Fact Service March 2017

Issue 13 (30/03/2017) - Executive pay bandwagon rolls on; Cycle courier entitled to holiday pay; Employment law changes this April; New minimum wage rates kick in; UK lags on maternity; Merger heralds new teaching union; Consultation on caste discrimination

Issue 12 (23/03/2017) - Inflation leaps to 3.2; More regulation of gig economy needed; Appalling risk of suicides in construction

; Fat cats - the great pay divide; Racist abuse after Brexit vote; Lack of diversity at top in Wales

Issue 11 (16/03/2017) - Swings and scooters of inflation basket; No real improvement in weekly earnings; Cosmetic improvement with Living Wage; Zero-hours contracts at record high; Unemployment falls below 1.6 million

Issue 10 (09/03/2017) - Economic forecasts in Hammond's Budget
; Mixed fortunes in ethnic women's pay gap data

; Company merger and acquisitions in 2016; Numbers on zero-hours contracts at a high
; GMB take on DX delivery firm; Former chancellor's nice big earner; Charter to stop violence at work


Issue 9 (02/02/2017) - Trade Union Act regs come into force
; Gender pension gap leaves women short

; Violence at work - the nasty truth
; Bookseller's £7m salary

; Money purchase pension are norm; British Gas denied appeal in Lock case; Government fails in ethnicity review

Issue 13

Executive pay bandwagon rolls on
 (605 words)

The boardroom pay reporting season is now well underway, even before the first cuckoo of spring has been heard. Thirty top executives from 11 ...
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Cycle courier entitled to holiday pay
 (287 words)

In another blow to the gig economy model, an employment tribunal has ruled that a bicycle courier for the delivery company Excel is a worker, and is ...
Subscribers only

Employment law changes this April
 (384 words)

The month of April usually sees a raft of changes in various employment-related topics, as well as the introduction of new legislation, and 2017 is ...
Subscribers only

New minimum wage rates kick in
 (313 words)

From 1 April 2017, statutory minimum wage rates rise. However its only older workers that see a rise in real terms, inflation will eat away the rise ...
Subscribers only

UK lags on maternity
 (229 words)

The UK is in the relegation zone for decently-paid maternity leave in Europe, warns the TUC, as UK mums get one of the lowest periods.
 ...
Open access

Merger heralds new teaching union
 (99 words)

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) have announced that members have voted overwhelmingly in ...
Open access

Consultation on caste discrimination
 (180 words)

The Government Equalities Office has published a public consultation on caste discrimination, following a 2013 legislative option to add “caste” ...
Open access

Issue 12

Inflation leaps to 3.2%
 (580 words)

Retail price inflation has hit its highest level for three and a half year years.
 ...
Subscribers only

More regulation of gig economy needed
 (218 words)

Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents who work in the gig economy think the government should regulate it to guarantee them basic employment rights ...
Open access

Appalling risk of suicides in construction
 (372 words)

The risk of suicide among low skilled male labourers, particularly those working on construction, was much higher than the male national average, a ...
Subscribers only

Fat cats — the great pay divide
 (271 words)

Chief executives of the UK’s top 100 companies now pocket an average of £5.3 million each year, or 386 times that of a worker earning the National ...
Subscribers only

Racist abuse after Brexit vote
 (305 words)

Over a third (34%) of black, Asian or minority ethnic people (BAME) witnessed or experienced racial abuse in the seven months following the Brexit ...
Subscribers only

Lack of diversity at the top in Wales
 (318 words)

Wales remains a country where major decisions are being taken that are not reflective of our country’s diversity, a new report published by the ...
Subscribers only

Issue 11

Swings and scooters of inflation basket
 (241 words)

The child scooter is in and the children’s swing is out in, according to official sources.
 ...
Open access

No real improvement in weekly earnings
 (665 words)

Workers living standards saw further cuts as earnings growth continued its fall, while retail inflation has been on the rise.
 ...
Subscribers only

Cosmetic improvement with Living Wage
 (240 words)

It may be lush as they say in the South West, as cosmetics group Lush is to pay all of its permanent employees in the UK, including retail and ...
Open access

Zero-hours contracts at a record high
 (264 words)

The number of people employed on zero-hours contracts in their main job, during October to December 2016 was 905,000, or 2.8% of people in ...
Subscribers only

Unemployment falls below 1.6 million
 (615 words)

UK unemployment has continued on its downward trend, according to official figures.
 ...
Subscribers only

Issue 10

Economic forecasts in Hammond's Budget
 (308 words)

Chancellor Philip Hammond made his first and last March Budget statement, as the main announcements now move to an autumn Budget.
 ...
Subscribers only

Mixed fortunes in ethnic women's pay gap data
 (587 words)

An analysis of the gender pay gap by ethnicity, by the women’s campaigning group, the Fawcett Society, reveals inequalities over the past 25 years ...
Subscribers only

Company merger and acquisitions in 2016
 (376 words)

The number of merger and acquisitions (M&A) involving UK companies was down, but their value was up, according to the latest official figures.
 ...
Subscribers only

Numbers on zero-hours contracts at a high
 (391 words)

The number of people on zero-hours contracts in the UK has hit a record high of 910,000 but there are signs the trend may have reached a peak, ...
Subscribers only

GMB takes on DX delivery firm
 (161 words)

The GMB general union is to take legal action is on behalf of members working as couriers for delivery company DX.
 ...
Open access

Former chancellor's nice big earner
 (168 words)

Former chancellor George Osborne has been busy on the lucrative speaker’s tour since being sacked as chancellor. And he’s picked up a nice big ...
Open access

Charter to stop violence at work
 (134 words)

A “Violence at Work Charter”, which would see employers commit themselves to “a series of interventions” to reduce the number of violent ...
Open access

Issue 9

Trade Union Act regs come into force
 (203 words)

Regulations covering the provisions in the vindictive 2016 Trade Union Act have now come into force.
 ...
Open access

Gender pension gap leaves women short
 (253 words)

There is a gap between the amount that men and women receive in employer pensions contributions, which if left unaddressed could result in a ...
Subscribers only

Violence at work — the nasty truth
 (471 words)

There were an estimated 698,000 incidents of work-related violence in 2015-16, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
 ...
Subscribers only

Bookseller’s £7m salary
 (211 words)

Waterstones, the UK’s leading bookshop chain, has been in the headlines, and on the defensive, after going incognito at some of its newer ...
Open access

Money purchase pensions are norm
 (387 words)

Defined contribution pensions, also known as money purchase schemes, are now the norm for Britain’s biggest companies, new research from financial ...
Subscribers only

British Gas denied appeal in Lock case
 (329 words)

The Supreme Court — the final court of appeal in civil cases — has refused British Gas the right to appeal in the long, drawn out Lock holiday ...
Subscribers only

Government fails on ethnicity review
 (345 words)

An independent review has set out recommendations for employers in the public and private sectors to improve diversity within their organisations.
 ...
Subscribers only