Fact Service August 2021

Issue 34 (26/08/2021) - Top bosses earned 86x more than average worker; £1.5 billion paid out in Living Wages; One in three unsure they'll work long enough to fund retirement; Four farm deaths in a fortnight lead to safety call; Paternity leave take-up at 10 year low; Almost half want hybrid work; Strike ballot threatened after Legionella discovered; UK airports 'Europe's worst affected'

Issue 33 (19/08/2021) - Vacancies at record high as pay rises; Educators urge action on ventilation; TUC calls for 'daughter of furlough'; Unions challenge Network Rail over redundancy plan; Inflation drops after recent rises

Issue 32 (11/08/2021) - Organisations condemn anti-vaxxer attacks on health staff; Energy price hike to hit poorest hardest; Firefighters warn on climate devastation; UK 'missing boat' on renewables jobs; Education unions congratulate students; Appeal for youth jobs launches; Trust embraces TUC's Dying to Work Charter

Issue 31 (05/08/2021) - TUC calls for umbrella company ban; Union: don’t forget all the other NHS workers; UK debt exceeds EU average but GDP forecast to grow; NHS trust announces menopause policy; Good governance guidance released; 'Don’t end furlough – adapt it'

Issue 34

Top bosses earned 86x more than average worker (381 words)

The CEO’s of Britain’s FTSE 100 companies earned a median pay packet of £2.69 million last year – 86 times the median full time worker’s ...
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£1.5 billion paid out in Living Wages (279 words)

Over £1.5 billion in increased wages has been paid to workers over the last 20 years according to the Living Wage Foundation. ...
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One in three unsure they’ll work long enough to fund retirement (511 words)

Over a third of those born between 1965 and 1980 think they’ll have to work past state pension age in order to eventually be able to afford to ...
Subscribers only

Four farm deaths in a fortnight lead to safety call (278 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has urged farmers to do more to improve farm safety after reportedly being notified of four fatalities on farms ...
Subscribers only

Paternity leave take-up at 10 year low (204 words)

Take-up of paternity leave has hit a 10 year low, with only around a quarter of eligible fathers (27%) using it, according to law firm EMW. ...
Open access

Almost half want hybrid work (195 words)

According to research, 44% of British employees want some form of hybrid working, specialist publication Employee Benefits has reported. ...
Open access

Strike ballot threatened after Legionella discovered (152 words)

Transport union the RMT has said that it is prepared to ballot for strike action over traces of Legionella found in the toilets of four Thameslink ...
Open access

UK airports ‘Europe's worst affected’ (162 words)

Pilots’ union BALPA has released figures its says show that UK aviation is suffering more than European competitors – and needs urgent government ...
Open access

Issue 33

Vacancies at record high as pay rises (1,106 words)

Job vacancies have hit a record high and unemployment has dipped, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ...
Subscribers only

Educators urge action on ventilation (333 words)

Seven unions have appealed to the education secretary to act to improve ventilation in schools. ...
Subscribers only

TUC calls for ‘daughter of furlough’ (429 words)

The TUC has appealed for a permanent, short-time furlough scheme that will protect livelihoods from crises and disruptions caused by climate change, ...
Subscribers only

Unions challenge Network Rail over redundancy plan (219 words)

Rail unions are confronting Network Rail over planned cuts to jobs being implemented without consultation. ...
Open access

Inflation drops after recent rises (184 words)

Inflation dropped to 2% CPI (consumer prices index) in the year to July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), down from 2.5% the ...
Open access

Issue 32

Organisations condemn anti-vaxxer attacks on health staff (807 words)

Health organisations including the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), public services union UNISON and the NHS Confederation have spoken out against ...
Subscribers only

Energy price hike to hit poorest hardest (317 words)

The GMB general union has condemned this week’s rise in the Ofgem energy price cap as “more evidence of the UK’s increasingly shambolic energy ...
Subscribers only

Firefighters warn on climate devastation (287 words)

Firefighters’ union the FBU has joined what it describes as the chorus of alarm at a United Nations report into climate change published this week. ...
Subscribers only

UK ‘missing boat’ on renewables jobs (188 words)

The Prospect union, which represents workers in renewables and across the energy industry, has warned that the UK “risks missing the boat” on ...
Open access

Education unions congratulate students (377 words)

Education unions have welcomed the release of vocational and technical qualification and A-level results this week. ...
Subscribers only

Appeal for youth jobs launches (146 words)

Human resources professionals’ institute the CIPD has launched a campaign to boost youth employment and remedy the damage done to young people’s ...
Open access

Trust embraces TUC's Dying to Work Charter (99 words)

An NHS trust has signed up to a TUC initiative that supports workers who have a terminal illness. ...
Open access

Issue 31

TUC calls for umbrella company ban (359 words)

The TUC has said that umbrella companies have no place in modern Britain and must be banned “without delay”. ...
Subscribers only

Union: don’t forget all the other NHS workers (239 words)

Public services union UNISON has written to employers urging them to remember all the staff working in the NHS but employed by private companies, and ...
Open access

UK debt exceeds EU average but GDP forecast to grow (840 words)

UK general government gross debt was £2,224.5 billion at the end of the financial year ending March 2021, equivalent to 106.0% of gross domestic ...
Subscribers only

NHS trust announces menopause policy (223 words)

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn (QEH) has launched a new policy offering menopause support to its staff. ...
Open access

Good governance guidance released (294 words)

Think tank the High Pay Centre and human resources institute the CIPD are promoting research which they say offers practical guidance on how to ...
Subscribers only

‘Don’t end furlough – adapt it’ (332 words)

The Unite general union has called on the government to alter the CJRS furlough scheme, rather than end it in September. ...
Subscribers only