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Researc

h

What

Tory

austerity

means

for 999

services

Asbestos

continues

to pose

serious

risks

Why

aren’t

more of

us home

working?

N E WS A N D I N F O R M A T I O N F O R T R A D E U N I O N I S T S

Labour

Researc

h

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m both the public

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Eurofound report o

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information and services they have come to expect from the TUC.”

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For over 100 years the LRD has equipped trade unions with the information they need– in print, electronically and in plain English. The LRD is the unique information provider in the trade union movement. It publishes essential booklets such as the annual Law at work; a weekly digest of the latest statistics important to trade unions in Fact Service; monthly updates of negotiations, pay settlements, case law and more in Workplace Report; and monthly news and features in Labour Research magazine, as well as providing help and advice to trade unionists through the Enquiry Service.

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Labour Research is the LRD’s current affairs magazine for union activists. The only magazine of its kind - it carries in-depth features on topics seldom covered in the mainstream press. Reps can keep up to date on shifts in government policy and employment practices, and get regular advice on employment law and equality issues.

20 LABOUR RESEARCH AUGUST 2013

Fitness to return to work I’ve been off work from my clerical job for four months with a back injury. My GP says I’m now well enough to go back to work, but my employer won’t let me back without a clean bill of health from their occupational health doctor.

What are my rights?The law is clear on this. If you are fit to return to work and ready and willing to go back, you’re entitled to be paid your full wages — unless the clear language of your contract says something different. If your employer wants you

to have extra medical checks, they must pay your full wages while these are carried out. This is because the law says there is a fundamental implied duty in every employment contract to pay wages to any employee who is ready, willing and able to work. In Beveridge v KLM UK

Limited [2000] IRLR 785 EAT, Ms Beveridge was a KLM cabin crew member who tried to go back to work after a period of sickness. But the airline refused to allow her back until

they had carried out their own medical tests, even though she was armed with a certificate from her GP confirming her fitness to return. The airline’s tests took six

weeks during which time they didn’t pay her. She brought a successful tribunal claim for unlawful deduction of wages. The employer’s actions were also a breach of the employment contract. Your employer must also

pay the full cost of any extra tests they want to carry out to check your fitness for work. Finally, remember that under the fit note regime, there is no requirement for you to produce evidence to show that you are fit for work. Once you are well enough to return, your GP simply will not issue you with a new fit note. Family leave My member is from India

and plans to travel home for a family wedding. Her

employer has said “yes” on condition she signs a written agreement promising that if she doesn’t

return to work on the agreed date, her employment contract will end automatically. She has three

years’ service. Can her employer do this?

No. Because of the unequal bargaining power between employers and employees and the risk that employers will put pressure on employees to give up their rights, employment law has special

rules preventing employees contracting out of their statutory employment rights. These include unfair dismissal rights and rights under the Equality Act 2010. If your member fails to

return on the agreed date, she will be at risk of dismissal, but your employer must carry out any dismissal fairly. Otherwise your member will have a potential claim for unfair dismissal. Any agreement by your

member that failure to return on the promised date will automatically end the employment contract will be

of no legal effect whatsoever. It makes no difference that the agreement is written down and signed. The only valid way to give

up rights is through conciliation using a conciliation officer employed by the Acas Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration

Service, or by entering into a valid compromise agreement (renamed Settlement Agreements from 29 July

2013). Any other agreement by an employee to give up these rights would be void. Reasonable adjustments My member works as a probation officer and has chronic fatigue syndrome. Her consultant has advised that her chances of recovery would be much

improved if she could be offered some light duties or a career break. What are her rights?

Under Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010, your member’s employer has a

duty to make reasonable adjustments to any “provision, criterion or practice” that places her at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled co-workers. However, this duty is

limited to adjustments that present a real prospect of her being able to remain in, or return to work. There is no general duty to make adjustments that promote

recovery or rehabilitation for their own sake (Salford NHS Trust v Smith [2011] EAT/05/07/10). The question for your

member’s consultant is whether there’s good evidence that a career break or light duties have a real prospect of helping her get back to work.

Even if this is the case, the employer may still be able to show that the idea is not “reasonable” after taking into account such factors as practicality, the length of the proposed break, the light duties available, the employer’s resources and

impact on the employer’s business. In general terms, a career break is probably unlikely to be regarded as a reasonable adjustment.DisclaimerThe answers on this page are

provided for information only. The LRD takes every reasonable effort to make sure that the information is accurate and up to date, but it does not amount to legal advice to any person on a specific case or matter. Readers requiring legal advice are encouraged to contact their trade union or other legal advisor.

Original and updated versions of UK legislation are available at www.legislation.gov.uk. Recent cases are analysed monthly in LRD’s Workplace Report.

See www.lrd.org.uk for subscription details.For full case transcripts

visit www.bailii.org

LAW QUERIES

A&Q

The Labour Research Department’s employment law specialist answers dozens of legal queries each month from affiliates. Here is a recent selection.

ResearchWhat Tory austerity

means for 999 servicesAsbestos

continues to pose

serious risks

Why aren’t more of us home

working?N E W

S A N D I N F O R M A T I O N F O R T R A D E U N I O N I S T S

Labour

Research

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Workplace Report

May 2019 Workplace Report 7

6 Workplace Report May 2019

NEWS_EQUALITY

NEWS_RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION

APPRENTICESHIPS

MPs slam Tories over lack

of progress on reforms

NEWS_ LEARNING AND TRAINING

THE CONSERVATIVE government’s

apprenticeships programme, particu-

larly its focus on higher-level appren-

ticeships and large apprenticeship

levy-paying employers, comes in for

scathing criticism in a new report

from the House of Commons Public

Accounts Committee (PAC).

The report states: “The Depart-

ment for Education has failed to

make the progress that it predicted

when it reformed the apprentice-

ships programme in spring 2017. The

number of apprenticeship starts fell

by 26% after the apprenticeship levy

was introduced and, although the

level is now recovering, the govern-

ment will not meet its target of three

million starts by March 2020.”

PAC chair Meg Hillier said the

lack of progress had “disrupted the

direction of the programme. The way

the programme is evolving is out of

kilter with the department’s objec-

tives: opportunities for people with

lower skills are diminishing and

apprenticeship starts in disadvan-

taged communities has fallen”.

The report highlights the growing

practice of employers using appren-

ticeship funds to pay for profession-

al training or management courses

they would otherwise have paid for

themselves. This “increases the risk

that minority groups, disadvantaged

areas and smaller employers may

miss out on the benefits that ap-

prenticeships can bring”.

“The Department for Education

must get its reform of apprentice-

ships back on track, realigning the

programme with its initial objectives

so that as much of the population as

possible can benefit from it”, added

Hillier.

The report is available at: https://publi-

cations.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cm-

select/cmpubacc/1749/1749.pdf

RECOGNITION

Spurt in deals signed across a

number of industrial sectors

A NUMBER of important union recog-

nition deals have been reached in

different sectors in recent weeks, in-

cluding some reached voluntarily and

others through the statutory route.

The TSSA rail staff union has

reached what it called “a ground-

breaking” recognition agreement

with high-speed rail company HS2.

Agreed voluntarily by the company,

the deal covers all 1,200 people

directly employed by the company.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary

of the TSSA, said: “In taking our role

as union representatives for HS2’s

workforce, we will continue to

champion the need for continued

investment in high-speed rail.”

Neil Hayward, human resources

director at HS2, was also happy to be

working with the union, which he

described as “an organisation with a

fine history of supporting people in

the rail sector”.

Elsewhere, the CWU communica-

tion workers’ union has finalised a

voluntary recognition agreement with

mobile giant EE, now owned by BT, to

cover contact centre frontline employ-

ees. The deal came after eight months

of negotiations and was revealed to

members at the union’s annual

conference last month.

The union said the news

prompted “jubilation amongst EE

reps who have worked long and hard

building membership levels in EE

contact centres to the point where the

overwhelming desire of staff to be

represented by a recognised trade

union was indisputable.” Last year,

the union’s “turbo-charged organis-

ing and recruitment drive” saw more

than 1,000 new EE members sign up

in the first four months.

The GMB general union has won

recognition on behalf of almost 250

distribution assistants working for

luxury online fashion company Net-

a-Porter at its south east London

warehouse.

The deal was won after 80.1% of

staff voting in a ballot ordered by

the Central Arbitration Committee

(CAC) were in favour of recognition.

This amounted to 60.8% of workers

eligible to vote, easily passing the

40% legal threshold.

The GMB said the victory, involv-

ing a predominantly young workforce

who pick and package for the online

business, “marks a move beyond

traditional retail and distribution

sectors and into online retail.… We’re

showing how in new, emerging,

digital economies, unions are as

relevant now as they have ever been.”

And public service union UNISON

Scotland has tweeted that it and the

Unite general union have signed a

recognition agreement with Scottish

social care charity The Piper Group.

