We round up the latest employment news.
Annual tribunal statistics published
The Ministry of Justice has published statistics setting out the number and type of claims issued from April 2021 to March 2022. These indicate that:
- There were 42% fewer claims accepted by the tribunal compared with the previous reporting period
- The highest financial award for a discrimination claim was £228,117 in a race discrimination claim, closely followed by an award of £225,893 in a disability discrimination claim
- The highest financial award for an unfair discrimination claim was £165,000
- The highest cost award was a staggering £600,672.
Government introduces new laws requiring minimum levels of service during strikes
The government has introduced the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill which will allow it to set minimum levels of service which must be met during strikes. It will apply to health, fire and rescue, education, nuclear installations and the treatment of radioactive waste, border security as well as transport, although none of these sectors are defined in the Bill. You can read more about the Bill here.
The House of Commons has also published research on the Bill which helps to explain its impact.
UK pay growth hits 20 year high
Official figures show that pay has grown at the fastest rate in more than 20 years, but it’s still failing to keep up with inflation. Between September and November 2022, average wages rose by 6.4%, but during the same period, prices rose by 10.7%.
Within that figure, there’s a growing divide. Private sector pay was up 7.2% whilst public sector pay was less than half of this – 3.3%. Public sector pay has lagged behind private sector pay for over 10 years and this is one of the reasons why we’re seeing such high rates of industrial action in that sector.
Record number of working days lost to strike action
In November 2022, 467,000 working days were lost due to strike action.
Record numbers of people who are not seeking or available to work
Official figures show that a staggering 574,796 people have become ‘economically inactive’ between December 2019 and November 2022. This means that they’re not seeking or available for work. Early retirement was the biggest driver in the 50-64 age group, and long-term illness was a significant factor across all age groups.
Older people expected to return to work to cope with cost of living
There are early signs that over-60s are starting to return to the workplace as the increase in the cost of living eats into the pensions/savings according to Personnel Today.
In December 2022, the Office for National Statistics highlighted increasing economic activity from 50 to 64 year olds, having already noted that older adults who had left paid work during the pandemic were considering returning to employment given the opportunity to work at home.
Read more - January 2023
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