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Workplace Report October 2011
The 2010-11 Pay Round - Full round up of the year's pay settlements. The average figure for pay settlements improved slightly in 2010-11 compared with the last two years. But the benefits were not apparent to large numbers of workers hit either by the public sector pay freeze or by paltry pay rises in some large industrial agreements; Latest case law on dismissals, redundancies and transfers
Pay and prices
Soaring inflation unmatched by settlements (248 words)
The latest figures from the LRD Payline database of collective agreements show settlements in the three months to September had a median (mid-point) ...
Open access
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (223 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered). ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
Source: ASHE 2010 uprated by AWE. ... Open access
Annual increases in average weekly earnings (AWE) including bonuses (146 words)
1 The latest three-month average. ... Open access
Other pay analysts (25 words)
... Open access
Prices (72 words)
... Open access
Inflation forecasts (31 words)
Fourth quarter 2011 ... Open access
Bargaining news
Employers warned on evading agency rules (765 words)
The union battle to get hundreds of thousands of agency workers improved working conditions has finally resulted in the implementation of new ...
Subscribers only
Council staff to pay more and get less from pension (476 words)
Unions have reacted angrily to government plans to increase employee contribution rates for the local government pension scheme (LGPS) in a bid to ... Subscribers only
Union urges action on BAE (332 words)
Defence secretary Philip Hammond is being urged to do everything possible to stop the loss of up to 3,000 highly skilled jobs at military equipment ... Subscribers only
Employee access to tribunals slashed (306 words)
The government is stepping up its attack on employment rights, claiming that the moves will make it easier for businesses to recruit more workers. ... Subscribers only
‘Strong unionism’ produces inflation-busting Tube deal (372 words)
Unions representing London Underground staff are recommending that they accept a four-year pay deal that will give them a 5% increase this year ... Subscribers only
TUC welcomes minimum wage guidance for interns (350 words)
The TUC has criticised the new national minimum wage (NMW) rates that came in on 1 October, but welcomed government guidance on the minimum wage for ... Subscribers only
Strike produces acceptable offer (142 words)
Workers employed by Matthew Clark drinks wholesaler have voted to accept an improved pay offer which was made after they took industrial action in ... Open access
C2C in two-year deal (86 words)
C2C Rail in the East of England has followed the pattern of other train operators by agreeing a higher-than-average two-year pay deal. Workers will ... Open access
British Sugar workers reluctantly accept 3.5% (111 words)
Members of general union Unite at four British Sugar plants in the east of England have decided to accept a 3.5% pay offer after there was ... Open access
Equality news
Unions step up recruitment of reps from diverse ranks (513 words)
Over the last four years there has been a significant increase in the proportion of unions who are encouraging women to become shop stewards, ... Subscribers only
Cancer toolkit launched (284 words)
A toolkit has been launched to provide best practice guidance for employers on how best to provide support in the workplace for employees with ... Subscribers only
Meals supervisors and others win equal pay (203 words)
An equal pay claim involving close to 1,000 women working at Sheffield City Council has been settled before it reached a Supreme Court hearing ... Open access
LGB guide (95 words)
The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (LGF) has produced a guide to enable lesbian, gay and bisexual people to have up-to-date information about their ... Open access
Learning and training news
Prospect runs first skills contest led by unions (248 words)
Scientists union Prospect took a leading role in last month’s WorldSkills London 2011 event, a vocational skills contest which brings ... Open access
Delivering learning (115 words)
Over 1,600 workers at the Royal Mail Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre now have a new dedicated learning centre thanks to learning rep ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Tories attack reps’ time off (459 words)
Unions have accused government ministers of demonising the practice of giving trade union reps in the public sector paid time off to carry out their ... Subscribers only
Tesco rep recruits 300 (146 words)
THE USDAW shop workers’ union provided two of the winners of the TUC’s Reps of the Year Awards 2011. ... Open access
