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UK Edition
29th January 2024
 
THE HOT STORY
Border Force union launches court bid to challenge government's minimum service levels
Union officials for Border Force staff are planning to launch a court bid to challenge the government's legislation on minimum service levels during strikes. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will seek a judicial review, arguing that the legislation violates human rights law. Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS, stated that it is a fundamental human right for workers to withdraw their labour to protect their terms. Neil Todd, a lawyer at the firm Thompsons Solicitors, which is representing the union, said that "minimum service levels are very difficult to justify in a legal regime which is already so restrictive regarding trade union rights." He said the regulations that apply to the Border Force staff "provide an unlimited freedom to undermine the right to strike, which PCS says is unlawful, both in exceeding powers under the Strikes Act and international law."
WORKFORCE
Goldman Sachs ‘failing to inflation-proof pensions for ex-staff'
Goldman Sachs is facing accusations from former staff members who claim that the bank has broken its promises to upgrade their pensions in line with inflation. One former employee, Simon McGuire, alleges that pensioners' incomes, including his own, have suffered real-terms cuts of almost 25%. McGuire has repeatedly raised the issue with senior management at Goldman Sachs, without success. He argues that the failure to upgrade pensions affects not only well-remunerated bankers, but also less well-paid back-office employees and administrative staff. The bank is accused of breaking its promises to upgrade pensions by inflation, as was understood at the firm in the 1980s and 1990s. Goldman Sachs made worldwide profits of $8.52bn last year, and McGuire estimates that the cost of restoring the link would be less than 0.1% of this. As many as 1,000 staff are said to be affected. Other UK employers, including KPMG, American Express, Hewlett Packard, and 3M, have faced similar criticism for failing to upgrade pensions in respect of pre-1997 service. The issue has prompted calls for an official inquiry into the extent of the problem.
Councils in Scotland urged to trial four-day working weeks
GMB Scotland is calling for a four-day week trial for council workers in every Scottish local authority as part of the next pay deal. The proposal includes a demand for a £1.50 increase on all spinal points, which would result in a rise of 5% or more for nearly all staff. The union pointed to the success of a three-month trial at South Cambridgeshire Council, which involved 450 desk-based staff and was conducted in early 2023. The GMB claims that shorter working weeks benefit both staff and employers and should be tested more extensively. A spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) said: “We have received this claim and will take the necessary time to review it thoroughly. All pay claims for 24/25 will need to be considered against the final settlement for local government in this year's Budget, which will not be known until late February.”
John Lewis faces backlash over redundancy pay cuts
A senior employee at John Lewis has spoken out against "personal attacks" by staff following the department store chain's decision to cut redundancy pay. Chris Earnshaw, president of John Lewis's staff council, acknowledged the emotions and hurt among workers but urged them to express their opinions respectfully. Writing on an internal forum, Mr Earnshaw said: "I understand why this announcement will feel hard for many partners ... However I can't walk past and condone personal attacks on a group of elected partners who have challenged and worked so diligently with the project team over the last couple of months as this is not the partnership I have grown up in." Mr Earnshaw, who is elected by partners to represent them, told staff to be "respectful when expressing their opinion." Meanwhile, it is reported that the retail group plans to reduce its workforce over the next five years. Reports suggest that up to 11,000 jobs – around 10% of the workforce - could go.
Amazon workers in Coventry set for further strikes
Amazon’s Coventry depot workers are set to walk out again in a year-long dispute over pay following a compulsory re-ballot. GMB said the strikes would continue in February, although no dates have been set so far. A GMB spokesperson said that Amazon had still not offered to engage in discussions with the union, and that he was “constantly surprised” by how “unreasonable” the business was being. It comes as industrial action spread to a third Amazon warehouse last week. Workers at the company’s flagship £500m new site in Minworth, Birmingham, staged a stoppage on Thursday.
REMOTE WORKING
Law firm to monitor office attendance
Clifford Chance is set to monitor how often its lawyers are in the office. The firm introduced a hybrid working policy in 2021, requiring staff to be in the office for 50% of their time. A spokesperson said the law firm will “start to review data of individual attendance” to help managers “better understand and support their team’s adherence to our hybrid working policy.” The firm added: “We know from our own experience and employee feedback that when consistently applied, our hybrid working policy provides our people a greater opportunity to learn, develop and collaborate with colleagues and clients thereby supporting our growth ambitions and enhancing the culture of the firm.” Elsewhere, rival firm Slaughter and May is clamping down on lawyers who are not attending the office by tracking their attendance and sharing the data with group heads and HR.
