Hall, Mark

On 1 August 2009, the phased reduction of trainee doctors’ working hours culminated in the introduction of a 48-hour limit on their average working week, in line with the provisions of EU legislation. The move has raised concerns that reduced working hours may leave too little time to provide training for junior doctors and that patient care may be adversely affected. There have also been concerns that the time limit could hamper the ability of the National Health Service (NHS [1]) to respond effectively to the swine flu pandemic. [1] http://www.nhs.uk

Research published by the pay monitoring body Incomes Data Services (IDS [1]) has shown that one impact of the recession on pay decisions in 2009 has been the growing incidence of pay freezes (0% pay settlements). In May 2009, the IDS Pay Report [2] highlighted a significant increase in the proportion of company pay reviews that have resulted in pay freezes. IDS reported that, of 243 pay deals monitored so far in 2009, some 64 – or just over a quarter – were pay freezes, compared with only seven pay freezes reported in the whole of 2008. [1] http://www.incomesdata.co.uk/ [2] http://www.idspayreport.co.uk/

On 24 April 2009, the government introduced an Equality Bill [1] (*UK0807059I* [2]) in the House of Commons. A ‘second reading’ debate took place on 11 May and the legislation now proceeds to its ‘committee stage’ where it will undergo detailed scrutiny. [1] http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_bill.aspx [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/equality-bill-to-include-new-employment-measures

On 6 April 2009, a range of employment law reforms took effect in the UK, in some cases following the adoption of the Employment Act 2008 [1] (*UK0812019I* [2]). The key legislative changes are highlighted below. [1] http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080024_en_1 [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/employment-bill-completes-its-passage-through-parliament

On 17 December 2008, the European Parliament [1] voted for a series of significant amendments to the ‘common position’ agreed in June 2008 by EU employment ministers on revising Directive 2003/88/EC [2] concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time [3]. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/european-parliament [2] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=32003L0088&model=guichett [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/working-time

On 13 November 2008, having completed its passage through parliament, the Employment Bill (*UK0712019I* [1]) received Royal Assent to become law as the Employment Act 2008 [2]. The act introduces a range of employment law reforms, including those outlined below. The bulk of the new provisions are expected to be brought into force in April 2009. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-sets-out-legislative-plans-in-the-employment-and-social-arena [2] http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080024_en_1

In September 2008, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI [1]) published the results of its annual employment trends survey [2] conducted in conjunction with the Pertemps recruitment agency. The survey, carried out in May 2008, analyses the responses of over 500 employers across all sectors of the economy, 12% of which were public sector employers. In terms of company size, 7% of respondents employed 5,000 or more staff, 32% employed 500–4,999 workers, 20% employed 200–499 workers, 25% employed 50–199 workers and 17% employed fewer than 50 staff. This article gives an overview of the report’s main findings relating to industrial relations. [1] http://www.cbi.org.uk/ [2] http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/Press.nsf/38e2a44440c22db6802567300067301b/756a69cc0d02851a802574b7002f8c0f?OpenDocument

On 16 July 2008, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales issued its judgement [1] in a key legal case, /Allen versus GMB/, concerning sex discrimination [2] and equal pay [3]. The case pertains to the GMB [4] trade union’s handling of women members’ equal pay claims within the context of negotiations over the broader restructuring [5] of local authority employees’ terms and conditions. [1] http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/810.html [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/discrimination [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/equal-pay [4] http://www.gmb.org.uk/ [5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/restructuring

In June 2008, the Office for National Statistics (ONS [1]) published an analysis (1.44Mb PDF) [2] of the final statistics on the incidence of work stoppages arising from labour disputes during 2007. The review provides data on the three main measures of strike activity – the number of work stoppages, the number of working days lost and the number of workers involved – analysing them by sector, cause and duration, and comparing them with figures from previous years. The key points to emerge are highlighted below. [1] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp [2] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/elmr/06_08/downloads/ELMR_Jun08.pdf

On 26 June 2008, the Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, who is also the ruling Labour Party’s deputy leader, made a statement [1] to the House of Commons, setting out the main themes of the Equality Bill which the government intends to introduce during the next session of parliament. On the same day, the Government Equalities Office (GEO [2]) published a document, entitled Framework for a fairer future – the Equality Bill (1.04Mb PDF) [3], which outlined the steps that the government proposes to take to ‘de-clutter and strengthen’ the UK’s equality legislation. These include a number of new measures seeking to promote equality in employment. [1] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080626/debtext/80626-0004.htm [2] http://www.equalities.gov.uk/ [3] http://www.equalities.gov.uk/publications/FRAMEWORK FAIRER FUTURE.pdf