Fact Service March 2014

Issue 12 (27/03/2014) - Dip in inflation; Compliance concerns over executive pay; Reform, don't ban zero-hours contracts; Inflation's basket of goods updated; Help for young recruits

Issue 11 (20/03/2014) - Budget 2014; Unemployment down; 'Shocking' fall in tribunal cases; Weekly earnings rise; Employment on the up

Issue 10 (13/03/2014) - Pay settlements rise; UK workforce more stressed than Europe's; Coalition attack on disabled people; More apprenticeships would add to economy; Women deserve better; Council takes action on blacklisting; Factory output up at start of year; Minimum wage rise

Issue 9 (06/03/2014) - Work-life difficulties older women face; Childcare costs more than mortgage bill; Need for clear policies to combat violence; Minimum wage rise recommended; UK women rank low in wider labour market; Mergers and takeovers

Issue 12

Dip in inflation (502 words)

Retail price inflation edged down again, while consumer price inflation hit its lowest level for more than four years, the latest official figures ...
Subscribers only

Compliance concerns over executive pay (774 words)

A number of top companies have been held up as examples of employers that are not fully complying with new regulations covering the reporting of ...
Subscribers only

Reform, don’t ban zero-hours contracts (591 words)

The use of zero-hours contracts should be reformed, not banned, to ensure that flexibility can be maintained and workers’ rights strengthened to ...
Subscribers only

Inflation's basket of goods updated (173 words)

Each March, the Office for National Statistics updates the basket of goods and services used to calculate Britain’s rate of inflation as part of a ...
Open access

Help for young recruits (262 words)

As many UK businesses are planning to take on apprentices in the next five years, the timing for the launch of a new guide to help young people ease ...
Subscribers only

Issue 11

Budget 2014 (787 words)

In his fifth Budget, chancellor George Osborne painted a rosier future for the UK economy and surprised commentators with his plans for pensions and ...
Subscribers only

Unemployment down (560 words)

Unemployment posted a sizeable fall at the start of 2014, according to official figures. ...
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‘Shocking’ fall in tribunal cases (257 words)

The latest quarterly employment tribunal statistics show a “shocking” fall and clearly show the impact of the introduction of fees, according to ...
Subscribers only

Weekly earnings rise (565 words)

Prices have continued to increase more than earnings, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show. ...
Subscribers only

Employment on the up (175 words)

The number of people in employment is on the rise, but for many that means temporary or part-time working as they can’t find a full-time job, ...
Open access

Issue 10

Pay settlements rise (112 words)

The latest figures from the Labour Research Department’s Payline database of collective agreements show a median (midpoint) increase of 2.6% in the ...
Open access

UK workforce more stressed than Europe's (351 words)

British workers suffer more stress and feel less able to deal with their workloads than those in mainland Europe, according to a report from the ...
Subscribers only

Coalition attack on disabled people (498 words)

The quality of life that 18,000 disabled people currently enjoy will be seriously eroded after the coalition government’s decision that the ...
Subscribers only

More apprenticeships would add to economy (275 words)

The UK economy is being held back through a woeful lack of apprenticeships, a report from the Demos think tank has warned. ...
Subscribers only

Women deserve better (351 words)

A large-scale survey of women working in both the public and private sector has revealed huge changes in the world of work for women over the age of 5 ...
Subscribers only

Council takes action on blacklisting (221 words)

A London council — Islington — has taken action to ensure it does not do business with companies that are involved in blacklisting. ...
Open access

Factory output up at start of year (209 words)

Manufacturing output increased by 0.7% in the three months to January 2014, official figures show. ...
Open access

Minimum wage rise (97 words)

The government has accepted the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission, the independent body that advises the government on the National Minimum ...
Open access

Issue 9

Work-life difficulties older women face (590 words)

Women over 50 are the first generation to have been protected by equal pay and sex discrimination laws, and the first to have rights to paid ...
Subscribers only

Childcare costs more than mortgage bill (491 words)

Part-time childcare costs for a family of two children have overtaken the average UK mortgage bill by 4.7%, according to new research from the Family ...
Subscribers only

Need for clear policies to combat violence (252 words)

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has welcomed new guidelines on combating violence and abuse, published by the main retail employers’ body. ...
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Minimum wage rise recommended (536 words)

The adult rate for the National Minimum Wage (NMW) should increase by 3% on 1 October, from £6.31 to £6.50 an hour, according to the Low Pay ...
Subscribers only

UK women rank low in wider labour market (476 words)

The proportion of women in the UK labour market has increased slightly, but its female economic empowerment rating among other market economy ...
Subscribers only

Merger and takeovers (161 words)

The numbers of domestic or cross-border takeovers involving UK companies were at very low levels, according to official figures. ...
Open access