Two new union groupings have

been launched in recent weeks to

help workers combat increasingly

precarious employment.

One for workers in the TEFL

— teaching English as a foreign

language industry — involves

teachers, admin staff and interns

who say they are “tired of bad

contracts and insecure

employment”. It comes under the

ambit of the Industrial Workers of

the World union, which has

already won some gains for

workers in the sector.

The other is Legal Sector

Workers United, organised

through the United Voices of the

World. This is open to any workers

in the sector, from cleaners and

security guards to paralegals and

practicing solicitors and

barristers. It aims to tackle the

sector’s surprising levels of

poverty pay and inequality.

NEW UNIONS

Voice for staff

in precarious

work

UNIONLEARN, the TUC’s education

arm, has published a skills at work

guide for union learning reps

(ULRs), workplace reps and union

officers. It focuses on enhancing

union intervention in vocational or

work-related training provision,

while recognising that the union

learning agenda encompasses a

wide range of learning-related

issues. The aim is to help ULRs

and workplace reps work together

to negotiate with employers

around the development of

employee skills.

The guide is available through its

website: www.unionlearn.org.uk

UNIONLEARN

Negotiating on

skills guide

from TUC

WR May 2019.indd 7

28/05/2019 17:07:15

WORKPLACEreport

The Labour Research

Department monthly

for union reps and negotiators

Gender pay gap

Most large employers from both the public and private sector have filed for

public consumption details of the pay gap between men and women workers

at their organisation. It’s the second year of reporting, so is the gender pay

gap narrowing?Law at work

Dismissal, transfers and whistleblowing — the latest case law

Health and safety

Better mental health targeted in union campaigns

Bargaining news

Settlements stuck at 2.7%

EqualityTUC study reveals inequality and racism in labour market

Learning and training

Apprenticeships programme criticised by MPs

Recruitment and organisation

Recent recognition deals signed by unions

EuropeEurofound report on workers’ health and working conditions

WR May 2019.indd 1

28/05/2019 17:07:14

(11 issues a year, print – available as an annual subscription and individual issues)

114

Fact Service

Volume 75 Issue 29

“During the course of these proceedings, it became

clear that the Ministry of Justice is in disarray. The

wise course of action would be for the minister to

take time to consider the drafting errors.”

www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/tribunals/employment/et-fees-factsheet.pdf

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2013/9780111538654

www.unison.org.uk/news/media-centre/unison-to-continue-fight-over-employment-

tribunal-fees

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23280845

Scheme to help disabled

people into work

A campaign to help more disabled people into work

and to raise employers’ confidence about recruit-

ing disabled people has been launched by the

government as a leading disability charity called

on the UK’s top companies not to ignore disabled

people’s talents.

The government has announced changes to their

specialist disability employment scheme, Access

to Work, that will provide disabled people with

increased support to gain workplace skills and

experience.

The initiative was launched by the minister for disa-

bled people, Esther McVey, who said that disabled

people on traineeships, supported internships,

work trials and work academies will be financially

assisted by the Access to Work scheme.

Participants will receive funding towards the extra

costs that many disabled people face in the work-

force, such as travel costs, adapted equipment and

extra support workers.

“Young disabled people tell me how difficult it

can be to get a job without experience — and they

want the same choice of training opportunities

as everyone else to help them into work,” McVey

explained.

“We’re opening up Access to Work to do just that

— so that more young disabled people can get a

foothold in the jobs market, get their careers on

track and achieve their full potential.”

The Access to Work scheme helped 30,000 disa-

bled people gain or maintain employment, accord-

ing to government figures. Some 45% of Access to

Work users have said that they would be out of work

if they had not had the support of the scheme.

As part of the new initiative a government-funded

scheme will be available to young people aged

16 to 24-years old who have complex learning dif-

ficulties and disabilities.

Young people who sign up for an internship, which

will be run by further education colleges, will get

help from expert career coaches and work for at

least six months.

Employers will also be given help from the same

coaches and encouraged to take on disabled young

people.

Government research published in July found

more disabled jobseekers cite employers’ at-

titudes as a barrier to work (42%) than transport

difficulties (37%).

Meanwhile, Leonard Cheshire Disability has called

on the UK’s top FTSE100 companies to make the

most of disabled people’s talents.

The charity is asking the top 100 companies to join

its Change100 programme, providing work place-

ments for disabled undergraduates.

“We know that our best companies value talent.

