Workplace Report April 2011

Paternity rights - The new right to additional paternity leave comes into force, but what will be the uptake?

2010/2011 pay round - LRD's analysis of the pay round so far shows divide between private and public sector deals.

Latest case law on industrial action, tribunals and employment contracts

Pay and prices

Inflation eats up pay rises (248 words)

Living standards continue be hit, but the gap between inflation and pay settlements has closed slightly. ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (73 words)

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

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£600.70All male£655.90All female£515.20Managers£880.00Professionals£797.10Associate professional£619.00Admin & secretarial£421.10Skilled/craft£496.00Services£356.40Sales£332.20Operatives£456.10Other manual£354.70 ...

Annual increase in average weekly earnings (AWE) including bonuses (53 words)

MonthWhole economyPrivate sectorPublic sectorManu- facturingServicesDec 2009 (r) 1.00.63.53.50.8Jan 2010 (r)0.6-1.04.13.91.6February (r)5.86.83.95.46.0March6.87.35.79.56.4April0.4-0.53.23.70.3May0.90.91.04.11.0June 1.10.14.43.20.9July 1.81.72.24.71.8August 2.11.92.24.22.1September 2.22.02.43.92.3October 2.02.02.63.92.4November 2.12.02.42.92.5December 1.21.12.21.31.7Jan 2011 (r)3.74.22.42.34.2February (p)1.30.62.20.01.0Headline rate12.01.92.31.22.3 ...

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end February 2011)2.3%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end February 2011)2.5% ...

Prices (13 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excl. mortgages Feb 2010219.23.74.2March220.74.44.8April222.85.35.4May223.65.15.1June224.15.05.0July223.64.84.8August224.54.74.7September225.34.64.6October225.84.54.6November226.84.74.7December228.44.84.7January 2011229.05.15.1February231.35.55.5March232.55.35.4 ...

Inflation forecasts (18 words)

Fourth quarter 2011 ...

Bargaining news

Three-way split over national bargaining in print industry (718 words)

The print industry employers have told general union Unite they no longer want to bargain collectively over pay at a natioanl level. Ways of ...

Widening spread of deals in the private sector (356 words)

Pay settlements in the private sector in April appeared to confirm the widening spread of pay rises now being awarded in the face of ...

Retention plan for business critical staff in NHS (312 words)

There may be “a pause” while the coalition government contemplates changes to the legislation that will reform the NHS, but unions are intent on ...

State pension reform - Two ways to poverty in retirement (275 words)

The government has set out two possible ways of reforming the basic State Pension in its Green Paper, A state pension for the 21st ...

Low-paid get ‘modest’ rise in minimum wage (477 words)

The TUC has welcomed the government’s confirmation that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for workers aged 21 and over will go up by 2.5% ...

Rise secured after challenging negotiations at Royal Bank of Scotland (219 words)

Most Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) staff in clerical, appointed and management grades were due to receive a pay rise this year following “incredibly ...

Final salary pension scheme closure (93 words)

Unilever, the food to personal care to detergents group, has announced plans to close its UK final salary pensions scheme to existing members. ...

Deal at National Grid worth 12.5% (185 words)

A staged pay deal worth 12.5% for 2,000 industrial gas workers in the National Grid Operations Field Force includes substantial non-consolidated payments, including an ...

Equality news

‘Race to bottom’ as Pickles rips up outsourcing code for local government services (327 words)

Public sector union UNISON has called the coalition government’s scrapping of the two-tier code for outsourced local government services “a recipe for exploitation”. ...

Dual discrimination dumped (393 words)

After several delays in the implementation of the dual discrimination regulations, the government has now announced that they are to be completely abandoned. ...

Job selection – if your face fits you’ll get job (281 words)

A tendency for people to recruit workers who bear similarities to themselves means that one in six workers feel they have been discriminated against ...

Learning and training news

Apprenticeships offer best value to British economy (384 words)

Workers with further education qualifications benefit the economy to the tune of £75 billion, a new study shows. ...

Cost-cutting hits learning (294 words)

Funding for learning and development continues to be eroded as employers’ budgets feel the squeeze, according to the people management professionals, the Chartered Institute ...

Adult Learners’ Week (89 words)

May sees the 20th annual Adult Learners’ Week which this year takes the theme of Culture, community and inspiration in informal adult learning. ...

Pay up for internships (105 words)

The TUC has issued a warning over the coalition government’s plan to encourage internships as part of its strategy to improve social mobility. ...

