This week’s news in brief
Fathers’ equal rights
Almost half of adults believe fathers should have the same employment rights
as mothers, according to a report. More than a third of the 1,000 people
surveyed for research by Key Note also think employers which incorporate
family-friendly policies are more likely to be able to recruit and retain
quality employees. Ten per cent of people without children find family-friendly
policies an annoyance. www.keynote.co.uk
Pay rises at 3 per cent
Next year’s annual pay rises will be around 3 per cent, according to
research by Income Data Services. The figure is lower than this year’s growth,
but still ahead of anticipated headline inflation. Four out of 10 pay deals
since October are worth less than 3 per cent compared with a quarter from the
previous six months. www.incomesdata.co.uk
New Year strike threat
Royal Bank of Scotland staff are being balloted on strike action north of
the border over holiday entitlement in the New Year.
The dispute revolves around a claim by finance union Unifi that the bank is
refusing to give staff the day off on 2 January, which is a Scottish Bank
Holiday. www.unifi.org.uk
HSE’s new web guide
The Health and Safety Executive has produced a web-based guide to measuring
health and safety performance. The guide is aimed at companies that understand
the principles of h&s management and want to improve the approach to
measuring performance. www.hse.gov.uk/opsunit/perfmeas.htm
BBC in union dispute
The BBC has failed to take notice of new labour laws giving increased
holiday rights to freelance workers, according to broadcast union Bectu. A top
level meeting between Bectu and the BBC is being arranged to try and settle the
dispute over the new laws which state that all workers are eligible for holiday
pay as soon as they start with an employer, regardless of contractual position. www.bectu.org.uk
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