Hall, Mark

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 [1], which take effect on 1 October 2011, are based on an agreement reached in May 2008 between the previous Labour government, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI [2]) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC [3]) on the implementation of equal [4] treatment for agency workers (UK0806039I [5]). The central element of the agreement was that agency workers would be entitled to equal treatment with directly-employed staff after 12 weeks in a job. The agreement at UK level facilitated the eventual adoption of the EU temporary agency work directive [6] (Directive 2008/104/EC). [1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/93/introduction/made [2] http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/staticpages.nsf/StaticPages/home.html/?OpenDocument [3] http://www.tuc.org.uk/ [4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/equal [5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-and-social-partners-agree-on-equal-treatment-for-agency-workers-in-eu-directive [6] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:327:0009:01:EN:HTML

Since the one-day strike by four public service unions on 30 June 2011 (*UK1107019I* [1]), there have been a number of developments relating to the issue of public service pension reform. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/industrial-relations-undefined/strikes-highlight-union-concerns-over-public-sector-pension-reform

To organise strikes or other industrial action legally, trade unions in the UK must have secured majority support in a postal ballot of the members concerned. Strikes held by some public sector unions on 30 June 2011 (*UK1107019I* [1]) prompted renewed calls from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI [2]) for changes to the current requirements. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/industrial-relations-undefined/strikes-highlight-union-concerns-over-public-sector-pension-reform [2] http://www.cbi.org.uk/

On 30 June 2011, four trade unions staged one-day strikes over the UK coalition government’s proposed changes to public sector pension schemes. The strikes primarily affected schools and functions performed by the Civil Service. The unions involved were the National Union of Teachers (NUT [1]), the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL [2]), the University and College Union (UCU [3]) and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS [4]). [1] http://www.teachers.org.uk/ [2] http://www.atl.org.uk/ [3] http://www.ucu.org.uk/ [4] http://www.pcs.org.uk/

On 13 January 2011, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS [1]) published a document (111Kb PDF [2]) responding to a public consultation over its plans to phase out the statutory default retirement age (DRA) of 65 (*UK1008019I* [3]). It confirmed that the government would be phasing in the change between April and October 2011 despite calls by employers’ organisations for a delay in its implementation. At the same time, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas [4]) published guidance (344Kb PDF [5]) intended to help businesses adapt to the removal of the DRA. [1] http://www.bis.gov.uk/ [2] http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/p/11-536-phasing-out-default-retirement-age-government-response.pdf [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/default-retirement-age-to-be-abolished [4] http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461 [5] http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2976&p=0

This report provides an overview of the extent, practice and impact of employee information and consultation (I&C) in 26 European countries five years after the implementation date of Directive 2002/14/EC. Procedures for establishing I&C arrangements and the scope for organisation- or sector-specific I&C models via collective agreement vary considerably between countries.

In August 2010, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT [1]) and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA [2]) announced a series of four 24-hour stoppages by London Underground staff for the autumn of 2010. The move followed strike ballots held by the two unions over plans by London Underground management to reduce ticket office opening hours and cut the jobs of 800 ticket office staff at tube stations. [1] http://www.rmt.org.uk/ [2] http://www.tssa.org.uk/

On 29 October 2010, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD [1]), the professional body for human resources managers, published results (522Kb PDF) [2] from its summer 2010 quarterly online /Employee Outlook/ survey. [1] http://www.cipd.co.uk/ [2] http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B5D316CC-4FFF-4635-A339-5E5360ADBF33/0/5306_Focusonageingworkforce.pdf

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 [1], implementing the EU agency workers directive, were drawn up by the previous Labour government in January 2010 and are due to come into force in October 2011. [1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/93/introduction/made

New rates for the national minimum wage (NMW) came into force and, for the first time, a minimum wage for apprentices was introduced. The NMW is now: