Pay and prices

Pay deals keep to 3.0%-3.2% band (211 words)

The latest figures from the LRD PayLine database show settlements overall at 3.2% for the three months to November up from the revised 3.0% ...

Labour Research Department three monthly pay figures (219 words)

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

Other pay analysts (30 words)

Confederation of British Industry (manufacturing, three months to July 2003) 2.8% ...

Average earnings indices (145 words)

Aug 02 (r) 108.6 3.6 3.8 3.5 3.7 2.9 ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (23 words)

All workers £486.12 ...

Inflation forecasts (31 words)

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

Prices (57 words)

October 02 177.9 2.1 2.3 ...

European news

Barclays agrees early retirement deal in Spain (356 words)

Earlier this month unions and the management of Barclays Bank in Spain agreed new arrangements for early retirement. This follows the merger of Barclays ...

France - no rise for civil servants (202 words)

Unions representing public servants in France were told last month that there would be no pay increase in 2003. ...

German metalworkers' union sets out 4% claim (253 words)

Negotiations have started this month on pay increases for Germany's 3.5m metalworkers. IG Metall, Germany's largest manufacturing union, has put in a claim for ...

Spanish unions to continue pay moderation (107 words)

Spain's two main union confederations, CCOO and UGT, have agreed to continue next year with the policy of pay moderation in force throughout 2003. ...

Law - Dismissal

Dismissal law (644 words)

This month key cases focus on the test of what a reasonable employer should do, the employee's duty to mitigate and the point in ...

Conduct dismissal (115 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Reasonable employer test (260 words)

Helen Hughes dismissed Ms Barratt after receiving an anonymous letter making accusations against Barratt, backed up by some evidence obtained by Hughes. ...

Pension rights (86 words)

When Massey Ferguson made compulsory and voluntary redundancies, workers claimed they should have benefited from early retirement rules. ...

Dismissal in breach of procedure (244 words)

Complaints were made about Mrs Foster's work and attitude. Foster for her part claimed she was being bullied. She was then off sick due ...

Sickness dismissal (87 words)

Mr Frewin was dismissed for sickness absence. He believed that the dismissal was unfair because the main reason for his stress-related illness was his ...

Normal retirement age (118 words)

Robert Wall, a company director was dismissed before reaching his retirement age of 70. His employers claimed that because his grade was unique to ...

Mitigation (186 words)

Mr Mansi and his wife were made redundant. Mr Mansi also had a second job and the tribunal decided to deduct from his unfair ...

Constructive dismissal (528 words)

Grace France had an arrangement whereby she could sometimes work from home. Following the appointment of a new manager she was told this arrangement ...

Law - Redundancy

Redundancy law (475 words)

* Employers cannot make legislation apply retrospectively to deny a contractual entitlement (case 1). ...

Local authority severance (115 words)

Rita Nicholls, a part-time school cleaner, had a contract that on retirement gave her the right to a lump sum payment of two weeks' ...

Insolvency (179 words)

Cameo Knitwear went into liquidation without paying its employees their contractual lay-off pay. The workers then claimed from the secretary of state. ...

Consultation (376 words)

Beloit Walmsley went into receivership and pleaded that there were "special circumstances" which made it not reasonably practicable to comply with the duty to ...

Selection (87 words)

Colin O'Hare was dismissed for redundancy. He claimed that the sickness absence criteria used were unfair because one of his absences had been due ...

Health & safety news

Drug testing of staff has doubled in last decade (298 words)

Over-zealous employers are subjecting their workers to unjustified and degrading drink and drug testing, according to a TUC report. ...

CWU takes on The Sun (91 words)

Communication workers union CWU has challenged the Littlejohn column in The Sun newspaper, which made fun of the use of crash helmets by postal ...

Health and safety improvements at Sky (76 words)

Media union BECTU has negotiated health and safety improvements at Sky, part of the News International media empire. Reps at Sky Osterley have helped ...

Design of PFI hospitals contributes to stress (91 words)

The design standard of the first wave of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospitals is too low and not enough has been done to create ...

Violence issue for London firms (225 words)

Violence in the workplace has reached unprecedented levels in the capital, according to the London Chamber of Commerce which represents businesses across the Capital. ...

