Workplace Report October 2017

2016-17 pay round - Real growth in pay is hard to come by Workplace Report finds. The headline figure of an overall rise of 2.0% in the latest annual survey of collectively agreed settlements means there’s been no change on the previous survey’s headline rise; Latest case law on dismissal, transfers and redundancy

Pay and prices

Settlements show a dip
 (99 words)

The start of the 2017-18 pay round has seen some slippage in pay settlements.
 ...
Open access

Labour Research Department’s Payline Database 
 (225 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered)
 ...
Open access

Average weekly earnings (AWE)
 (250 words)

Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases
 ...
Subscribers only

Full-time weekly average earnings
 (42 words)

All workers £547.30 All male £587.00 All female £488.20 Managers £810.40 Professionals £737.40 Assoc professional £603.20 Admin & ...
Open access

XpertHR (19 words)

Median increases for three months to September 2017 ...
Open access

Prices (77 words)

1 Retail Prices Index (RPI), 
Jan ’87=100 ...
Open access

2017 forecasts (38 words)


1 Fourth quarter ...
Open access

Bargaining news

Little chance for many to climb out of low pay 
 (863 words)

Around one in four low-paid workers are permanently stuck in low-paid jobs, while around a half move out of low pay at some point without managing to ...
Subscribers only

Draft major budget film agreement out to ballot
 (443 words)

BECTU, the media and entertainment sector of the Prospect union, are balloting members in the film industry on proposals for a Major Motion Picture ...
Subscribers only

TUC identifies pensions blackspots 
 (310 words)

TUC analysis of official workforce data has highlighted the extent of pension blackspots in some industries, despite the introduction of automatic ...
Subscribers only

University pensions
 (140 words)

The UCU university staff union is moving closer to strike action, after a national consultative ballot showed overwhelming support for industrial ...
Open access

Bullying and harassment statement from Equity
 (142 words)

Following the recent media coverage of sexual assault and harassment in the film industry, actors’ and performers’ union Equity has issued a ...
Open access

Tesco rewards staff for ‘everything they do’
 (441 words)

Supermarket giant Tesco has given its pay rates a big boost this summer, in a move that should set the tone in the retail labour market. 
 ...
Subscribers only

Wages left in the wake of growing cost of childcare 
 (305 words)

The cost of childcare for young children has risen more than four times faster than wages since 2008, according to a new TUC analysis of Labour Force ...
Subscribers only

Time for parents to grieve
 (81 words)

Under a proposed law, employed parents who lose a child under the age of 18 will have the right to two weeks’ paid leave to allow them time to ...
Open access

Possible strike action over unpaid travel time
 (161 words)

The PCS union has called on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to clarify whether its driving examiner members have a workplace, and can ...
Open access

Let them eat cake
 (69 words)

A cruise company has taken a novel – if unwelcome – approach to employment compensation.
 ...
Open access

Equality news

Under 25s earn less for doing same work
 (323 words)

Workers aged under 25 are missing out on up to nearly £6,300 a year because they are not entitled to the National Living Wage, according to the ...
Subscribers only

Over 50s working longer to support families
 (389 words)

Almost two million older workers are juggling supporting their family while planning for their own retirement, reveals insurance giant Aviva.
 ...
Subscribers only

Outlook for pay at Met Office is fair
 (278 words)

A deal ending the long-standing gender pay gap at the Met Office has been struck between professional workers’ union Prospect and the weather ...
Subscribers only

Learning and training news

Gender gap in training favours men
 (356 words)

More men than women are offered work-related training by their employers, new research has found.
 ...
Subscribers only

Recruitment and organisation news

CWU blitzes telecoms and financial services
 (438 words)

The CWU communications union is in the midst of a month of intensive organising and recruitment activity across the telecoms and financial services ...
Subscribers only

Different routes to organising 
 (163 words)

Two unions have reached a deal paving the way for voluntary recognition at a new air crew base at Heathrow Airport run by Irish company CAE. 
 ...
Open access

European news

Company-level bargaining is widespread in France, report shows 
 (431 words)

A picture of negotiations at company level is given in a report from DARES, the statistics and research body in the French ministry of labour, which ...
Subscribers only

