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Workplace Report October 2023
PAY AND PRICES BARGAINING A win for oil workers, but more trouble brewing Extending pension auto-enrolment Further disputes likely Birmingham Council in crisis EQUALITY 'U turn' saves pay protections LEARNING AND TRAINING Union input pays off with new learning centre RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION Recognition of equality reps' essential role EUROPE Impact of inflation on industry-level bargaining LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases HEALTH AND SAFETY Unions want real action on violence Rail ticket office closure safety fears Unions demand action on concrete crisis Settled or striking ? THE STATE of pay in education and health There have been ongoing disputes in the UK's education and health sectors since 2022. Several rounds of industrial action have pushed governments from all four nations to improve their offers. However, while some groups have settled, others are still taking industrial action and the complicated bargaining landscape is starting to create worrying geographical disparities in pay. SHIFTING THE REWARDS FOR UNSOCIAL HOURS WORKING Compensation for working at times or on days when most people would probably rather not be takes many forms. When there are opportunities to review or renegotiate, money may not be the only issue
Pay and prices
The median pay rise achieved in unionised workplaces in the three months to August was 7.5%, according to LRD Payline. This figure was for workers on ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of May 2023 ... Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (263 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...
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Average weekly earnings (AWE) (204 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Prices (65 words)
... Open access
2023 Forecasts (33 words)
Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK economy, September 2023. 1Fourth quarter 2Calendar year
... Open access
Bargaining news
Official data backs union claims of profiteering (919 words)
Two new reports give weight to union claims that it’s profiteering that is causing persistent inflation, rather than rising wages. ... Subscribers only
Public sector strikes in Northern Ireland (174 words)
The situation for public sector workers in Northern Ireland continues to be dire, with health and social care staff, who are now the lowest paid ... Open access
Environment Agency staff demand 13.2% (112 words)
Unions representing workers at the Environment Agency (EA) have submitted this year’s pay claim for 2023/24 for an increase of at least 13.2% for ... Open access
A win for oil workers, but more trouble brewing (495 words)
One hundred and twenty offshore workers employed at Wood Group have won a 10% pay increase, bringing a long-running dispute to an end. The workers, ... Subscribers only
Further disputes likely (260 words)
Over 200 universities and colleges could find themselves embroiled in extended industrial action this autumn unless they address union concerns over ... Subscribers only
Top Payline deal worth 21% (463 words)
Big public sector deals set by Pay Review Bodies figure in this month’s round up from the LRD’s Payline. The lowest paid staff from the police ... Subscribers only
Birmingham Council in crisis (390 words)
Years of failure on equal pay lie behind the crisis at Birmingham City Council, which has now come to a head, threatening liabilities that could top ... Subscribers only
Extending pension auto-enrolment (176 words)
Measures designed to expand the scope of pensions autoenrolment have received royal assent. They should result in more workers becoming eligible for ... Open access
Boosting pay on the bins (117 words)
Refuse worker strikes have been averted in Solihull and Thanet as employers came across with improved offers. In Solihull, GMB members employed by ... Open access
Equality news
Black candidates fear discriminatory dress codes (115 words)
Nearly three in five candidates from BAME groups worry that their dress or hair style at job interviews will lead to discrimination, according to new ... Open access
Childcare issues force parents out of work (162 words)
More than one in 10 parents in Scotland have been forced out of work due to problems finding suitable childcare, a survey from mothers’ rights ... Open access
'U turn' saves pay protections (208 words)
Equal pay protections for men and women scrapped under the Retained EU Law Act are to be saved by new legislation described by the Labour Party as a ... Open access
Call for mandatory reporting (237 words)
The TUC has called on the government to make disability pay gap reporting mandatory, following a submission to the United Nations from the Equality ... Open access
Assessment changes could hit people's benefits (228 words)
Disabled people could be forced to look for work when they are not capable or well enough if proposed changes to the work capability assessment ... Open access
Learning and training news
Union input pays off with new learning centre (338 words)
Workers at Brooker and Tesco now have access to a new learning centre at the Tesco Distribution Centre in Magor, Monmouthshire. ... Subscribers only
Ethnic monitoring guide (42 words)
The TUC has launched an interactive learning guide to help union reps tackle race discrimination by negotiating with their employer for better ethnic ... Open access
