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Journal articles


Benefits and Allowances (1)

Journal: IRS Employment Review
Additional Information: In the first article of this annual four-part series, IRS provide an overview of the benefits and allowances on offer in 277 organisations.

Document number: 08 6 11 E

Benefits and Allowances 2008 (2): Health Benefits and Allowances.

Journal: IRS Employment Review
Additional Information: The second article in this four-part annual survey of benefits and allowances details the provision of health-related benefits in various organisations.

Document number: 08 6 37 E

Benefits and Allowances 2008 (3): Travel and Subsistence Benefits.

Journal: IRS Employment Review
Additional Information: The third installment of the IRS annual survey of benefits and allowances details the travel and subsistence benefits offered by various organisations. This article focuses on travel and subsistence benefits, including company cars, motor mileage rates and season ticket loans.

Document number: 08 6 38 E

Benefits and Allowances 2008 (4): Childcare, Long-service and Other Benefits.

Journal: IRS Employment Review
Additional Information: The final part of the IRS benefits and allowances survey reviews staff discounts, long-service awards and childcare vouchers, and takes a closer look at salary-sacrifice arrangements at 277 surveyed organisations.

Document number: 08 6 39 E

Bullying and Harassment Policies.

Journal: Equal Opportunities Review (EOR)
Additional Information: The test for organisations that want to ensure dignity in the workplace is the creation of policies and procedures that change pattern of negative behaviour - Angela Ishmael explains the key components of best-practice policies on bullying and harassment.

Document number: 08 4 45 E

Clerical and Secretarial Pay.

Journal: IDS Study

Document number: 08 8 24

Competency Frameworks.

Journal: IDS Study
Additional Information: Competencies are not a new phenomenon in the HR world. Increasingly, however, employers are developing competency frameworks to structure and integrate a variety of human resource processes.

Document number: 08 4 76 E

Criminal Records and Recruitment: the Legal Issues.

Journal: IDS Brief
Additional Information: An individual with a criminal record is likely to
encounter difficulties in obtaining employment. Even more complex problems can arise when information relating to mere allegations is disclosed about applicants for sensitive posts. This article examines the extent to which the law intervenes to assist ex-offenders and the accused in the recruitment process, and consider how employers should handle and/or act upon information
as to applicants' actual or allegedly criminal pasts.

Document number: 08 4 58 E

Disability Case Law Update.

Journal: IRS Employment Review
Additional Information: This article looks at recent key disability
discrimination judgments and their implications for employers. Issues
considered include discrimination by association, whether or not a failure to consult over reasonable adjustments or to conduct an assessment is, in itself, a breach of the disability discrimination legislation, and the definition of disability.

Document number: 08 6 10 E

Diversity law essentials (1): Recruitment and selection.

Journal: Equal Opportunities Review (EOR)
Additional Information: Looks at discrimination in the recruitment process.

Document number: 08 7 22 E

Drugs and alcohol policies: Providing support in cases of drug or alcohol misuse at work.

Journal: Workplace Report (LRD)
Additional Information: Drugs and alcohol misuse at work is an issue many union reps have to deal with as case work. This article looks at employers' policies and practices and how trade unions in different sectors have negotiated improvements to protect members.

Document number: 08 7 23

Dyson Introduces Performance-Related Pay for Call Centre Advisors.

Journal: IDS Report
Additional Information: Performance-related pay (PRP) was introduced and trialed in 2006 for customer service advisors in Dyson's contact centre. It was fully implemented last year in order to incentivise staff and improve performance. In this case study we look at how the new pay system works and its impact on productivity.

Document number: 08 6 46

Employee Assistance Programmes & Guide to Suppliers.

Journal: IDS Study
Document number: 08 4 59 E

Focus on Sex Discrimination - Legislation Changes.

Journal: IDS Brief
Additional Information: Following successful judicial review proceedings
brought by the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 has had to be amended to give full effect in domestic law to the Equal Treatment Amendment Directive. This short article outlines the changes to the law on harassment related to sex and discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy and maternity leave.


Document number: 08 4 55 E

Hours and Holidays 2008.

Journal: IDS Study

Document number: 08 8 27

It's better with a union.

Journal: Labour Research
Additional Information: Evidence proves that being in a union means you really do get a better deal at work, particularly for women and working parents.

Document number: 08 7 30 E

The Learning and Skills Council: Mainstreaming equality and diversity.

Journal: Equal Opportunities Review (EOR)
Additional Information: Promoting equality and diversity has been key to the remit of the LSC since its inception. As such, the council has undertaken a series of measures that are designed to mainstream equality and diversity into the very core of its corporate culture and working practices.

Document number: 08 7 21 E

Management Pay Award Round-Up.

Journal: IDS Executive Compensation Review
Additional Information: April is the busiest time of year for both management salary reviews and bonuses and our latest quarterly pay award round-up coincides with an uncertain economic and inflation outlook. This quarter's findings are based on 281 separate public and private sector managerial salary reviews conducted during February, March and April 2008.

Document number: 08 4 73

Pay for Key Benchmark Roles in IT 2008.

Journal: IDS Report
Additional Information: In this article we summarise the findings of the second IDS survey of pay and conditions for IT staff which was carried out in April and May 2008. The full IDS Pay in IT 2008 report details information from 82 organisations employing a combined workforce of 281, 527, including 8,651 directly employed IT staff and is available separately. Our 2008 survey indicated that there have been notable upwards movements in pay for systems and development staff, the key arena in which respondents have been experiencing recruitment and retention difficulties.

Document number: 08 6 59

Pregnancy and Maternity Leave Rights - Recent Cases.