We also know there are tremendously talented

disabled people searching for work and they could

be our country’s future leaders or entrepreneurs

if they are given the chance,” said Clare Pelham,

chief executive of Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Research published earlier this month by Leonard

Cheshire Disability revealed that over three-quar-

ters of disabled people have not received any help

finding work. In an experiment using similar CVs of

disabled and non-disabled candidates, the charity

found that a non-disabled candidate was twice as

likely to be invited for interview.

www.rbsmentor.co.uk/news/articles/2013-07/governmentenhancesaccessto.aspx

www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1077801/government-launches-campaign-help-

disabled-people

Union political funds

The number of members contributing to their

union’s political fund has increased, according to

the latest annual report of the union watchdog, the

Certification Officer.

The 28 unions with political funds had 4,414,929

members paying into the political fund — an in-

crease of nearly 17,000 on the previous year. In most

cases the Certification Officer’s analysis covers

2011 and 2010, although unions will have since filed

later annual returns.

(50 issues a year, electronic pdf )

Fact Service is a concise weekly briefing designed to equip union reps with the latest statistics on prices, earning and employment. Fact Service highlights the key economic and industrial issues of the week as well as pay in the boardroom of the UK’s top companies.

Fact Service

Safety Rep

(Monthly, print)

Safety Rep is the LRD’s health and safety bulletin, published in a compact four page format for quick reference.

August 2013

Safety rep – 3

Night shift cancer link foundWomen who work long-term night shifts are twice

as likely to develop breast cancer as other women, according to a new study.Canadian researchers examined 1,134 women with

breast cancer and 1,179 women without. Women provided information about their lifestyles, including the kind of work they did. Researchers also had access

to hospital records for each woman.

The study found that women who had worked nights for 30 or more years were more likely to develop breast cancer. But there was no greater risk if a woman had worked the night shift for less than 30 years.The researchers said: “An association between

more than 30 years of night shift work in diverse occupations and breast cancer is supported here,

consistent with other studies among nurses. “As shift work is necessary for many occupations, understanding of which specific shift patterns increase breast cancer risk, and how night

shift work influences the pathway to breast cancer is needed for the development of healthy workplace policy.”Although many people work under strip lighting at

all hours of the day, scientists think it is only artificial light at night that triggers cancer growth because it upsets the body’s natural sleep cycles and hormone rhythms.

Previous studies have shown an association between night shift work and increased breast cancer risk among women in the military and those in healthcare professions, such as nursing,

but not in the general population. However, Hannah Bridges of the UK charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer urged women not to panic. “We need to better understand why night work

might increase breast cancer risk,” she said. “Shift work may lead to

unhealthy lifestyle habits that could independently increase the risk of breast cancer, so we’d encourage all women to take part in regular physical activity, maintain a healthy weight and reduce their alcohol intake.”

Air traffic controlProspect and PCS, the unions representing staff working for UK air traffic control provider NATS, have welcomed a call by the French and German governments’ air traffic management providers to abandon plans for a new legislative programme for a

Single European Sky. The UK unions see the letter from two of Europe’s largest air traffic management (ATM) providers as a blow to the Commission’s proposals, which would result in huge

job losses and threats to safety across Europe.Emily Boase, Prospect national secretary, said: “Given the UK’s prominence in European ATM service delivery we are calling on the UK to publicly support

the French and German position.”

Two jailed for manslaughterA father and son, owners of a haulage firm, have been jailed for manslaughter. Stephen Kenyon, a driver for

AJ Haulage, died when he fell asleep at the wheel after working excessive hours.The father was sentenced

to four years in prison and his son to two-and-a-half years for the manslaughter. Kenyon had been working for 19 hours when

his 39-tonne lorry crashed into stationary traffic on the southbound carriageway of the M1 between Luton and Dunstable in 2010.Tachographs on his vehicle showed he had been

at work since 5am the previous day and that he had been driving for more than 13 hours, travelling almost 600 miles. Under road haulage legislation, commercial lorries can only

be driven for a maximum of 10 hours in a 24-hour period, and then only two days a week.

