Workplace Report April 2003

Parental leave - the latest on negotiated improvements in maternity, paternity and adoption leave; Alocohol and drugs - what trade unionists should look out for in workplace policies; Law at work - latest case law on discrimination, tribunal procedures and agency workers

Features

Pay deals stuck at 3% (232 words)

With figures from the Labour Research Department's (LRD) Payline database for February revised to 3.0% and figures for March also at 3.0%, there has ...

Labour Research Department three monthly pay figures (218 words)

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

Prices (57 words)

February 02 173.8 1.0 2.2 ...

Other pay analysts (30 words)

Confederation of British Industry (manufacturing) (three months to Jan. 2003) 2.7% ...

Average earnings indices (156 words)

Dec 01 (r) 131.7 2.3 2.5 2.2 1.8 4.9 ...

Latest figures for full-time weekly average earnings (29 words)

all workers £464.10 ...

Inflation forecasts (31 words)

RPI forecasts (and underlying inflation- excluding mortgage interest payments) ...

Chancellor wants move to regional pay (317 words)

Chancellor Gordon Brown appeared to commit the government to a regional pay policy in the public sector in his Budget statement earlier this month. ...

Unions respond to Agenda for Change (310 words)

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have voted in favour of the Agenda for Change plan for a new pay system for ...

Pay deals in finance (316 words)

Royal & Sun Alliance ...

College lecturers get pay boost from new scale (204 words)

A new pay structure agreed for sixth form college lecturers provided a second pay rise within four months of the previous rise in January, ...

Social workers want review (196 words)

Scottish social workers are calling for a "McCrone-style" review of pay and broader employment issues, to address the problems facing the service including staff ...

Wire industry deal ends (96 words)

A 3% pay deal for 2003 and 2004 covering 500 workers at Bekaert Fencing in Sheffield is one of the first company-level deals to ...

Inflation-linked deal leads to £5 minimum (120 words)

The average increase in underlying inflation in the three months to last December resulted in a pay rise of 3.1% and a new minimum ...

Paper workers win improved pay deal (244 words)

National pay talks in the paper industry have resulted in a better pay settlement than was achieved last year, despite worsening trading conditions. ...

Retail staff at Wilkinsons get three-year deal (239 words)

The GMB general union, representing retail and other staff at the Wilkinson Home and Garden stores group has agreed phased three-year pay deals that ...

MPs' committee denies crisis (177 words)

MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee have concluded there is not a pensions crisis, but what they describe as a crisis of ...

Survey finds many firms are failing to offer minimum of stakeholder pension schemes (143 words)

A survey by the Axa insurance group found one in six companies are at risk of being fined for failing to offer employees some ...

TUC sets up PensionsWatch (91 words)

The TUC is establishing a central source of information to monitor what is happening to occupational pension schemes. ...

Unions seen as key to race equality progress at Ford (338 words)

Union involvement has been vital in securing significant advances in promoting race equality at the Ford Motor Company in Britain, according to a feature ...

Union trains reps to take up disability issues (237 words)

Britain's second-largest union will soon have its first group of "disability champions." ...

Survey finds employers back flexible working (191 words)

Employers support work-life balance for their employees, according to a government survey published as the new right for parents to request flexible work comes ...

Equal pay reps training online (69 words)

The TUC's equal pay rep training course has gone online from this month. Union members can train to become an equal pay rep and ...

Union careers service gets quality standard (174 words)

A careers counselling service run by telecoms professionals union Connect was awarded the a quality standard for advice, information and guidance last month. ...

Minister focuses on key parts of skills strategy (330 words)

Education secretary Charles Clarke warned last month that there was still much to do to tackle skills shortages. ...

Print industry union's "textbook" campaign delivers recognition (312 words)

A "textbook" organising and recruitment campaign has resulted in recognition for the GPMU print and paper union at packaging company Amcor in Thetford, East ...

Unions and employers agree partnership deal (318 words)

Unions and employers formally ratified the latest national partnership agreement in Ireland, "Sustaining Progress" last month but the unions are already thinking about negotiations ...

Dutch framework deal leads to fall in real pay (390 words)

Pay in the Netherlands is rising in line with the framework agreement reached between unions, employers and the government last year. But that means ...

Allianz deal in Spain gives rights to agency workers (121 words)

Unions and management at the Spanish subsidiary of the Allianz insurance group have recently signed a deal which gives increased rights to temporary workers. ...

Discrimination in the workplace (1889 words)

This month's discrimination law update covers a key case defining what the law means by detrimental treatment. It also looks at a number of ...

Tribunal procedures (605 words)

The tribunals have issued a number of important rulings on what should happen to cases that are presented out of time. With more than ...

Other case law news (194 words)

Unlawful deductions ...

Agency workers' legal status (987 words)

The rights that people have at work depend to a great degree on their employment status, in particular whether or not they are clearly ...

Health workers face increase in violence (332 words)

Violence against health workers is on the increase, according to a new report from the public services watchdog, the National Audit Office. ...

College stress (79 words)

The further education employers' body, the Association of Colleges, has issued guidance on work-related stress. The guidance was produced following consultation with lecturers' unions ...

Rehabilitation (81 words)

The government has launched a research project to test new ways of helping sick workers keep their jobs. The Job Retention and Rehabilitation Pilot, ...

Steven Parsons (111 words)

The family of Steven Parsons have created an informative website in his memory. Steven was just 18 when he was killed at work on ...

Union campaigns over needlestick dangers (244 words)

The GMB general union has launched a campaign to protect workers from injuries caused by discarded needles. ...

Consultation (86 words)

The HSE is seeking the views of safety reps on workplace health, safety and welfare and on personal protective equipment. The HSE review will ...

Manual handling (71 words)

This report presents the outcome of an exercise carried out to establish principles for manual handling training, both for conventional (two-handed, symmetrical) lifting and ...

Road safety (50 words)

The HSE web pages have been reorganised to provide one port of call for information on work-related road safety. Each year about 3,500 people ...

Inspection blitz (72 words)

An HSE construction safety blitz concentrating on site plant, vehicles and lifting operations across the East and South East of England found serious risks ...

HSC report on workplace smoking suppressed (189 words)

A suppressed report leaked to The Independent newspaper says that thousands of lives could be saved by outlawing smoking at work. ...

Protecting new and expectant mothers at work (208 words)

New guidance, to help protect the health and safety of new or expectant mothers at work, has been published by the HSE. It is ...

Protocol on work-related deaths (142 words)

A revamped Protocol for liaison on work-related deaths has been published by the HSE, the Association of Chief Police Officers and other investigation and ...

Unions win better pay and leave for working parents (3798 words)

From this month there are important new rights for working parents around the time of their child's birth, and for parents who adopt children ...

TUC makes clear that alcohol abuse is a workplace issue (821 words)

Drink and work make a dangerous cocktail, which is why the TUC is calling on employers to work with unions to draw up alcohol ...