Fact Service September 2016

Issue 39 (29/09/2016) - Top hazards mentioned by safety reps; Auto-enrolment pushes up pension figures; Prospect grows; Minimum wage rises; Apprenticeships - getting it right; How much of £86.9m is executive excess?

Issue 38 (22/09/2016) - MPs to examine boardroom pay; Dress codes need a redesign for today; Care firms targeted over illegal wages; Workplace inspections on missing list; Shortfall in out-of-school services

Issue 37 (15/09/2016) - Earnings growth dip; Unemployment among women falls; Retail inflation down; Campaigners set out how to solve poverty

Issue 36 (08/09/2016) - Boardroom delight; Manufacturing output weakens in July; Tory contempt for health and safety; Forced retirement for one in eight; Decline in UK mergers and takeovers

Issue 35 (01/09/2016) - Learning lessons from EU referendum debate; Youth unemployment still stubbornly high
; Action plan to help new and expectant mothers

; GMB files claims against Addison Lee; BECTU to merge with Prospect in 2017; Economy grows in second quarter

Issue 39

Top hazards mentioned by safety reps
 (379 words)

Long hours has replaced slips, trips and falls as one of the five most frequently cited hazards at work by safety reps, according to the TUC’s 11th ...
Subscribers only

Auto-enrolment pushes up pension figures
 (401 words)

Last year, membership of occupational pension schemes reached its highest level recorded in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) annual ...
Subscribers only

Prospect grows
 (112 words)

The specialists’ union Prospect is set to grow as members of APFO, the Association of Principal Fire Officers, have voted overwhelmingly to become ...
Open access

Minimum wage rises
 (260 words)

New National Minimum Wage rates are to take effect imminently.
 ...
Subscribers only

Apprenticeships — getting it right
 (598 words)

The Department for Education (DfE) is expanding the apprenticeships programme, while making it increasingly employer-led and employer-funded.
 ...
Subscribers only

How much of £86.9m is executive excess? 
 (531 words)

Twenty-six executives were given remuneration packages worth £86.93 million in total in our latest list of FTSE 350 directors with packages worth in ...
Subscribers only

Issue 38

MPs to examine boardroom pay
 (544 words)

A committee of MPs has launched an inquiry into corporate governance, focussing on executive pay, directors’ duties, and the composition of ...
Subscribers only

Dress codes need a redesign for today
 (544 words)

An outdated attitude towards people with tattoos could lead to employers missing out on young talent, as about one in three young people have a ...
Subscribers only

Care firms targeted over illegal wages
 (456 words)

Homecare workers employed across the London Borough of Haringey — and backed by public services union UNISON — are taking care companies and the ...
Subscribers only

Workplace inspections on missing list
 (298 words)

Nearly half of UK workplaces have never had a health and safety inspection — including more than 80% of construction workplaces — according to a ...
Subscribers only

Shortfall in out-of-school services
 (456 words)

Extended school services are failing to match parents’ need for afterschool and holiday childcare, a new report from the Family and Childcare Trust ...
Subscribers only

Issue 37

Earnings growth dips
 (559 words)

The roller-coaster nature of earnings growth continues, official figures show.
 ...
Subscribers only

Unemployment among women falls
 (589 words)

The fall in the number of unemployed women more than compensated for the rise in the men’s total, Office for National Statistics figures show.
 ...
Subscribers only

Retail inflation down
 (419 words)

The retail inflation rate fell in August, while the consumer measure was steady, Office for National Statistics figures show.
 ...
Subscribers only

Campaigners set out how to solve poverty
 (505 words)

The government should raise taxes on the wealthy to finance a £15 billion annual investment in affordable housing, free childcare and enhanced ...
Subscribers only

Issue 36

Boardroom delight
 (825 words)

The 2015-16 reporting season for top companies quoted in the FTSE 350 index is drawing to an end. However, the ratcheting up of the remuneration ...
Subscribers only

Manufacturing output weakens in July
 (241 words)

Factory output is growing at a slower pace, official figures show.
 ...
Open access

Tory contempt for health and safety
 (753 words)

The government’s appointment of a former business leader to a seat on the board of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that is reserved for a ...
Subscribers only

Forced retirement for one in eight
 (375 words)

Around one in eight (12%) men and women are forced to stop working before state pension age due to ill-health or disability, according to new TUC ...
Subscribers only

Decline in UK mergers and takeovers
 (227 words)

The second quarter of 2016 saw notable declines in the number and value of successful mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving UK companies saw ...
Open access

Issue 35

Learning lessons from EU referendum debate
 (395 words)

“Dire” — that’s the blunt view of the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) on the EU referendum debate.
 ...
Subscribers only

Youth unemployment still stubbornly high
 (394 words)

Youth unemployment remains high in certain regions and sectors across the UK, a new report finds.
 ...
Subscribers only

Action plan to help new and expectant mothers
 (738 words)

UK women should have protections similar to those in Germany after a “shocking” increase in workplace pregnancy discrimination over the past ...
Subscribers only

GMB files claims against Addison Lee 
 (273 words)

The GMB general union has instructed law firm Leigh Day to take the first step in launching legal proceedings on behalf of three workers of private ...
Subscribers only

BECTU to merge with Prospect in 2017
 (259 words)

BECTU, the media and entertainment union, is to merge with Prospect next year after its membership voted decisively in favour of joining forces with ...
Subscribers only

Economy grows in second quarter
 (152 words)

The UK economy expanded in the second quarter of the year, updated official figures show.
 ...
Open access