Pay and prices

Settlements remain steady at 3.0% (224 words)

Our latest figures for settlements show little overall change on last month: the median for the three months to October is 3%, with little ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (217 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered), for the three months up to and including: ...

Other pay analysts (23 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end Oct 2004) 3.0% ...

Average earnings indices (165 words)

July 03 (r) 112.6 3.8 3.2 4.1 3.4 5.3 ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (28 words)

All workers £511.46 ...

Inflation forecasts (29 words)

Fourth quarter 2004 ...

Prices (59 words)

September 03 182.5 2.8 2.8 ...

Bargaining news

Hospital settlement could end two-tier pay (381 words)

A pay dispute between health union UNISON and a Birmingham hospital has ended in a settlement that may have far-reaching consequences for the NHS's ...

Unions gain better offer for council craft workers (186 words)

Construction union UCATT and craft union Amicus have negotiated an improved pay offer for craft workers employed by local authorities in England and Wales. ...

Eurostar offer ends dispute with RMT (97 words)

The RMT rail union's dispute with train operator Eurostar (see September's Workplace Report) ended last month when members voted by nearly 10 to one ...

Strike ballot over brewery restructuring (116 words)

Brewery workers at Carlsberg in Northampton were voting on strike action over restructuring and pay as we went to press. ...

Better pension tempts more Barclays employees (407 words)

Barclays Bank seems to have proved that the prospect of a better pension can tempt more employees to make pension contributions, at a time ...

TUC calls for further rises in minimum wage (326 words)

The TUC and the CBI employers' organisation have taken radically different views on the future of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). ...

New earnings measurement method indicates narrower gender pay gap (755 words)

The Office of National Statistics' new Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which replaces the New Earnings Survey (NES), was published on 28 ...

Equality news

Bid to increase size of autistic workforce (192 words)

The National Autistic Society (NAS) has launched 'The Undiscovered Workforce', an employment campaign aimed at increasing the number of people with autism in the ...

Money is the key to raising take-up of paternity leave (603 words)

Paternity pay must be increased if the government wants its "family-friendly" policies to have a real impact, according to new a new report from ...

Police review treatment of women (137 words)

The Metropolitan Police Authority's Equal Opportunities & Diversity Board (EODB) is to examine the treatment of the police service's female employees and users. ...

Recruitment and organisation news

TUC Academy reaches out to existing union officers (136 words)

The TUC's Organising Academy, now in its seventh year of training union organisers from scratch, has been undergoing some changes. ...

Key to next generation of members is online (114 words)

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber is urging unions to expand their use of the internet so that they can "recruit and organise the next ...

Barnardo's agreement with UNISON (93 words)

Public services union UNISON has reached an important sole recognition agreement with children's charity Barnardo's, on behalf of 6,000 staff. ...

Learning and training news

Workplace learning increases and broadens union membership (388 words)

Trade union membership is increasing in workplaces where unions are promoting learning and training, says a new TUC report. ...

European news

Office workers in Catalonia get more leave (189 words)

The two main Spanish union confederations, CCOO and UGT, have signed an agreement with the major employers' associations in the region of Catalonia, providing ...

Volkswagen agreement freezes pay but saves jobs (630 words)

A new agreement for the 103,000 employees in the Volkswagen car manufacturer's West German plants offers a seven-year jobs guarantee - but pay rates ...

Austrian industrial workers secure above-inflation pay settlements (109 words)

Austrian unions earlier this month reached agreements for pay increases above the level of inflation in two key industries. ...

Law - Discrimination

Discrimination case law (675 words)

This month's round-up includes key decisions on proving discrimination and on equal pay law. ...

Part-time firefighters (148 words)

A number of retained (part-time) firefighters claimed that they did not have the same rights to pensions and other benefits as their full-time colleagues, ...

Qualifying bodies (108 words)

Under the Race Relations Act, a claim can be brought for discrimination against a body that can "confer an authorisation or qualification". In this ...

Victimisation (258 words)

Fourteen months after leaving the Metropolitan Police, Mr Shoebridge was working for Sky TV News. Sky then abruptly ended his employment; he believed the ...

