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Workplace Report February 2022
Anger grows over public sector pay - With RPI soaring to 7.5%, 2022 is shaping up to be a year of escalating disputes. We look at the growing sense of anger over pay among public sector workers; Pay: the European picture - The EU presented a divided picture in terms of pay in 2021, with wages continuing to grow in eastern Europe, while in many of the richer economies of the west they fell; Latest case law on tribunal procedures
Pay and prices
Inflation soaring at 7.5% (124 words)
RPI is at 7.5%, the highest it has been in 30 years. There are some signs that pay rises are seeing a boost too, but they are not yet keeping up with ...
Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (221 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (237 words)
Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of December 2021 ... Open access
Prices (76 words)
1 Retail Prices Index (RPI),
Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
2022 forecasts (37 words)
1 Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
The price of vaccine reluctance (835 words)
A minority of vaccine-reluctant workers face sick-pay cuts in the retail sector, or job losses in social care and health, as employers toughen their ...
Subscribers only
Wins continue for bus drivers (370 words)
The wave of industrial action across the bus industry (see December’s Workplace Report, page 5) continues this month, with drivers from First ... Subscribers only
Cleaners to take on outsourcing firm in multiple contract dispute (181 words)
Train cleaners who work for outsourced services firm Churchill are voting on possible strike action. ... Open access
Inflation stokes union action over pay (427 words)
Union leaders are united in demanding that employers increase wages to keep up with the soaring cost of living. With RPI (retail prices index) ... Subscribers only
Anger over Ovo Energy job cuts (405 words)
Unions are furious at plans by UK gas and electricity supplier OVO Energy to slash 1,700 jobs from its total workforce of 6,200. ... Subscribers only
College staff win improved conditions (298 words)
Negotiations between West London College management, the UCU education union and UNISON ended with an improved pay and conditions offer for all staff. ... Subscribers only
Rubbish pay deals lead to action (305 words)
Discontent over measly pay offers continues among refuse workers both outsourced and directly employed by councils. In Wiltshire, workers employed by ... Subscribers only
Equality news
‘Passport’ pilot to ease transition to work for disabled (217 words)
The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) has launched an Access to work adjustment passport which it says will ease the transition from ... Open access
TUC pushes for menopause policies (325 words)
The TUC has given evidence to a Women and Equalities Select Committee inquiry, outlining why employers should adopt workplace menopause policies. ... Subscribers only
EHRC finds limited progress in workplace (428 words)
The latest updates from the Human rights tracker produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) shows limited progress across key areas ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Union programme aims to develop community-based politicians (454 words)
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) who are members of the Labour Party can apply for a new CWU Candidates training scheme provided by ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Win for DHL drivers tops list of new recognition deals (417 words)
The largest of the recent batch of union recognition victories came at the DHL Parcel delivery company based at Ryton in Coventry, where the Unite ... Subscribers only
PCS withdraws from stewards network (125 words)
The PCS public and civil service union has withdrawn from the cross-union National Shop Stewards Network, which was set up to establish relationships ... Open access
European news
Cypriot Government to introduce minimum wage (386 words)
Cyprus, one of six EU states without a nationally binding minimum wage, has said it will introduce legislation establishing a legal pay minimum in ... Subscribers only
New agreement for all French metalworkers (353 words)
After more than five years of negotiation, employers and most unions have settled on a new agreement covering all employees in the metalworking ... Subscribers only
Dutch agreement includes provisions for ‘rainbow families’ (166 words)
As well as pay rises, the agreement for the Dutch insurance industry, signed on 6 January, includes new clauses on what it calls “rainbow ... Open access
Italian government signs delayed three-year deal (117 words)
The Italian government has agreed a pay deal with the unions covering around 225,000 employees in central government. Although signed on 21 December 2 ... Open access
Law - Tribunal procedures
Practice and procedure (749 words)
Employment tribunals (ETs) are governed by the Employment Tribunal (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013, as amended from time to ... Subscribers only
Judge should weigh all factors when considering amendment (1,302 words)
This is a long running case. The claim started in 2012. Mr Roddis worked for Sheffield Hallam University as an associate lecturer on a zero hours ... Subscribers only
Tribunal wrong to strike out claim at early stage (542 words)
In this case Ms Clarke was a litigant in person. She had worked for The Restaurant Group for less than two months. She submitted a claim which ... Subscribers only
Tribunal should consider each separate claim before striking out (839 words)
Miss Xia was dismissed due to an irretrievable breakdown in working relations. She had first received a written warning that she had verbally abused ... Subscribers only
Strike out not appropriate where evidence needed to be heard (630 words)
Miss Niedzielska was employed by Faccenda Foods as a production operative from April 2013. She was absent from work for ill health from July 2018. ... Subscribers only
Judge should have allowed representations before strike out (788 words)
This is a short judgment on a limited issue. Mrs Collins was employed by Ultimate Finance Group as an auditor for three years and dismissed in ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Only 5% of firms have domestic violence policy (162 words)
Only 11% of respondents to a public survey said they were aware of their current or previous workplace having a domestic violence policy and/or ... Open access
Unions accuse government as Covid restrictions dropped (274 words)
Unions have accused the government of acting recklessly and subcontracting safety out to the public after it announced it was lifting Plan B Covid ... Subscribers only
New guide on long Covid as a union issue (364 words)
Union reps have a vital role in ensuring employers protect workers with long Covid and prevent long lasting inequalities, a new TUC guide makes clear. ... Subscribers only
Construction unions and employers publish silica guide (165 words)
The EFBWW European construction union and FIEC employer body have published practical guidance and support on how the sector can comply with the ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
New guidance on PPE ahead of change to regulations (344 words)
The HSE safety regulator has published interim guidance ahead of changes to the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPER 1992) ... Subscribers only
‘Alarming rise’ in deaths in South Yorkshire prompts intervention (176 words)
An “alarming rise” in work-related fatalities and injuries in the Sheffield and Rotherham area of Yorkshire over the last five years prompted an ... Open access
Amazon warehouses ‘dangerous and dehumanising’ (202 words)
Investigations building up “years’ worth of evidence” show Amazon warehouses are dangerous and dehumanising places to work, the GMB general ... Open access
Union highlights new Highway Code rules (196 words)
The CWU communications union has highlighted changes to the Highway Code which introduce a “hierarchy of road users” principle, after a survey by ... Open access
Free health and safety conference in May (76 words)
HSE chair Sarah Newton will address a free-to-attend Safety, Health & Wellbeing Live event at the Manchester Central convention centre. The HSE ... Open access
Features
Anger grows over public sector pay (3,535 words)
With RPI inflation soaring to 7.5%, 2022 is shaping up to be a year of escalating disputes across the public sector. We look at the growing sense of ... Subscribers only
Pay: the European picture (2,044 words)
The European Union presented a divided landscape in terms of pay in 2021. While wages continued to grow in the countries of eastern Europe, even ... Subscribers only