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Workplace Report July 2022
PAY AND PRICES BARGAINING Workers prepare for action Pay offer is ‘totally unacceptable’ Union resists redundancies Home and hybrid working remains entrenched EQUALITY Women facing ‘shocking’ racism at work Disadvantaged groups trapped in insecure jobs LEARNING AND TRAINING Apprentices’ on-the-job requirement dropped RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION Unions win raft of new deals EUROPE Agreement reached on new minimum wage law Irish government plans new ‘living wage’ LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases HEALTH AND SAFETY Social workers at breaking point, survey finds Staffing crisis risking safety Union demands menstrual policies Investigation ‘found college broke safety laws’ HSE revises pregnancy protection guidance PARENTAL LEAVE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Can unions and employers deliver more affordable and more equal parental leave? An analysis of what is on offer shows that they certainly can HIGH-COST REGIONAL ALLOWANCES AND THE INFLATION CRISIS As everyone struggles with the rising cost of living, how will “high-cost area” and location- based pay arrangements respond to the challenge?
Pay and prices
Inflation at four decade high (127 words)
RPI inflation is at 11.7% as the “cost of living crisis” deepens. Payline, which records actual pay settlements, shows earnings continue to grow ...
Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (193 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (239 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of May 2022 ... Open access
Prices (65 words)
... Open access
Bargaining news
The national rail strike begins (861 words)
The biggest rail strikes since 1989 began in June in a dispute over pay and conditions, mass redundancies and pensions. Disruption to the railways is ...
Subscribers only
Workers prepare for action (465 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has given formal notice that it will ballot 115,000 postal workers at Royal Mail, after rejecting the ... Subscribers only
Pay offer is ‘totally unacceptable’ (353 words)
The latest pay offer, of 2.5%, from employers’ group the Association of Colleges (AoC) has been condemned by the UCU education union as “beyond ... Subscribers only
Barristers set to walk out (302 words)
Criminal barristers have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action in a row over legal aid funding. ... Subscribers only
Union resists redundancies (358 words)
PCS members at the British Council took two days of industrial action earlier this year after management went ahead with plans to lay off hundreds of ... Subscribers only
Home and hybrid working remains entrenched (413 words)
Efficiencies minister Jacob Rees Mogg angered trade unions with his call in April for a rapid return of staff to offices (once guidance to work from ... Subscribers only
Trust scores with interim pay rise (182 words)
The Canal and River Trust has come good with an early pay rise for its 1,600 staff. Recognising the very difficult times workers are facing, it has ... Open access
Eurostar pays 8% (113 words)
RMT members at Eurostar International (EIL) have accepted an 8% pay deal that includes a significant improvement in maternity leave (see page 15). ... Open access
Equality news
Women facing ‘shocking’ racism at work (171 words)
BAME women workers are facing “shocking structural racism”, according to a report from the Runnymede Trust think tank and Fawcett Society charity ... Open access
Disadvantaged groups trapped in insecure jobs (206 words)
Workers from under-represented groups are consistently trapped in insecure jobs, says a leading think tank based at Lancaster University. ... Open access
BAME workers hardest hit by rising costs (174 words)
Workers from BAME backgrounds have been hit hardest by the cost of living crisis, a new report from networking group People Like Us has found, with a ... Open access
Menopause tribunals triple in three years (164 words)
There has been an “alarming” rise in employment tribunals citing menopause over the last two years, according to the Menopause Experts Group, a ... Open access
Change fleeting after Floyd murder (111 words)
Nearly half of British workers say their employer’s efforts to improve racial equality in the workplace have already waned despite firm commitments ... Open access
Learning and training news
Apprentices’ on-the-job requirement dropped (333 words)
The requirement for apprenticeships to include a fifth of the time on of-the-job training has been dropped as part of government proposed changes to ... Subscribers only
Unions win raft of new deals (459 words)
A flurry of recognition deals has been won by unions in recent weeks, both through the statutory route and through voluntary negotiations. ... Subscribers only