End to ‘two-class workforce’ in Austria
 (331 words)

In future, manual and non-manual employees in Austria will have be treated equally at work, with the last distinctions between what the unions have ...
Subscribers only

Pay rises in Spain lag behind inflation
 (167 words)

The latest figures from the Spanish ministry of labour show average pay increases gradually creeping up, reaching 1.4% in September. However, this is ...
Open access

Germany’s metalworkers want substantial pay rise 
 (114 words)

The leadership of IG Metall, Germany’s biggest union, has presented its key pay demands for next year’s settlement for the 3.5 million people ...
Open access

Law - Dismissal

Dismissal - the law (669 words)

f Employees dismissed unfairly can go to a tribunal if they have been working for at least two years. Some specific types of dismissal do not ...
Subscribers only

EU court sets limits to employers’ right to monitor staff emails
 (903 words)

Mr Barbulescu was employed as a sales engineer in the Bucharest office of a Romanian company. 
 ...
Subscribers only

Broad advice on public interest test in whistleblowing claims
 (659 words)

Mr Nurmohamed was employed by Chestertons Estate Agents where a new system of commission payments was introduced. Nurmohamed was of the view that the ...
Subscribers only

Law - TUPE

Transfers - the law (198 words)

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) are intended to protect the rights of employees on the transfer of ...
Open access

Does share sale mean a TUPE transfer has taken place?
 (567 words)

Mr Berry was employed by ICAP Management Services Ltd (IMSL) as chief executive officer of the global e-commerce division. IMSL provided services to ...
Subscribers only

Law - Redundancy

Redundancy - the law (231 words)

A redundancy situation exists where an employer closes or intends to close the workplace or reduce the number of employees doing a particular kind of ...
Open access

UK crew on ships travelling worldwide have right to be consulted over redundancies
 (410 words)

Members of the Nautilus union were employed by Seahorse Maritime Ltd to work on ships worldwide. Seahorse supplied crews for ships operated by ...
Subscribers only

Protective award claim for parks police given go-ahead
 (796 words)

This case was brought by Mr Vining and Mr Francis and their trade union, the public service union UNISON and represents a significant victory for ...
Subscribers only

Health & safety news

Workers with mental health problems need support on their return to work
 (216 words)

Employees returning to work after being off work sick with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, stress and adjustment disorders, need ...
Open access

Ambulance staff overworked
 (252 words)

Frontline ambulance workers are in the midst of a stress and anxiety epidemic, according to the GMB general union. 
 ...
Subscribers only

Pay out over dean’s failure
 (205 words)

College lecturers’ union UCU member Kate Rawnsley has won £159,000 in damages in a personal injury stress case against Bradford College after a ...
Open access

40 years of safety reps
 (85 words)

The TUC is to launch a campaign to mark 40 years since trade union health and safety representatives had a legal right under the 1977 Safety ...
Open access

Fire safety guide (39 words)

The TUC has published a new Fire safety guide in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, so reps can help make sure that fire safety is a major part of ...
Open access

MEPS reject criteria on endocrine disrupters
 (141 words)

Campaigners have welcomed the European Parliament’s rejection of the “illegal criteria” to identify endocrine disrupters (EDCs) proposed by the ...
Open access

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Medical tests for asbestos workers every three years not two
 (228 words)

TUC head of health and safety Hugh Robertson says that Health and Safety Executive (HSE) proposals to increase the interval for mandatory medical ...
Open access

Experts to evaluate night work-breast cancer risk
 (260 words)

The HSE has asked its Workplace Health Expert Committee (WHEC) to evaluate the risk of breast cancer associated with night work and report back by ...
Subscribers only

Anger over dog attack sentence
 (261 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union has reacted angrily to a court’s failure to order the destruction of two Doberman dogs after they savagely ...
Subscribers only

Unite want mobile crane testing
 (131 words)

The Unite general union is calling on transport secretary Chris Grayling to introduce compulsory testing and new regulations to ensure that mobile ...
Open access

Features

Pay settlements stuck in rut as overall rise is 2.0% once again
 (4,898 words)

The public sector pay cap has been a brake on real growth in pay and earnings across the labour market, but next month’s Budget could see the cap ...
Open access