European news
Fiat abandons national pay bargaining structure (518 words)
Car giant Fiat, Italy’s largest manufacturing firm, has decided to withdraw from the main Italian employers association, Confindustria. The ... Subscribers only
Daimler extends job security (220 words)
German vehicle maker Daimler and the company’s joint works council have struck a deal which means there will be no compulsory redundancies ... Open access
Five-year deal signed at Mercedes (282 words)
Employees at the Mercedes plant in Vitoria in the Basque Country in Spain have backed a new deal which provides fixed pay rises for each of the next ... Subscribers only
Law - Dismissal
Dismissal - the law (501 words)
Employees dismissed unfairly can go to a tribunal if they have been working for at least a year, although some types of dismissal do not require ... Subscribers only
Refusal to accept pay cut was a fair reason for dismissal (646 words)
Mr Booth worked for seven years as a welding maintenance worker for Garside and Laycock (G&L), a company providing building and maintenance ... Subscribers only
Comparison with treatment of others is rarely successful (430 words)
Two lorry drivers at Wincanton plc were dismissed when they accidentally allowed the additional licence they needed to carry dangerous loads to lapse. ... Subscribers only
TNT ‘acted reasonably’ — EAT (983 words)
Four claimants brought test cases for unfair dismissal against global delivery giant TNT (UK). A total of 183 other unfair dismissal claims were ... Subscribers only
Refusal to mop up was justified (481 words)
Mr Oudahar worked as a chef for Esporta, a health club. Overnight maintenance work had been carried out in the kitchens but was still unfinished ... Subscribers only
Law - Redundancy
Redundancy - the law (248 words)
A redundancy situation exists where an employer closes or intends to close the workplace or reduce the number of employees doing a particular kind ... Open access
Employers must seek alternative work to avoid redundancies (589 words)
The claimant, Mrs Richardson, had worked for the HSBC bank in a clerical treasury role since 1991. At the time of her redundancy, she was earning ... Subscribers only
Law - TUPE
Transfers — the law (255 words)
f The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) are intended to protect the rights of employees on the transfer of ... Subscribers only
No TUPE transfer when service ‘fundamentally different’ (511 words)
This case concerned the closure by an NHS Trust of an NHS care home for vulnerable adults and the re-housing of those adults in the community under ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
Removing rail guards risky because of terrorist threat (301 words)
Proposals to remove station staff and guards from trains should be rejected, not least because of the continuing threat of further terrorist ... Subscribers only
Fire service ‘should be honest’ about riots (165 words)
The FBU firefighters’ union has criticised a London Fire Brigade report which claims that the fire service had enough resources to cope ... Open access
Most accident reporting to be carried out online (224 words)
Most workplace injuries and dangerous incidents can no longer be reported to the HSE by phone and must be done via one of seven online forms. Thanks ... Open access
LibDem gets tough on employee wellbeing (180 words)
Directors who fail to protect employees’ wellbeing should be struck off, Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes told his party conference earlier ... Open access
Safety ‘not squeezing student experience’ (122 words)
Students are missing out on science practicals and school trips because of scarce resources - not safety concerns, say MPs. ... Open access
Oil rig operators ‘failing to involve workers in safety’ (395 words)
Offshore oil companies are “fundamentally failing” to involve workers in health and safety matters, says the RMT rail and maritime ... Subscribers only
Gleision shows need for tighter mining regulation (324 words)
Health and safety in the mining sector is less strictly regulated than when it was publicly owned, says the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). ... Subscribers only
Congress unites against cuts in HSE budget (174 words)
Last month’s Trades Union Congress unanimously backed a motion criticising the slashing of the HSE’s budget and calling on the TUC to ... Open access
Bakers call for limit on workplace temperature (115 words)
Bakers’ union BFAWU has launched a campaign, called Cool It, to persuade the government to introduce a maximum workplace temperature. ... Open access
Features
Limited recovery in private sector pay fails to reach most workers (5,595 words)
The average figure for pay settlements improved slightly in 2010-11 compared with the last two years. But the benefits were not apparent to large ... Subscribers only