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Workplace Report June 2024
PAY AND PRICES BARGAINING Crisis deepends over future of TATA steelworkers Shift premia and benefits Local government pay takes shape Co-operative pay increase agreed
EQUALITY Campaigners hail Labour's plans to tackle sexual harassment One in ten LBQ+ feel unsafe at work
LEARNING AND TRAINING Union Learning Fund should be restored and improved
RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION 7 Pushing for union recognition at an Amazon warehouse
EUROPE Breakthrough in retail pay in Germany
LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases
HEALTH AND SAFETY Safety reps target building safety Climate change resources for safety reps HSE prosecutions results in £1.2 million fine and suspended prison sentence
PAY NEGOTIATIONS IN HEALTH AND EDUCATION With the pay-setting process failing education and health workers, Workplace Report looks at union reaction and the chances of fresh rounds of industrial action this year
INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION: ENDING THE CONFUSION There were important recent changes to the Equality Act 2010 in relation to indirect discrimination. We examine these changes, clarifying the concept and how it currently works.
Pay and prices
Pay deals strong as inflation drops (151 words)
The median pay rise achieved on all pay rates in three months to April was 5%, according to LRD Payline. Pay growth is likely to remain above ...
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, May 2024. Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Outlook for jobs (534 words)
Economic output may be up a little but concerns are growing about the outlook for jobs, not least in sectors where large-scale redundancies are ... Subscribers only
Snacks at Drax (198 words)
Canteen workers at the Drax power station in Selby in North Yorkshire, employed by hospitality provider BaxterStorey celebrated a 19% pay rise last ... Open access
Automotive pay (97 words)
Car company pay has not quite been in the overtaking lane this year. At Stellantis in Ellesmere Port and at IBC Vehicles in Luton there was a 4% ... Open access
Steel hangs in the balance (385 words)
The crisis over the future of Tata Steel’s south Wales works deepened last month. The company is planning to close its two blast furnaces and ... Subscribers only
Shift premia and benefits (403 words)
One in four manufacturing employers have at least some of their workers on shift work, according to a new report for the MakeUK employers’ ... Subscribers only
Local government pay (442 words)
The pay outlook in the local authority sector began to take shape last month with an offer from the employers’ side of the National Joint Council ... Subscribers only
Co-operative pay (373 words)
The Co-Op Congress due to meet in Birmingham later this month will celebrate how good mutuals are for the economy, workers and customers while ... Subscribers only
Stagecoach (290 words)
Stagecoach is one of the largest bus operators in the UK but when it comes to pay negotiations the bargaining process and outcomes are very localized. ... Subscribers only
Equality news
School diversity stalling (138 words)
Progress towards diversity in the classroom is stalling, according to a University of Warwick study. More than half of UK primary schools have no ... Open access
Unite secures flagship menopause policy (116 words)
Women workers at Jaguar Land Rover will benefit from a new menopause support policy secured by the Unite union in April. ... Open access
Campaigners hail plans (244 words)
Labour's plans to crack down on sexual harassment of interns and volunteers in the workplace has been welcomed by a host of organisations, including ... Open access
One in ten LBQ+ unsafe (175 words)
More than one in ten lesbian, bisexual and queer women still feel unsafe at work according a report from LGBTQ+ magazine DIVA released to mark ... Open access
Government slammed (229 words)
A UN committee has slammed the UK government for failing to address the “grave and systematic violations of the human rights” of disabled people ... Open access
Learning and training news
Union Learning Fund should be restored and improved (418 words)
Retail union Usdaw has renewed its call for the restoration of the Union Learning Fund (ULF), which was scrapped by the Tories in 2021, while a union ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Pressurised to leave union (410 words)
The GMB general union’s push for recognition at Amazon’s huge Coventry warehouse hit the courts in late April as the union claimed the company ... Subscribers only
Ballot win (149 words)
The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) has awarded the GMB a recognition ballot of workers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse that could result in the ... Open access
European news
Dutch cleaners sign two-year deal (131 words)
Unions have struck a deal for 130,000 workers covered by the collective agreement for cleaning. The settlement, signed on 7 May, runs for two years ... Open access
Local and regional settlement in Sweden (107 words)
Kommunal, the main Swedish union for health, care and municipal government, has reached a one-year deal with municipal and regional employers. This ... Open access
Austrian hospitality deal (68 words)
The union vida and the employers have agreed an above inflation deal to help the industry recruit and retain staff. Pay is to go up by 6% in May 2024 ... Open access
Breakthrough in retail pay talks (379 words)
After more than a year of negotiations, the German services union ver.di has finally reached an agreement on a pay increase for retail workers. The ... Subscribers only
Industrial democracy is mostly improving (388 words)
Industrial democracy “the rights of employers and employees to participate autonomously and collectively in the decision making that defines the ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
Lack of protection is breach of human rights (809 words)
Fiona Mercer was a support worker for a care company, Alternative Futures Group Ltd (AFG) and a workplace representative for UNISON, the public ... Subscribers only
Dismissal was fair despite no proper procedure (485 words)
Mr Matthews started work for CGI IT UK Ltd (CGI) in 2017. He worked in their Emerging Technology Practice (ETP) team and was line managed by Mr Evans. ... Subscribers only
Discrimination burden of proof should have shifted (563 words)
Ms Atif worked for Italian fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) at its Harrods concession from 2013. She is of Algerian background. ... Subscribers only
Predetermined redundancy was not victimisation (555 words)
Verifone (UK) Ltd is part of an international group. Ms Zena, a Black woman, worked for them as a financial controller based in the UK from 2015. ... Subscribers only
No discrimination protection for author (550 words)
Ms Philip is a children’s author who had a series of contracts with Working Partners Ltd (WPL) to provide text for a number of books published by ... Subscribers only
Removal of main duties not a reasonable adjustment (549 words)
Dr Powell was employed by the University of Portsmouth as a principal lecturer. In 2018 he developed a cardiac impairment, which caused blackouts. It ... Subscribers only
Detriment protection (537 words)
Dr William is a consultant paediatrician who worked from 2018 for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Safety reps target building safety risks (374 words)
More than 700 union safety reps signed up to take part in a TUC week of action to inspect workplace buildings in the run up to IWMD International ... Subscribers only
Safety rep resources for climate change risks (307 words)
Unions marked IWMD with a call for urgent action to tackle climate risks for workers and several international organisations published new resources ... Subscribers only
Safety strikes (286 words)
Safety concerns have prompted strike action, industrial action ballots and demonstrations across several industrial and service sectors. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Restore air quality grants, says CIEH (137 words)
The body representing environmental health officers (CIEH), has called for the urgent restoration of funding to tackle air pollution after the ... Open access
Petition on air quality (123 words)
A parliamentary petition set up by Hazards Campaign chair Janet Newsham is calling on the government to set new rules on air quality to prevent and ... Open access
HSE prosecutions: fines and suspensions (416 words)
Yorkshire-based metals recycling company CF Booth Limited was fined £1.2m after a worker was struck by a 32-tonne skip wagon at its processing site. ... Subscribers only
Stress has become 'normalised' in the NHS (301 words)
The RCN nurses’ union has called on the HSE to ensure organisations are meeting their legal duties to assess and mitigate the risks from ... Subscribers only
Features
The state of pay negotiations in health and education (3,514 words)
Workers in two of the largest groupings within the public sector workforce are once again facing the prospect of a protracted pay round as the ... Subscribers only
Indirect discrimination: ending the confusion (2,097 words)
The legal test is in s19 Equality Act 2010 (see Box 1). There was an important change to the law in January 2024 with the introduction of s19A ... Subscribers only