Adult education spending falls, IFS analysis shows (117 words)
Total spending on adult education and apprenticeships outside higher education fell by 38% in real-terms between 2010-11 and 2020-21, according to ... Open access
Union membership falls (141 words)
Union membership fell slightly from 6.56 million in 2020 to 6.44 million last year, according to the latest official trade union membership ... Open access
European news
Agreement reached on new minimum wage law (569 words)
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU, which represents national governments, have reached agreement on a new EU wide law on the minimum ... Subscribers only
Steelworkers get 6.5% (202 words)
Pay for workers in the German steel industry will increase by 6.5% from 1 August following a settlement between the employers and Germany’s largest ... Open access
Irish government plans new ‘living wage’ (129 words)
The Irish government has announced that it plans to replace its current minimum wage with a new “living wage” which will be set at a rate which ... Open access
Three-year deal signed for Italian health service (164 words)
Unions have reached a new settlement for around 540,000 employees in the Italian public heath service. The deal, which was signed with Aran, the ... Open access
Employment law - Case reports
Shifting the burden of proof (726 words)
Mrs Field was employed by accountancy firm Steve Pye & Co as an accounts assistant. The firm acknowledged that they were aware at the material ... Subscribers only
Using ‘baldness’ as a term of abuse can be discrimination (1,036 words)
Mr Finn was employed as an electrician by the British Bung Manufacturing Company Ltd from 1997 until his dismissal without notice on 25 May 2021. ... Subscribers only
Covid concerns did not make dismissal unfair (1,150 words)
Mr Rodgers was employed by Leeds Laser Cutting as a laser operator from June 2019. From the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Leeds Laser Cutting ... Subscribers only
ET should have considered constructive dismissal claim (525 words)
Miss Holmes was employed by Tellemachus Ltd for a brief period in 2019. She alleged that she was subject to bullying and overwork and resigned within ... Subscribers only
EAT considers threshold for making a deposit order (679 words)
Sami was dismissed in May 2019 and brought a number of claims of race discrimination on the basis that he was treated less favourably in various ways ... Subscribers only
Maximum Acas uplift applied (325 words)
Ms Coulson was employed as director of partnerships from 2015 by Rentplus UK Ltd, an organisation that buys properties which are then rented to ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Social workers at breaking point, survey finds (338 words)
Social workers are at breaking point, with excessive workloads, high stress levels and low morale rife, according to a new report by the Labour ... Subscribers only
Union demands menstrual policies (146 words)
Just 1% of employees have the protection of a menstrual health policy in their workplace, according to a survey by the Fórsa Irish civil and public ... Open access
Staffing crisis risking safety (164 words)
Eight in 10 shifts are unsafe, according to the RCN nurses’ union. Its new report, Nursing under unsustainable pressures: staffing for safe and ... Open access
Building-in infection control saves lives (177 words)
The government must “seize the post-pandemic opportunity” to mandate long-term improvements to infection control in commercial, public and ... Open access
No breaks culture leaving NHS staff hungry (96 words)
A UNISON survey of more than 8,500 NHS workers found a “no breaks, no food culture” is leaving NHS staff hungry, and affecting their ability to ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Investigation ‘found college broke safety laws’ (349 words)
A “damning” Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into Covid-19 safety following the death of a teacher found Burnley College broke ... Subscribers only
HSE revises pregnancy protection guidance (363 words)
Following a challenge by the Maternity Action charity (see Workplace Report March 2022 page 14), the HSE has revised its guidance on protecting ... Subscribers only
HSE launches new 10 year strategy (278 words)
The HSE has launched a new 10 year strategy (2022-2032) setting out “a refreshed set of priorities” and reflecting its added responsibilities. ... Subscribers only
Features
Parental leave under the microscope (2,712 words)
Becoming a parent brings a whole new set of responsibilities, so time off work – paid at a meaningful level – is essential. Over the years, ... Subscribers only
High-cost regional allowances and the inflation crisis (2,191 words)
Most wages and salaries are being over-run by the increasing cost of living. But, as the inflation tide rises, what about the underlying contours of ... Subscribers only