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Workplace Report October 2020
Redundancy in the Covid crisis - as redundancy announcements driven by the Covid crisis multiply, union negotiators focus on consultation, avoidance and compensation; Negotiating the new normal - reps share their experiences of negotiating how infection-related policy is applied in schools, prisons and universities; Latest case law on discrimination
Pay and prices
AWE growth but not private sector (112 words)
Our data shows no change or a slight decrease in pay settlements in August, but this is still based on very thin data, as much bargaining is ...
Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline Database (222 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ... Open access
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (247 words)
Regular pay excluding bonuses. Percentage annual increases ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (39 words)
ASHE 2019 median uprated by AWE. ... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of August 2020 ... Open access
Prices (77 words)
1 Retail Prices Index (RPI),
Jan ’87=100 ... Open access
2020 forecasts (40 words)
1 Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Fiddling with inflation? (842 words)
The threat of redundancy rightly dominates the agenda, but for millions of people income has also taken a hit in the Covid crisis. Genuinely low ...
Subscribers only
New wage support scheme announced (353 words)
On 24 September the government announced a new wage subsidy scheme to replace furlough as part of the overall job retention scheme. The aim is to ... Subscribers only
Unite advances in campaign against fire and re-hire (380 words)
There are signs that general union Unite’s crisis leverage campaign against British Airways (BA) is working as the company has done a U-turn on its ... Subscribers only
Journalists’ strike wins agreement (258 words)
Members of the NUJ journalists’ union working for Bullivant Media Limited – which runs weekly free newspapers and websites including the ... Subscribers only
Strike threat puts paid to compulsory redundancy plan (310 words)
Members of the UNISON public service union have used the threat of strike action to bring about an end to planned redundancies at SOAS University of ... Subscribers only
Major win for homecare workers on travel time (442 words)
UNISON is demanding that the government guarantees that careworkers are paid fairly – including by paying for travel time between home visits. ... Subscribers only
Care workers prepare to strike for £12 an hour (313 words)
Carers and cleaners at Sage nursing home in Golders Green, north London have threatened strikes over pay and terms and conditions. ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Gender pension pay gap ‘continues to widen’ (408 words)
The gender pension gap – the difference between the pension earnings of women and men – has increased by 0.4% year-on-year to 40.3% in 2018-19, ... Subscribers only
Prospects worsening for graduate jobseekers (276 words)
Only 16% of graduates looking for their first job since March have been successful, with the new cohort of graduates from the summer set to hit ... Subscribers only
TUC: women losing out over childcare (380 words)
Around two in five (41%) working mothers with children under 10 have said they are struggling to find childcare to cover the hours they need for work ... Subscribers only
Learning and training news
Coalition calls for emergency apprenticeship response (480 words)
Unions, employers and training providers in the manufacturing and engineering industries are calling for emergency measures to save apprenticeships, ... Subscribers only
Union unveils training portal (136 words)
Members of the Unite general union whose jobs have been lost or threatened by the coronavirus pandemic are being offered access to a range of ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Efforts rewarded with 50,000 new members (263 words)
Efforts by teaching union the National Education Union (NEU) to support members and potential members during the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in ... Subscribers only
European news
ETUC backs EU minimum wage (494 words)
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has backed the principle of EU legislation on minimum wages. But its support is not unconditional and ... Subscribers only
Home working regulated by law after unions and employers agree (260 words)
The Spanish government is introducing new regulations on home working following the last-minute agreement of Spain’s two main union confederations, ... Subscribers only
Dutch union pushes for big pay rise (162 words)
The FNV, the largest union body in the Netherlands, has called for a 5% pay increase next year in organisations that have done well out of the Covid-1 ... Open access
Polish minimum wage to increase by 7.7% (77 words)
The Polish government has announced that the national minimum wage will go up by 7.7% from January 2021, taking it to 2,800zł a month (£572). This ... Open access
Pandemic halves Sweden’s pay growth (60 words)
Pay in Sweden increased by 1.4% in the second quarter of 2020, compared to 2.9% in the same period in 2019, according to statistics from the Swedish ... Open access
Law - Discrimination
Discrimination - the law (883 words)
Discrimination law is found in the Equality Act 2010 (EA10). The EA10 lists nine “protected characteristics”: age; disability; gender ... Subscribers only
Less favourable treatment due to marriage breakdown (765 words)
The Claimant, Mr Gould, was a vicar at an evangelical church based in Hampstead, London, until he was dismissed by his employer, the church’s ... Subscribers only
Tribunal makes recommendation in workplace bullying case (894 words)
Ms Hill worked for 30 years as an analyst for Lloyds Bank until she was off work for 15 months due to stress resulting from bullying by two managers, ... Subscribers only
Grief reaction was not a disability (455 words)
After working as a customer services officer for the TSB Bank for around 18 months, the claimant, Mr Igweike, issued tribunal claims, including a ... Subscribers only
Unfavourable treatment must be due to claimant’s disability (684 words)
The Claimant, Ms Robinson, worked as an administrator for the DWP for over 20 years using specialist debt management software until a hemiplegic ... Subscribers only
Equal pay – material factor must be cause of pay difference (692 words)
The claimant in this case, Samantha Walker, issued a variety of tribunal claims, but this report focuses on her claim for equal pay. ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
TUC reveals Covid safety failures (330 words)
A new TUC survey casts doubt on health secretary Matt Hancock’s recent claim that the “vast majority” of workplaces are Covid-secure. ... Subscribers only
Teaching unions warn of school safety failures (357 words)
The joint general secretaries of the teachers’ NEU union, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, have written to prime minister Boris Johnson ... Subscribers only
Increase sick pay to combat Covid, government told (376 words)
New polling for the TUC shows that more than four in 10 workers would be plunged into financial hardship if forced to self-isolate for two weeks on ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
TUC slams inspections outsourcing (265 words)
The TUC has warned that outsourcing workplace safety “spot checks” to private outsourcing companies “is a risky strategy that could undermine ... Subscribers only
‘More MPs than inspectors’ warning (191 words)
Calling for an end to “outdated attitudes that saw health and safety as a burden on business”, specialists’ Prospect union general secretary ... Open access
Call for external verification before return (284 words)
Following an “explosion of workplace Covid-19 outbreaks”, the Hazards Campaign and Independent SAGE have joined forces to call for government ... Subscribers only
CWU region calls for HSE action on suicide (126 words)
The communications CWU union North West region marked World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September by highlighting the campaign for the HSE to ... Open access
Union demands publication of crane accident report (110 words)
The general Unite union has called on the HSE to publish its initial findings into the case of the fatal crane collapse in Bow, east London, in July. ... Open access
Features
Consult, avoid, compensate: redundancy in the Covid crisis (3,372 words)
As redundancy announcements driven by the Covid-19 crisis multiply, union negotiators are in damage-limitation mode, focusing on consultation, ... Open access
‘Change happens in a crisis’ (2,374 words)
As one rep put it, Covid-19 has caused a “cosmic shift” in ways of working. This is particularly true for infection-sensitive environments such ... Subscribers only