Pay and prices

Pay and prices diverge further (258 words)

The latest figures from the LRD Payline database of collective agreements show settlements dropping back to a median (mid-point) figure of 2.5% for the ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (70 words)

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

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£619.80All male£676.80All female£531.60Managers£908.10Professionals£822.50Associate professional£638.70Admin & secretarial£434.50Skilled/craft£511.80Services£367.80Sales£342.80Operatives£470.70Other manual£366.00 ...

Annual increases in average weekly earnings (AWE) including bonuses (52 words)

1 The latest three-month average. ...

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end Aug 2011)2.0%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end July 2011)2.5% ...

Prices (13 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excl. mortgages July 2010223.64.84.8August224.54.74.7September225.34.64.6October225.84.54.6November226.84.74.7December228.44.84.7January 2011229.05.15.1February231.35.55.5March232.55.35.4April234.45.25.3May235.25.25.3June235.25.05.0July234.75.05.0August236.15.25.3 ...

Inflation forecasts (18 words)

Fourth quarter 2011 ...

Bargaining news

Unions fight council cuts by any means necessary (800 words)

The avalanche of attacks on workers’ pay and conditions in local government is forcing unions to use every available avenue to challenge employers over ...

Two-year deals can be a chance to beat inflation (347 words)

Long-term pay deals are still being struck by some unions and employers despite the economic uncertainties. The latest examples, all effective from last April, ...

Fujitsu workers strike over broken agreements (389 words)

Members of general union Unite at Fujitsu’s Manchester and Crewe sites were out on strike on 19 September over broken agreements and attempts to ...

Take-home pay in private sector slows down (166 words)

More evidence of a recent slow-down in private sector pay growth comes this month from VocaLink, the payment systems specialist which publishes monthly data ...

Performance pay too small to motivate (143 words)

Performance-related pay awards are too small to motivate employees, despite being widely used, according to pay analysts XpertHR. That assessment is based on the ...

Sign or be sacked, firms tell construction workers (440 words)

Major construction firms are telling employees to sign new contracts on much worse pay and terms and conditions or be sacked and re-engaged on ...

Scottish Water pay offer heads off strike (337 words)

The immediate threat of industrial action by members of the GMB general union at Scottish Water has been lifted following their vote in favour ...

Council pensions not gold plated (168 words)

Evidence that workers in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) get lower pensions than those in private sector final-salary schemes has been highlighted by ...

Defined-contribution pensions fees rip-off (188 words)

Millions of pensioners will have their retirement income stripped of much of its value because of pitfalls in Defined Contribution (DC) schemes, according to ...

Equality news

Women’s progress to top positions in society stalls (487 words)

Women continue to be absent from the most influential jobs in Britain and an additional 5,400 women are needed to achieve equal representation among ...

Employers shun youth (287 words)

School leavers are being pushed to the back of the jobs queue with a sharp drop in the number of employers planning to hire ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Plymouth UNISON backed (265 words)

The Plymouth City Council branch of public services union UNISON has won widespread support, including from the other two unions at the council, after ...

RMT win recognition for tube cleaners (115 words)

The RMT transport union has won another recognition battle on behalf of cleaners on the London tube network — this time for around 70 ...

UK mail: CWU recruits (52 words)

UK MAIL saw a major union membership drive by communications union CWU over the summer in London and the Midlands. Reps handing our leaflets ...

Learning and training news

BME youth ‘need apprenticeships’ (234 words)

With almost half of black and minority ethnic (BME) young people out of work, education or training, it is vital that special measures are ...

Apprenticeship system to be simplified for large employers (194 words)

The government has announced a series of measures which it claims will simplify the apprenticeship system for larger employers and encourage them to take ...

European news

Dutch union members turn down pensions deal (831 words)

The executive committee of the largest Dutch union confederation, the FNV, has decided not to support an agreement on pensions that was originally negotiated ...

Spanish employers fail to sign deals (275 words)

Officials from the two main Spanish union confederations, CCOO and UGT, have met employers’ representatives at national level in an attempt to unblock local ...

Irish public sector pensions (65 words)

The Irish government has said it will introduce legislation providing for a common pension scheme for all public service employees in the next few ...

Law - Discrimination

Discrimination — the law (496 words)

Since 1 October 2010, discrimination law is contained in the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010). With a few notable exceptions, the laws in EA ...

Tribunal recommendations can end discriminatory acts (462 words)

This case is a good example of the scope of the tribunal’s power to make “recommendations” as to the changes that should be made ...

Sexual orientation bias depends on context (519 words)

This case is a successful appeal against an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) judgment which was reported in Workplace Report, December 2010. ...

‘Reasonable steps’ are those taken before discrimination (386 words)

Ms Fox worked at an agency recruiting professional drivers. She complained of sexual harassment by a cousin of the managing director, Mr Ellis. Two ...

‘Borat’ nickname was race discrimination (218 words)

Mr Ruda, a Polish quality assurance engineer, joined TEI Limited, an engineering construction company, in July 2007. He complained to the employment tribunal that ...

EAT clarifies ‘joint and several liability’ for discrimination (843 words)

In 1999, Ms Sivanandan brought proceedings for victimisation after being turned down following interviews for two posts with a body called Hackney Action for ...

Refusal to allow for Friday prayers was not unlawful (549 words)

Mr Cherfi, worked as a security guard for G4S at premises in north London. For some time after he started work in 2001, he ...

School’s ban on boys with cornrows is race discrimination (694 words)

In this case, a male African-Caribbean pupil was refused admittance to a school because he wore his hair in “cornrows”, having not cut it ...

Health & safety news

New protocol will speed up redress for work deaths (219 words)

The time it takes for a company to be convicted following a workplace fatality should be significantly reduced from October, when a Work Related ...

Radon exposure ‘can be cut by simple measures’ (248 words)

Dozens of lives could be saved each year, if only simple measures were taken to limit exposure to radon (a radioactive gas), new figures ...

TUC calls for action on deadly dust (211 words)

The TUC is calling for a review of current dust exposure limits and for improved enforcement of them to tackle deadly levels of dust ...

Oil rig operators ‘ignoring safety’ (186 words)

Oil rigs operating in British waters may have come close to suffering devastating explosions, says maritime and transport union the RMT. ...

Stressful commuting (92 words)

Women find commuting more stressful than men, according to data from the British Household Panel Survey. ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

Manufacturing safety to become more ‘hands off’ (209 words)

A “dramatically revised” strategy for policing the manufacturing sector planned by the HSE has been slammed by general union Unite. ...

Watchdog backs reduced accident reporting (174 words)

The HSE has accepted a proposal by Conservative peer Lord Young that the number of workplace injuries that employers are required to report should ...

Minister understates cost of work safety failings (240 words)

The Hazards campaign group has accused work and pensions minister Chris Grayling of misleading a parliamentary debate on the cost of workplace health and ...

Health and safety being trivialised (277 words)

The TUC has criticised a document by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which it says could exacerbate a public view that health and ...

Features

Career-average pension schemes — looking at the fine print (2847 words)

One of a range of pensions changes the government is trying to force on the public sector is the replacement of final-salary pensions with ...

Location, location, location: what they should pay you to move (2230 words)

What should be covered in a policy which compensates new or existing employees for the expenses of working in a new location? Workplace Report ...