Workplace Report November 2011

Tribunals under attack - From next April workers will need two years' service to take an unfair dismissal claim. Now the government is looking to price workers out of the justice system altogether; Shift pay 2011 - Public sector workers already hit by pay freezes are now facing shift premium cuts. Meanwhile in the private sector shift premia are returning to their normal pattern; Latest case law on contracts, references and employment trubunals

Pay and prices

Pay gap wider despite lower inflation (241 words)

With pay settlements according to the LRD Payline database of collective agreements still averaging 2.5% in the three months to October and the Retail ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (71 words)

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

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

Source: ASHE 2010 uprated by AWE. ...

Annual increas in average weekly earnings (AWE) including bonuses (65 words)

1 The latest three-month average. ...

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Prices (13 words)

Inflation forecasts (18 words)

Fourth quarter 2011 ...

Bargaining news

PCS reaches national deal at Hewlett-Packard (765 words)

National collective bargaining got a welcome boost last month from what seemed like an unlikely quarter. ...

Industrial action brings pay rise for train cleaners (374 words)

Cleaning staff on Virgin West Coast Mainline have won a significant pay increase from Carlisle Cleaning and Support Services on the eve of a ...

Construction pay row to switch to official dispute (376 words)

The row between union members and construction companies trying to break away from national agreements looks set to escalate into an official dispute. Meanwhile ...

Government to consult on ‘protected conversations’ (276 words)

David Cameron has confirmed the government’s plan to launch a consultation on the introduction of “protected conversations”, first outlined in a speech in October ...

Votes point to huge strike over attack on pensions (473 words)

Heavy voting in favour of action over pensions by public sector workers from all parts of the UK in the last few weeks pointed ...

Civil service deals differ (184 words)

Two recent pay agreements covered by the government’s public sector pay freeze policy have produced significantly different results. ...

Final-salary pensions cut (306 words)

Two big private sector employers, car giant Ford and insurance company AEGON, are considering closing their final-salary pension schemes. ...

Equality news

Disabled work seekers avoid job consultants (325 words)

Recruiters rate the support they provide to disabled candidates much more highly than do the disabled candidates do themselves, a report shows. ...

Councils fail to provide contracts with Remploy (333 words)

Less than half of local authorities provide public procurement contracts to factories operated by disabled employees under the auspices of Remploy, according to the ...

Transgender support (39 words)

New materials for transgender activists have been published. ...

LGB job site (51 words)

A new recruitment website has been launched by lesbian, gay and bisexual charity Stonewall. The website carries vacancies from employers who are members of ...

Flexible working (160 words)

Fears that extending the right to work flexibly would prove burdensome to business are grossly exaggerated, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Unions gain recognition in private sector companies (242 words)

The last few weeks have seen union recognition successes at several companies, including three deals for the Unite general union. ...

TUC advice on organising (69 words)

The TUC has published a pocket guide to organising and campaigning. ...

Learning and training news

People with dyslexia fear bullying by managers (386 words)

Fear of discrimination by managers and bullying by colleagues is preventing many people from disclosing the fact that they have dyslexia, reveals an online ...

Soft skills missing (155 words)

A report released by the British Chambers of Commerce last month, Skills for business: more to learn?, found that almost half (45%) of 6,000 ...

European news

Austrian negotiators get better deal for mothers (370 words)

Working mothers in Austria’s metal-working industry are set to gain significantly from a deal signed by two unions, PRO-GE representing manual workers and GPA ...

Finnish unions sign framework deal (390 words)

A national framework agreement on pay agreed by the three Finnish union confederations and the employers’ associations last month has left some issues unresolved, ...

Spanish unions clash on chemicals deal (137 words)

The unions representing chemical workers in Spain’s two main union confederations, CCOO and UGT, are at loggerheads over a national pay deal for the ...

Poles get job guarantees from Chinese (132 words)

Unions representing 1,200 employees at the Polish steel works HSW have reached a job security agreement with the Chinese company LiuGong, which is hoping ...

Law - Contracts

Contracts - the law (505 words)

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

Key ‘self-employment’ ruling has widespread implications (792 words)

In this most important decision on employment status for the last 15 years, the Supreme Court examined “sham” self-employment arrangements of the type frequently ...

Court can imply a payment if it is not spelt out in the contract (519 words)

This case concerned overtime payments owed to a catering manager who worked for Air India. The Court of Appeal decided that, where the wording ...

Confusion over annual leave requests when off sick for a year (666 words)

Two recent cases appear flatly to contradict each other on the question: is a worker who is off sick for the whole holiday year ...

Time asleep on premises did not count for minimum wage (326 words)

Ms Wray was made redundant from her role as temporary manager of a pub in Mottram. She brought a claim for unfair dismissal and ...

Law - Tribunal procedures

Tribunals- the law (263 words)

f Most tribunal claims must be lodged within three months of the matter complained of. Tribunals can extend the time limit in unfair dismissal ...

Claimant’s lies meant means of paying not taken into account (382 words)

If a tribunal decides that either side has acted unreasonably in bringing or conducting a case, it has no choice but to consider making ...

Law - Other Law News

References -the basic legal rules (138 words)

The general rule concerning references is that an employer is not obliged to provide a reference, but that any reference given must be true, ...

References including unproven allegations are OK if explained (739 words)

Mr Jackson left his job as a social worker for Liverpool City Council’s youth offending team to take up a new job with Sefton ...

Health & safety news

Stress is now prime cause of long-term sick leave (408 words)

The number one reason for long-term absence is stress and it accounts for a third of all sickness absence, according to a new survey ...

Insurers attacked (213 words)

The TUC has launched an attack on the insurance industry for trying to avoid compensating workers who have been injured or made ill by ...

Fire centre cuts ‘undermine safety’ (220 words)

Closingfire control centres will undermine the ability of the fire service to respond to major incidents such as rail crashes and industrial explosions, says ...

Minister snubs victims group (133 words)

Families of people killed at work have been thwarted in their attempts to gain access to the minister responsible for health and safety to ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

‘Bullying management’ led to Grayrigg tragedy (268 words)

A “bullyboy style of management” created the conditions which led to the train derailment at Grayrigg in Cumbria, according to the TSSA rail union. ...

Unions help piracy victims (346 words)

Seafaring and transport unions are helping to fund a new London-based organisation which supports victims of piracy. ...

Workers face rudeness and abuse (103 words)

Half of workers in the UK have suffered rude or abusive treatment at work within the last two years. A report commissioned by the ...

Keir safety concern (187 words)

Construction union UCATT has been conducting a survey of workers at housing maintenance firm Kier because of concern over safety. The survey was timed ...

Clegg challenged on inspectors’ ‘mind set’ (143 words)

Prospect, the union representing Health and Safety (HSE) inspectors, has written to the deputy prime minister challenging his prejudices about health and safety. ...

Features

Denial of justice to thousands of staff makes no financial sense (2281 words)

From next April workers will need two years’ service, rather than one, before they can be protected by employment tribunals from unfair sacking. Now ...

Public sector shift workers face double wage jeopardy (1880 words)

Shift premia for most private sector agreements are returning to the pattern of rising automatically with increases in pay. But public sector shift workers ...