CWU concern over dog attacksLast month, a partnership between the CWU communication worker’s union, the Royal Mail and a

number of animal organisations highlighted the issue of dog attacks during the first Dog Awareness Week.Royal Mail figures show more than 2,400 postal delivery staff were attacked

by dogs between April 2012 and April 2013.Dog attacks are a significant hazard, faced by

delivery staff on a daily basis. These attacks rise during the school holidays and in the summer months when parents and children are at home and dogs are sometimes allowed unsupervised in the garden,

or out onto the street without restraints.Delivery staff can take a number of simple measures to protect themselves while on a delivery round such as never putting fingers through a letterbox; rattling

the gate when entering a property; and using the delivery pouch or trolley as a barrier. And the final word is never accept a dog owner’s assurances that their dog won’t harm you.CWU health, safety and

environment officer Dave Joyce said that the number of attacks “still remains unacceptably high and the nature and seriousness of the injuries being received by postal workers is a growing concern”.

Worries over offshore safetyGovernment meddling in the offshore inspection regime has been slammed by the RMT maritime union.The Piper Alpha disaster

25 years ago resulted in 167 deaths. The Cullen Report into the disaster recommended reforming the HSE to include a stand-

alone inspectorate for the

offshore industry, the Offshore Safety Division.The division has now disappeared and has become part of a new “Energy Division” within the safety watchdog. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said the initiative

was “clearly a cost-cutting measure”.

The union also has serious concerns among the workforce and HSE offshore inspectors themselves. These revolve around the

fact that the proposals will undermine the culture of continuous improvement in offshore safety which has been critical in avoiding accidents and emergencies.

Safety rep

A Labour Research

Department Publication

No. 174June 20142u Driving safely for work

3u Stress main safety

issue in NHSu Asbestos in schools

u Lessons must be learnt

on blacklisting

u ‘Culture of spying and

fear’ on Crossrail4u HSE monitor

Safety rep is published

monthly by LRD Publications

Ltd, 78 Blackfriars Road,

London SE1 8HF. An annual

subscription costs £27.00.

For details of LRD services:

tel: 020 7928 3649

fax: 020 7902 9815

e-mail: [email protected]

website: www.lrd.org.uk

Printed by RAP Spiderweb Ltd,

Clowes Street, Hollinwood,

Oldham OL9 7LYLRD’s latest health

and safety guides

Stress, mental health at work £7.60

Health and safety law 2013 £20.50

Bullying & harassment £7.20

Sickness absence

£6.70

Preventing injury at work £6.60

Hazardous substances £5.75

Drug & alcohol policies £5.10

Working time

£5.60

Tackling asbestos at work £4.90

Safety, health & equality £5.10

Safety reps in action £5.70

Every day over 300

shopworkers are

assaulted simply for doing

their job, leading to a call

for a change in the law

from shopworkers’ union

Usdaw.Usdaw wants a change in

the law that “will encourage

more prosecutions and send

a clear message to the public

that assaulting a worker in

the course of their duties is

totally unacceptable”.

However, in the past

eight months, the coalition

government has voted

down three amendments

to legislation that would

have tightened up the law

on assaults of workers.

Too many assaults on shop staff

Over half of European

workers (57%) say their

working conditions have

deteriorated in the past

five years compared to

only 53% who consider the

working conditions of their

country to be satisfactory.

The statistics are among

the findings of Working

conditions, the latest survey

carried out across the 28

European member states by

Eurobarometer, the series of

opinion surveys regularly

undertaken on behalf of the

European Commission.

The report explores a

range of questions about

working conditions and

occupational health and

safety. The study reveals stark

differences in the proportion

of workers who declare

themselves satisfied with

their own working

conditions. This ranges from

94% in Denmark to just 38%

in Greece — the only country

where fewer than half of

working respondents say

they are satisfied with their

current working conditions.

However, satisfaction in

Spain (53%), Romania and

Croatia (both 60%) is also

notably lower than the EU

average of 77%.Just over six in 10 (62%)

said they had been consulted

on health and safety issues

at work by their employer

or a health and safety

representative.However, there was a

very broad range of

responses here, with

Slovakia (90%), the Czech

Republic (87%) and

Hungary (82%) the most

likely to say they had been

consulted. In contrast, only

39% in Cyprus, 38% in

Malta and 37% in Croatia

said the same, while in

Greece the proportion was

only 25%.The findings indicate that

there is room for

improvement with, for

example, stress being

identified as a perceived risk

for 53% of workers.

Other areas for

improvement include

work-life balance, with 40%

saying they did not have

access to flexible working

arrangements.A copy of survey is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/

flash/fl_398_en.pdf

Working conditions across

EU member states worsen

Stress identified as risk for more than half of European workforce

Justi

n Ta

llis (r

epor

tdigi

tal.c

o.uk

)

37352_SR_June2014_DM.indd 1

28/05/2014 15:49

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