Survey finds haulage firms complacent over truck driver safety (100 words)

Haulage companies are complacent about truck driver safety, according to the T&G general union. The union's Hull branch surveyed over 100 road haulage companies, ...

Features

Manufacturing deals settle at around 3% (177 words)

The bulk of manufacturing pay deals are reviewed in January or April and the number of settlements in the final months of the year ...

Unions make gains in shift pay dispute (226 words)

Unions won some concessions over shift pay harmonsiation following strike action at the BNFL nuclear fuels plant at Sellafield in Cumbria. ...

Long-term pay deals in construction industry (235 words)

The first stage of a four-stage, 36- month agreement in the Heating and Ventilating industry increased basic pay, overtime and allowances by 3.5% from ...

Report highlights financial and other risks of early retirement (442 words)

People leaving work before state pension age risk being poorer in retirement than if they had continued working, according to a new report from ...

Xmas cheer on the slide (127 words)

A dwindling number of employers are willing to provide a Christmas party for their employees, according to a survey of 2,400 managers carried out ...

New inflation measure sparks pay concerns (288 words)

A change in the government's preferred inflation measure has raised fears that workers may be expected to accept lower pay rises in future. ...

Unions want pension protection backdated (289 words)

The T&G general union has welcomed moves announced in last month's Queen's Speech to introduce legislation to protect workers' pensions when their employer goes ...

Civil service bonuses under fire (310 words)

Bonus schemes are under fire from union members at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). A survey ...

Women cleaners agree equal pay settlement (280 words)

Four women cleaners have won an equal pay settlement that means their hourly rate will immediately increase by £1 an hour. They will also ...

Childcare incentives (100 words)

Unions have welcomed Chancellor Gordon Brown's announcement in the pre-budget statement earlier this month, that he is to provide incentives to employers to support ...

Worker with diabetes wins discrimination case (211 words)

Track maintenance company Network Rail is reviewing its employment policies after a disability discrimination case involving a worker in Wales. ...

Public bodies will have to promote disability equality (112 words)

The inclusion in a new disability bill of a legal duty to promote disability equality - similar to the duty to promote race equality ...

Equal pay campaign (61 words)

Next month the Equal Opportunities Commission launches a new equal pay campaign - It's time to get even - which aims to provoke debate ...

Teaching assistants' campaign wins TUC organising award (339 words)

A number of organising campaigns reported in Workplace Report over the past few months were among the winners of the 2003 TUC Organising Awards ...

Call for Employer Training Pilots to be extended nationwide (398 words)

The TUC is calling for Employer Training Pilots (ETPs) to be extended across the whole country following a positive interim evaluation of the first ...

Recognition law (83 words)

Unions can only claim recognition rights for employees and workers. ...

Statutory sick pay (82 words)

Statutory sick pay claims cannot be pursued through the employment tribunals. ...

Report shows rail deaths up (187 words)

Fatalities were up, but elsewhere there were improvements in rail safety according to the HSE's annual report on the industry published in November. ...

HSC consults on vibration rules (185 words)

The HSC has begun consulting on how to implement the European Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive - but already unions and campaigners are angry that ...

Commons committee calls for more inspectors (110 words)

The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has called for more port inspectors, and more enforcement and training in the industry. ...

Disabilities (111 words)

The HSE has published research looking at whether health and safety requirements were being used as a "false excuse" for not employing or continuing ...

Call centres (97 words)

Working as a call handler is more stressful than other jobs, according to a new HSE report. Workers face a higher risk of mental ...

Warm up exercises (64 words)

Health and safety isn't a laughing matter, but a recent HSE appeal might make some people smile. The HSE has commissioned Human Engineering Ltd ...

Work at height consultation (81 words)

The HSC has opened a consultation on draft Work at Height Regulations and guidance. Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal ...

Codes of practice for dangerous substances (90 words)

The HSE published four approved codes of practice (ACOPs) in November on the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR). The ACOPs are ...

Employee assistance schemes - the workplace view (1847 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that about half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress and five million people feel ...

Unions argue for minimum wage rights for young workers (3263 words)

Workers under the age of 18 have been excluded from the National Minimum Wage (NMW) since it was introduced in 1999. The government has ...