt, the GDL train drivers' union has achieved its ... Subscribers only
Settlement for three million after four years (340 words)
After four years of delay, the agreement for around three million workers in retail and other services was finally signed on 22 March. ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
Dismissal for controversial beliefs not discriminatory (624 words)
Actor Ms Omooba was employed by Leicester Theatre Ltd from 10 January to 21 March 2019 to play the part of Celie in a production of The Color Purple ... Subscribers only
No pay during suspension (541 words)
Ms Donkoh-Baah was an agency nurse, supplied to work at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust by agency 4 Recruitment Services Ltd. ... Subscribers only
No protection without knowledge of disclosure (493 words)
Mr Nicol was employed by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as vice-president of communications. His employment commenced in May 2019 and in ... Subscribers only
Whistleblowing dismissal cannot be a detriment (554 words)
Mr Rice was employed by Wicked Vision Ltd as head of UK sales from December 2017 until he was dismissed in February 2021 by the company's owner, Mr ... Subscribers only
Dismissal for racist 'joke' was fair despite long service (433 words)
Mr Bialas was employed by Vaultex as a super operator/coin processor for around 10 years. On 28 September 2021 he posted a "joke" on the Vaultex ... Subscribers only
ET wrong to refuse extension without explanation (525 words)
Mrs Cross started employment with NHS Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS Somerset) in a leadership role at Band 8. She found the job ... Subscribers only
Parental leave protections do not require formal application (491 words)
Logistics manager Mr Wright worked for Hilton Food Solutions Ltd from February 2019 until March 2020. He has two children, one of whom is disabled. ... Subscribers only
Job trial can be reasonable adjustment (711 words)
Mr Miller was employed by Rentokil Initial UK Ltd as a pest control technician from April 2016. In March 2017 he was diagnosed with multiple ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Conferences look at teachers' suicide risks (412 words)
The Ofsted school inspection body can cause severe levels of harm and should be assessed and controlled like any other workplace hazard, said NEU ... Subscribers only
Health unions highlight burnout danger (313 words)
The CSP physiotherapists' union marked the first anniversary of funding cuts to NHS mental health and wellbeing hubs by calling on the government to ... Subscribers only
Plea for action on asbestos (202 words)
Ahead of global asbestos awareness week last month, the IOSH health and safety professionals body called on the government to take more action to ... Open access
TUC Safety Reps Connect (96 words)
The TUC says that Safety Reps Connect on 30 May will be the national event for safety reps in 2024. This year marks 50 years of the Health and Safety ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
HSE stress initiative (127 words)
The HSE marked Stress Awareness Month in April with a reminder to employers that they are required by law to prevent work-related stress, and advice ... Open access
Director jailed (133 words)
Cavendish Winchester Ltd director Stephen Davies was jailed for eight months after failing to protect workers from exposure to asbestos at a student ... Open access
Charity calls for action on silicosis risks (333 words)
The BOHS occupational health charity has called for immediate action to tackle silicosis, after cases of the deadly lung disease were reported in the ... Subscribers only
Union demands laws on extreme weather working (383 words)
Unite has pointed to a recent court judgment as evidence that health and safety legislation must be strengthened in view of the increased incidence ... Subscribers only
Features
Where next for the minimum wage? (3,481 words)
From April, all workers over the age of 21 will receive a statutory minimum pay rate (known as the National Living Wage or NLW) of £11.44 an hour. ... Subscribers only
Flexible working and the law (2,271 words)
The right to request flexible working applies only to employees, and not to "workers" or the genuinely self-employed. When it was introduced in 2003 ... Subscribers only