Indirect discrimination (155 words)

Roger Spicer worked in a Spanish school in London under the control of the Spanish government. Although Spicer, as a UK national, was paid ...

Discriminatory non-selection (146 words)

Raghib Ahsan was a Labour Party councillor in Birmingham but was not re-selected following allegations of vote-fixing and housing irregularities in his council ward ...

Compensation and taxation (177 words)

Sarah Vince-Cain's sex discrimination claim against her former employer succeeded. The appeal to the EAT related to the compensation award. ...

Age discrimination (171 words)

John Rutherford and Samuel Bentley were made redundant when they were over the age of 65. The Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) says that ...

Service increments (223 words)

Bernadette Cadman was a "grade 2 inspector" in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). She was paid substantially less than her male colleagues on ...

Proving discrimination (485 words)

Ms Wong is of Afro-Caribbean origin. She claimed that her senior managers, who are all white, unlawfully discriminated against her by failing to allow ...

Sexual harassment (153 words)

Ms Brumfitt was a corporal in the RAF. She complained about the conduct of a senior colleague who used a substantial number of offensive ...

Positive action (191 words)

This case arises from French legislation under which widows who had not remarried had the right to apply for state jobs even if they ...

Equal opportunities policies (152 words)

Ms Arnold, an employee of Barnfield College, claimed that she had been discriminated against on the grounds of race when she was bypassed for ...

Equal pay (345 words)

Ms Halai accepted a new job, subject to satisfactory references, but then discovered that her male colleague was being paid more than her. She ...

Threatening letters (191 words)

Equal pay claims were brought by 510 female catering staff against their employer, St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council. Most settled the claim prior to ...

Equal pay comparators (296 words)

A group of Prison Service staff, about half of whom were female, claimed equal pay with comparators who were all male. They argued that ...

Disclosure for equal pay claims (147 words)

On the first day of the hearing in her equal pay claim, Stephanie Villalba applied for disclosure of pay details from Merrill Lynch for ...

Equal pay and allowances (128 words)

Four female cleaners and home helps brought an equal pay claim, comparing their work with that of male refuse workers, gardeners and road workers. ...

Health & safety news

Half of UK workplaces are not inspected for safety (242 words)

Lives are being put at risk because too few workplaces are visited by health and safety inspectors, according to a TUC safety survey published ...

Government launches rehabilitation framework (267 words)

Workers who become ill are to be helped to stay in their jobs rather than having to leave the workforce prematurely. ...

Workplace toxins linked to breast cancer (71 words)

Exposure to industrial chemicals and radiation has contributed more than previously thought to the rising incidence of breast cancer, a new US report says. ...

Better work can reduce heart attacks (64 words)

Improving the quality of a person's job can reduce their risk of a heart attack. ...

Solvent levels may affect IQ of foetus (73 words)

New research has revealed that children born to mothers exposed to solvents in the workplace seem to have significant developmental problems. The children had ...

Two-thirds have back pain, says CSP (123 words)

Back pain is far more common than previously thought - and sedentary work is one of the causes. ...

Features

New accident book (109 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a revised version of the official accident book, which now allows safety reps to have access ...

High cost of work accidents and ill health (112 words)

The cost of work-related accidents and ill health could be over £30 billion each year. ...

TUC brown book (66 words)

The Health and Safety Executive has agreed that the TUC can produce its own version of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations and ...

Select committee report dismissed by government (205 words)

Ignoring a select committee's call for adequate resources to safeguard UK workers gives rogue employers the green light to continue maiming and killing employees, ...

Whistleblowers slam new "speak up or pay up" law (170 words)

A report by whistleblowers' charity Public Concern at Work (PCAW) warns that workers are now the first in line to be sued following disasters ...

HSC consults again on work at height regulations (150 words)

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has launched a six-week consultation on further changes to the draft Work at Height Regulations. ...

"Hidden extras" boost the value of many pay settlements (2486 words)

Our round-up of the 2003-04 pay round last month focused on the main trends in pay, finding a 3.1% midpoint increase on lowest basic ...

"Fine-tuning" market pay in the finance sector (2386 words)

Employers in the finance and insurance sector are among the most enthusiastic users of "market" pay data to set their pay levels - a ...