Fact Service July 2022

Court rulings on worker status in the gig economy UK courts have often ruled in favour of of gig economy workers’ entitlement to certain rights. But has this led to signifi cant change? Schools Bill: a lesson in failure? The government’s Schools Bill promises to shake up education for the better. Education unions, however, are unimpressed. The pandemic and the global response How does the UK government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic compare with that of other countries?

News

Strike-breaking agency workers plan condemned
 (307 words)

Unions have hit back at government plans to allow employers to bring in agency workers to fill in for striking workers.
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Company profits responsible for almost 60% of inflation
 (285 words)

It’s time to demand profit restraint, not wage restraint, said Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite general union last month.
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DWP job losses avoidable
 (237 words)

The PCS civil service union has demanded the government allow civil servants to work from home rather than lose their jobs when 43 Department for ...
Open access

Social work crisis intensifies
 (307 words)

The crisis in social work has intensified, with social workers at breaking point, thanks to excessive workloads, high stress levels and low morale, ...
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Workers forced to borrow money to make ends meet (213 words)

Four in 10 workers have been forced to borrow money from banks, payday lenders or family and friends to make ends meet during the past six months, ...
Open access

Meals funding slammed (241 words)

Education unions have criticised the 7p per pupil increase for infant free school meals as inadequate.
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Little relief over inflation (77 words)

There will be little relief at the very slight pause in the upward path of inflation in the year to May. Last month’s official figures saw Retail ...
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Jobholders up but pay erratic
 (207 words)

The number of payrolled employees continues to increase and there have been falls in the unemployment and economic inactivity rates. 
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Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (410 words)

Inflation +8.2%, Average earnings +4.9% ...
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Union news

Proportion of those who are union members fell in 2021 (383 words)

The proportion of employees who are union members — “union density” — slipped back from 23.7% to 23.1% in 2021, following a small increase ...
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‘Get active’ says new leader
 (245 words)

Andrea Bradley, the recently elected leader of the EIS Scottish teaching union, has urged her members to “get active” in the union’s campaign ...
Open access

European news

EU minimum wage rates up, but face real-terms decline
 (446 words)

A new study by Eurofound, the EU research agency on living and working conditions, has found that minimum wage rates went up in all but one of the EU ...
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Main German union body wants equal status for all refugees
 (214 words)

The DGB main German union confederation has called for all those seeking sanctuary in Germany to have the same rights as those fleeing the war in ...
Open access

Netherlands
: Deliveroo case 
 (96 words)

FNV, the largest union group in the Netherlands, has been supported by an opinion of the Dutch advocate general in its long-running case to prove ...
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Pay rise rejected
 (87 words)

Polish unions representing workers across the public sector have expressed their shock at a proposed government pay increase of 7.8% for the around ...
Open access

Pensions reform
 (53 words)

France’s CFDT union confederation, which generally takes more moderate political positions, has toughened its line on pensions reform. 
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Open access

Features

Gauging the impact of gig economy judgments
 (2,105 words)

Have legal cases won by gig economy workers made it any easier to challenge ‘bogus self-employment’? asks Jason Moyer-Lee.
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Low marks for Schools Bill
 (2,706 words)

At the end of March 2022, the government published its Schools White Paper, Opportunity for All: Strong Schools with Great Teachers for your Child, ...
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Why is UK death toll so bad?
 (2,181 words)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently named the UK as one of the 20 countries with the highest levels of “excess mortality” — deaths ...
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Law Matters

Adjustments failure did not make dismissal unfair
 (349 words)

An employer’s failure to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee during a dismissal process did not make the dismissal unfair, the ...
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Covid-19: dismissal over refusal to attend work (294 words)

In the first case to reach the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considering the fairness of a dismissal where an employee raised concerns about ...
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Guide helps in tackling sexual harassment (223 words)

The EHRC equality watchdog has published a checklist and action plan to assist employers in the hospitality industry tackle sexual harassment against ...
Open access

Law Queries

Flexible working request
 (398 words)

n I worked from home during the pandemic. Our employer now has us all back in the office. I’d like to return to home working — I’ve asked ...
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Redundancy payment (394 words)

n I have a member who’s been told he’s shortly being made redundant. He might have an offer of another job and wants to know if he can leave ...
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Law Back-up

What does legislation say about menopause and work?
 (901 words)

This is a commonly asked, and very sensible, question. The answer, though, is not easy because there is no specific legislation dealing with ...
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Health & Safety Matters

Safety jeopardised if agency ban repealed
 (236 words)

Lifting the ban on agency workers during strikes would be reckless and would endanger public safety, said TUC deputy general secretary Paul Nowak ...
Open access

Union fury over partygate
 (280 words)

Unions have reacted angrily to the findings of the Sue Gray report into Downing Street parties held during lockdown restrictions. 
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PPE mismanagement
 (134 words)

A report by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has revealed that £4 billion of unusable personal protective equipment (PPE), bought during the ...
Open access

Migrant fishers
 (117 words)

Migrant fishers are being subject to “systematic labour exploitation” because of loopholes in UK immigration rules the government is refusing to ...
Open access

Health & Safety Back-up

Controlling exposure risks to monkeypox
 (885 words)

All doctors in England must notify their local council or health protection team if they suspect a patient has monkeypox. And laboratories must ...
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Equality news

Women of colour face racism at all job stages
 (375 words)

A study by gender equality campaign the Fawcett Society and the race equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust, finds that institutional racism and ...
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TUC warns over bumper executive city bonuses
 (267 words)

The TUC is warning that City executives’ bumper bonuses of the pre-financial crash era are back and at a record high, rising six times faster than ...
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Employers fail on part-time social work roles (228 words)

New research by the Social Workers Union (SWU) reports that employers are failing to advertise part-time and flexible working roles to social ...
Open access

Workplace Back-up

Who are the members of uk trade unions?
 (752 words)

The latest bulletin of official data on trade union membership in the UK estimates that the total number of union members in 2021 was 6.44 million ...
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