Pay and prices

Labour Research Department three monthly pay figures (220 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...

Prices (59 words)

September 171.7 3.3 2.2 ...

Other pay analysts (31 words)

Confederation of British Industry ...

Average earnings indices (154 words)

August 125.0 4.2 4.1 4.4 4.5 3.4 ...

Inflation forecasts (41 words)

RPI forecasts (and underlying inflation - excluding mortgage interest payments) ...

Latest figures for full-time weekly average earnings (43 words)

all workers £430.10 all female £358.50 ...

Bargaining news

Pay gap widens as unemployment rises (408 words)

The gap, in terms of pay rises, between sectors hit by economic difficulties and the rest of the labour market appears to be widening. ...

Features

N.Ireland FE lecturers begin to reverse pay decline (379 words)

Further education lecturers in Northern Ireland have agreed a 3.7% pay rise from 1 September through their regional bargaining machinery. ...

2.88% in Corrugated Packaging Industry (198 words)

Following the rejection of an earlier staged pay offer, the GPMU and GMB unions have negotiated increases of around 2.88% in day work rates ...

6% at Securicor (118 words)

In two separate agreements concluded this month at the Securicor Cash Services and CIT Ltd company, the GMB union has negotiated pay rises of ...

Pay deals in brief (574 words)

Agreement % increase date number covered hours holidays ...

Public service employers show wide variation in response to racism (2212 words)

Last month public services union UNISON published the results of a survey of mainly public sector employers which looked at the extent to which ...

Shift premia and unsociable hours payments survey 2001 (3595 words)

Around one full-time employee in nine gets some form of shift premium according to the official New Earnings Survey and shift pay clearly remains ...

Transfer regulations are set for a shake-up (1274 words)

In the last six months there have been a number of important developments affecting the law on business transfers (TUPE). Bargaining Report reviews these ...

All transport workers excluded from working time rights (85 words)

The European Court of Justice has confirmed that the Working Time Directive (in the UK the Working Time Regulations 1998) does exclude all those ...

Inland Revenue tests employment status in minimum wage case (224 words)

In a relatively unusual case the Inland Revenue has questioned the employment status of individuals in a bid to deduct tax from their earnings ...

Changes to sick pay were not discriminatory (125 words)

An employer whose sickness policy was changed so that it no longer paid out after a period of sickness absence did not operate so ...

Lack of contract is key in employee status case (158 words)

Most employment rights can only be pursued by individuals who are defined in law as "employees" that is where they are working under a ...

New rights to paid holidays (103 words)

All workers, regardless of whether they are employed on permanent or temporary contracts, now have the right to at least 20 days' paid holiday ...

Minimum wage applies to on-call time (73 words)

Workers at home during the night, who are required to be available to deal with telephone calls, must be paid at least the national ...

Teachers' union wins illness and bullying compensation (194 words)

Teachers' union NASUWT has secured a £200,000 payout from Cardiff City Council for woodwork teacher, Eric McCreery. ...

Unions issue guidance on anthrax threat (140 words)

Unions have responded to the anthrax scare in the USA by providing guidance for members and reviewing procedures for dealing with suspect mail. The ...

Survey reveals that stress and long hours are endemic at work (359 words)

A majority of people suffer from stress at work and half of those who work more than 48 hours a week believe it is ...

Union report suggests NHS trusts put costs before safer needles (173 words)

Many NHS trusts are more concerned about cost savings than protecting staff against needle injuries according to a survey by public services union UNISON. ...

TUC welcomes "groundbreaking" safety charter (143 words)

The TUC has described as "groundbreaking" a new 'safety reps charter' agreed between Scottish Power and its unions. The charter defines the company's arrangements ...

Stress guides (154 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new guidance for small firms on preventing work-related stress. Work-related stress: a short guide uses a ...

Councils and unions agree work-life balance guidance (214 words)

Local authority employers and trade unions have agreed guidance on work-life balance that it is hoped will be taken up by councils around the ...

Disabled security guard gets £10,000 compensation (210 words)

A disabled security guard has won £10,000 in compensation for injury to feelings and for loss of his job from his former employer Securicor ...

Most employers fail to take broad approach on disability (278 words)

A survey of employer disability policies has found that most organisations are failing to involve key departments in managing disability policies, and this may ...

Thousands of firms may have missed stakeholder deadline (239 words)

As many as 50,000 small companies may have missed last month's deadline for designating a stakeholder pension scheme. ...

Regulator publishes pensions comparisons (197 words)

The government's investment watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has now made available comparative information on personal and stakeholder pensions on its website. ...

Final salary schemes escape death sentence (115 words)

Final salary pension schemes should not be condemned to death according to a "court case" in Edinburgh at the end of last month. ...

Government consults over pensions simplification (153 words)

Last month the pensions minister Ian McCartney issued a consultation paper on simplifying the various regulations that apply to private pensions. ...

Key industry pay deals agreed in Austria (351 words)

At the end of October unions signed a key agreement covering 158,000 employees in the Austrian metalworking industry. ...

Improvements for Spanish petrol attendants (115 words)

A two-year deal covering 35,000 Spanish petrol station attendants will provide them with better protected against sudden transfers. Employers will have to provide reasons ...

Opposing views emerge over forthcoming German pay round (337 words)

Opinions on the level and length of settlements in the next pay round in Germany are becoming increasingly polarised as the time for negotiations ...