Being an employment journalist is not always easy - but it is often remarkably so.
Stories you would struggle to invent just keep on coming. After the government race watchdog was itself accused of racial discrimination against its staff, and employees of a trade union voted to strike, came the news that staff at conciliation service Acas were voting over industrial action.
More than 630 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) working for Acas are being balloted on a walkout, or action short of a strike, in a dispute about pay.
This year's pay increase for staff was due on 1 August, but negotiations have yet even to start. There was also a 10-month delay in paying last-year's increase.
So what kind of example is Acas setting for the thousands of employers that rely on it to solve their own industrial disputes?
How can HR directors have confidence in the service to find an amicable solution to their problems when it can't even keep its own house in order?
And if Acas mediators are so good, why doesn't the body call in a few to solve this problem?