EY starts monitoring UK staff office attendance with turnstile data
EY has started monitoring UK employees’ office attendance. Swipe card entry data is being circulated at senior levels of the firm as some staff flout hybrid working guidelines, the FT reports.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Adecco chief warns of 'soft-skills crisis' caused by home working
Christophe Catoir, global president of Adecco, says the world is facing a "soft-skills crisis" as home working leaves millions of workers struggling to interact with colleagues. Mr Catoir said: "Social skills are more important than ever. Empathy, the ability to create a warm relationship, trust, creativity, those things will be more leveraged by companies than ever before.” He added: "One damage from Covid - and it's something very serious that we don't talk about a lot - is you damage the human skills of people. For young people joining a company, you need to have mentorship. And if you don't have this appetite for people and you don't create the ability to learn from each other, you can really damage the potential of a candidate."
STRATEGY
Channel 4 set to cut more jobs than expected
Sources say that Channel 4 is set to announce job cuts amid a downturn in the broadcast advertising market. While previous reports had suggested that the state-owned broadcaster was preparing to axe 200 positions, the number of redundancies is now expected to be closer to 250. This equates to more than 15% of its full-time workforce. Chief executive Alex Mahon recently said Channel 4 is “accelerating” existing plans to weather a “sharp and protracted” advertising slowdown that has hit the industry, adding: “We have been working carefully to minimise the impacts on individuals . . . I am sorry that some job cuts will inevitably be involved.” A Channel 4 spokesperson pointed to an “extremely uncertain economy” and stressed that the broadcaster needs to “simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation."
Dutch lighting maker Signify to lay off 1,000 workers this year
Signify, the Netherlands-based company which is the world's biggest maker of lights, is to lay off 1,000 employees this year as the business seeks to cut costs. In December, the Philips spin-off announced a plan to save €200m ($216.5m) annually, but the  company didn’t detail how many jobs it would cut. The layoffs are to take place across 30 countries this year; less than half will be in the Netherlands, said CEO Eric Rondolat. Signify, which employed about 32,000 people at the end of last year, said its net income was hit by higher restructuring costs in the fourth quarter, falling to €59m. Analysts had expected €104m.  The infrastructure market showed a "good level of traction," while lighting systems for retail, hospitality and offices saw a strong slowdown due to delayed investments, Rondolat said.
HIRING
Young people turning down jobs due to high costs
A study by the Prince’s Trust reveals that unemployed young people are rejecting job offers due to the associated costs such as clothing and transport. The annual NatWest Youth Index 2024 found that one in 10 young people aged 16 to 25 had turned down a job due to costs, and a third said they could not afford the qualifications needed for their desired job. The survey of 2,239 young people also found that almost a fifth were planning to finish their education early so that they could start earning money, and over two-fifths said that worrying about money had affected their ability to concentrate at school. Barry Fletcher, the chief executive of the Youth Futures Foundation, pointed out that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has widened to the biggest disparity since 2012. He is concerned that these pupils will face larger barriers to employment and good quality work than similar pupils before the pandemic.
LEGAL
UK ‘complacent’ on data protection, tech chief warns
Michel Paulin, the chief executive of French tech firm OVH Cloud, has warned that the UK is being complacent in its approach to data protection. Noting that concerns in Europe have seen the European Commission pass new laws, he said: “But in the UK it is an open bar . . . The UK government has signed an agreement where all data can be exported from the UK to the US without any controls.” Mr Paulin went on to warn that the Data Access Agreement between the US and the UK could see the US government access data from British companies without them realising.
INTERNATIONAL
Improvement for Europe's lowest-paid workers expected as minimum wages outstrip inflation
This year, Europe's lowest-paid workers are set to see an improvement in their fortunes as increases in national minimum wages outstrip inflation in many countries, according to a report by Eurofound. The pay rises in 2024 suggest a "turning of the tide" on the trend of eroding purchasing power seen in early 2023. The increases mean that the lowest-paid workers have received an above-inflation increase in their earnings since 2022, narrowing the gap with their average-earning peers. The EU's framework to set adequate minimum wages and promote collective bargaining comes into force in November, with its effects already being seen in the setting of minimum wages. The Eurofound report provides an analysis of minimum wage rates and estimates of real value increases for 22 EU countries. Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Italy do not have national minimum wages, but have minimum wages set within collective agreements.
 


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