Shadow skills minister (75 words)
Labour leader Keir Starmer’s recent reshuffle has seen Seema Malhotra appointed as shadow minister for skills, replacing Toby Perkins, who had held ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Recognition of equality reps' essential role (320 words)
Delegates at TUC Congress last month agreed that the union movement must step up efforts to get union equality reps recognised by employers, and to ... Subscribers only
Latest recognition wins (128 words)
Unite has won its claim for collective bargaining rights on behalf of 262 tanker delivery drivers employed by WFL UK across the UK, after an ... Open access
European news
Dutch pay increases remain high (64 words)
The most recent figures published by CBS, the national statistical office, show that negotiated settlements in the Netherlands remain high. In ... Open access
Firefighters back deal (138 words)
Retained firefighters in Ireland have backed a settlement which guarantees their future earnings, ending a dispute which began in June. Around 2,000 ... Open access
WFH extension possible (73 words)
The Italian government is considering extending the current rules making it easier for those with health conditions and parents of children under 14 ... Open access
Rail workers settle after narrow vote (369 words)
A long-running pay dispute in the main German rail company, Deutsche Bahn (DB), has been settled after just over half (52.3%) of the union members ... Subscribers only
Impact of inflation on industry-level bargaining (375 words)
Industry-level bargaining failed to keep pace with inflation in 2022 and is unlikely to do so this year. However, although most wage deals are not ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
Dismissal for touching child was unfair (701 words)
Mr Hewston started employment with Ofsted in 2007 as a school inspector. Following an inspection in October 2019, a school contacted Ofsted and ... Subscribers only
Dismissing manager did not need to attend hearing (683 words)
Ms Charalambous started working for the National Bank of Greece (NBG) in 2014 and was a relationship manager in its London office. ... Subscribers only
Failure to help job applicant was not discrimination (708 words)
Mr Mallon has a diagnosis of dyspraxia and was employed by engineering company AECOM from April to December 2017 as a consultant in their Birmingham ... Subscribers only
Balanced approach required to beliefs which cause offence (935 words)
Mrs Higgs worked as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at Farmor’s School. In October 2018, the headteacher of the school ... Subscribers only
Taxi driver was not an employee (777 words)
United Taxis (UT) is a driver-owned co-operative and limited company providing taxis in Bournemouth. Mr Tidman was a shareholder in UT and paid a ... Subscribers only
Attempt to evade worker status was void (571 words)
Mr Manning worked for Walker Crips financial planning company (WC) as an investment manager under a contract which was negotiated individually with ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Unions want real action on violence (521 words)
The NASUWT teaching union called for unambiguous backing for schools that take appropriate action for violent and abusive pupil behaviour, including ... Subscribers only
Unions urged to respond (234 words)
Trade union delegates at the annual Hazards Campaign conference in Keele last month were urged to respond to two government consultations on ... Open access
Rail ticket office closure safety fears (201 words)
The TSSA rail union has raised serious safety concerns for staff if the government goes ahead with its widely opposed plans to close most ticket ... Open access
Alliance calls for right to rehab law (89 words)
The Right to Rehab coalition, which includes the CSP physiotherapists’ union, is demanding that access to rehabilitation is recognised as a human ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
HSE inspectors target moving and handling materials in construction (125 words)
Last month, HSE inspectors targeted construction site inspections on the health risks of moving and handling materials following a similar initiative ... Open access
Safety alert on wind turbine lifts (153 words)
An HSE safety alert for wind turbine generator service lifts warns of the risk of serious injury or death to workers using, or working near, wind ... Open access
Unions demand action on concrete crisis (408 words)
The TUC has called on the government to publish a national risk register for all public buildings, warning that the reinforced autoclaved aerated ... Subscribers only
HSE U-turns on union's safety complaint (319 words)
The FBU fire brigades’ union has welcomed a HSE decision to investigate a new fire and rescue service breathing apparatus policy it says is ... Subscribers only
Features
Settled or striking? The state of pay in education and health (3,463 words)
In a vivid example of just how fragmented the bargaining picture is across the nations of the UK, this month sees junior and senior doctors in ... Subscribers only
Shifting the rewards for unsocial hours working (2,297 words)
Around one in seven workers (13.7%) count themselves as shift workers, according to the most recently available (2020) Office for National Statistics ... Subscribers only