Higher education link (72 words)

Union members in London will have improved opportunities for higher-level learning thanks to an agreement between the South East Regional TUC and Linking London ...

European news

Inflation-busting deal for German chemical industry (315 words)

IGBCE, the German chemical workers union, has signed an agreement for the chemical industry which provides for 4.1% increase at a time when inflation ...

(315 words)

Dutch settle on a staged 4.45% pay rise in "small metal" industry deal (379 words)

Unions and employers in the Netherlands have reached agreement on pay increases in the so-called “small metal” industry, which covers smaller engineering businesses, installation ...

‘Advance’ in five-year deal for Spanish postal staff (282 words)

Spanish unions have finally signed an agreement with the publicly owned postal group Correos after more than two and a half years of negotiations. ...

Law - Contracts

Contracts — the basic legal rules (275 words)

Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on the presence of an “employment relationship”. There are legal distinctions between an employee, a worker and someone ...

Contracts - the key developments (76 words)

The key factor distinguishing an apprenticeship agreement from an ordinary employment contract is that the employee receives training, aimed at reaching a particular skill ...

No sorcery but EAT rules young worker was engaged as an apprentice (576 words)

An illustration of the factors that are taken into account when deciding whether a worker is engaged on a contract of apprenticeship is provided ...

Law - Industrial Action

Industrial action — the key developments (67 words)

In a case described as a major triumph for the trade union movement, the Court of Appeal overturned two injunctions awarded on the basis ...

Landmark victory for two rail unions over strike ballots (1103 words)

Transport unions the RMT and ASLEF won an important victory in the Court of Appeal in March, in a judgment by Lord Justice Elias. ...

Law - Tribunal procedures

Employment tribunals — the basic legal rules (124 words)

Most tribunal claims must be lodged within a strict three month deadline. Although tribunals have the power to extend time within the rules, an ...

Tribunal procedures — the key developments (131 words)

f Refusal to accept a reasonable settlement offer can result in liability to pay costs (case 2). ...

It can be costly to hold out for too much of a settlement (313 words)

Mr Rondeau, brought a claim against G4S Securities and in May 2009, G4S made a £30,000 settlement offer, which it repeated the following September. ...

Claimants must not be left in dark by tribunal decisions (356 words)

This case focuses on the tribunal’s statutory duty to give reasons for decisions. It explains what standard of decision the parties should expect from ...

Time limits in unfair dismissal claims (1106 words)

The next two cases relate to the time limit for bringing a claim for unfair dismissal. They illustrate the importance of bringing any claim ...

Health & safety news

Cost of being off ill forces workers back to work (365 words)

British workers may be more likely to attend work when unwell, and thereby potentially endangering themselves and others, because our incapacity benefits are ungenerous ...

Reform on costs could hit safety-related claims (168 words)

The coalition government has announced plans to reform the civil justice system, which could have repercussions for workers taking safety-related claims. The proposals include ...

Jarvis escapes prosecution (164 words)

Unions have reacted angrily to an official decision not to charge rail maintenance firm Jarvis over the Potters Bar rail disaster. ...

Nursing staff facing burn-out over long hours (300 words)

Nurses are propping up the NHS by consistently working in excess of their contracted hours and providing last minute shift cover, a survey from ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Asbestos contractors put workers and public at risk (191 words)

Despite recent high profile campaigns on the dangers of working with asbestos, some companies are still failing to manage the risks robustly, the Health ...

HSE inspections to be cut as part of safety review (308 words)

The coalition government’s proposed new health and safety strategy is motivated by cost-cutting and will only serve to weaken the Health and Safety Executive ...

Construction sites declared unsafe (149 words)

The HSE has recently targeted particular regions and sectors where a high level of non-compliance with workplace regulations was suspected. ...

Consultants’ register (51 words)

A professional register for health and safety practitioners has been established. ...

Tesco fined on safety (89 words)

The UK’s largest supermarket chain Tesco has been fined £48,000 plus costs for putting the safety of its staff at risk after a successful ...

New nuclear regulator (133 words)

It was jobs for the boys on 1 April when Health and Safety Executive chair Judith Hackitt announced that Nick Baldwin, a former chief ...

Features

Success of new paternity rights depends on family finances (2667 words)

The Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 were passed by the last Labour government and are one of the few benefits for workers safeguarded as ...

2010-11 pay round — deals show divide across sectors (2042 words)

The first “half” of the pay round, from August 2010 to March 2011, has to be viewed against a backdrop of faltering economic growth, ...