Journal: IDS Brief
Additional Information: Family-friendly rights have become commonplace in many workplaces. Yet the Equalities Review, which last year looked at persistent inequalities in British Society, concluded that mothers face more discrimination in the workplace than any other group. In this article, we consider the statutory protection afforded to pregnant women at work and those
on maternity leave and examine recent case law in the area.

Document number: 08 6 12

Public sector pay review bodies: Senior salaries.

Journal: IRS Employment Review
Additional Information: This feature looks at the recommendations of the Review Body on Senior Salaries and at parliamentary pay, as well as the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body supplementary report on the defence medical services.

Document number: 08 7 114 E

Regional pay.

Journal: IDS Report
Additional Information: Average earnings in South East exceed all other regions.

Document number: 08 7 11 E

Social Networking and Blogging - Q&A.

Journal: IDS Brief
Additional Information: Social Networking sites such a Facebook and Bebo are more popular than ever, and the practice of 'blogging' had become widespread over recent years. We address some common questions employers might have, and put these social phenomena into a legal context.

Document number: 08 6 47

Strikes Under 'New' Labour.

 

Document number: 08 6 22 E

Suggestion Schemes.

Journal: IDS Study

Document number: 08 4 41 E

Total Reward.

Journal: IDS Study

Document number: 08 6 4 E

Understanding Reward: Bonus Schemes.

Journal: IDS Report
Additional Information: This journal article examines the rudiments of bonus schemes and provides an overview of those commonly in use.

Document number: 08 4 32 E

Understanding Reward: Bonus Schemes (part 2). Bonuses in retailing, the civil service and other key sectors.

Journal: IDS Report
Additional Information: In the second of a two part series looking at bonuses, we review the approach to bonuses in retail and the civil service. Outside of the financial services, retail is a key sector in which bonuses are paid and in the civil service bonuses have become an important element of pay deals, although the payouts are often relatively small. We also take a look at changing approaches to bonus arrangements, mainly in manufacturing and
utilities, where new schemes have been introduced to increase productivity and control wage costs. The article also looks closely at official government data on the levels of bonus payments, in particular the experimental Average Weekly Earnings series which measures the contribution of bonuses to average weekly pay.

Document number: 08 4 61 E

Workplace Stress Round-up.

Journal: IDS Brief
Additional Information: Workplace stress is an issue employers can ill afford to ignore, with recent research highlighting its impact on workers' physical as well as mental health. In this article, we examine the key legal issues which can arise from complaints of work-related stress, looking at the demands placed on employers in terms of monitoring the well-being of their workforce and responding to complaints of excessive workloads.

Document number: 08 4 22 E


The Information Service subscribes to over 180 journals with holdings going back over several years.

Journals taken by the Information Service include Labour Research, LRD Workplace Report, IDS Employment Law Brief, IDS Pay Report, IRS Employment Review, Health and Safety at Work, Equal Opportunities Review and Industrial Relations Law Reports.

Latest articles

For copies of articles email the information service with the document number: info@pcs.org.uk

2007 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

Additional Information: In April 2007 median gross weekly earnings were £457, up 2.9 per cent from £444 in 2006, for full time employee jobs on adult rates whose earnings were not affected by absence.

Document number: 07 10 19 E

Age Discrimination - An Introduction

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 74 E

Assessing 'Union Organisation'

Additional Information: By mid-2007, more than a decade had passed since the TUC rebranded itself under the 'new unionism' banner and launched the 'Organising Academy'. In the time, around 250 organisers have graduated through its doors.

The 'Organising Academy' was never meant to train all the organisers the union movement needed. Instead, its role was to train those that would train others to be a beacon for the spread of 'union organising' throughout its affiliates.

Separately and from around the same period, some unions with contacts in sister unions in the United States, Australia and New Zealand began to implement 'union organising'.

Document number: 07 9 21 E

Blogs and Work: Employer Policies on Blogging

Journal: IRS Employment Review

Additional Information: HR practitioners appear ill-equipped to deal with the issues raised by employee blogging and policies on the issue are rare outside the IT and media sectors, an IRS survey shows. We look at the results and at good practise among companies more experienced in the medium.

Document number: 07 9 81 E

Bullying: A guide for Members - Don't Suffer in Silence

Additional Information: This leaflet is designed to help PCS members who have experienced bullying or harassment at work. Recent surveys of PCS members have indicated that bullying is still an issue of major concern at work.

Document number: 07 9 88 E

Case Law at Work - Discrimination

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 71 E

Case Law at Work - Dismissal

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 72 E

Disability - A Guide to the Law (December 2006)

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 90 E

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995

Guidance on Matters to be taken into Account in Determining Questions Relating to the Definition of Disability.

Document number: 07 9 91 E

Email, internet and e-communications policies 2007 - An IRS Survey of Current Practice

Journal: IDS Employment Review

Additional Information: The emergence of online social networking and the growth of mobile communications present new challenges for employers, but their principle concern is still that employees waste too much time online and access inappropriate website, an IRS survey shows.

Document number: 07 9 25 E

Employee Informants 2 - Anonymous Tip-offs and Leaks

Journal: IDS Brief

Additional Information: In the second article in our two-part series on employment and informants we examine the situation where the identity of an informant is not known, and consider how the employer should deal with an anonymous informant's identity; and the particular issues arising where an employee anonymously leaks information or makes allegations to the media.

Document number: 07 10 4

The Environment and Climate Change - An LRD Guide for Union Reps

Additional Information: This guide looks at workplace action to protect the environment as well as tools that can be used by union reps and trade union olicies to combat climate change.

Document number: 07 10 11 E

A Guide to Leave for Working Parents

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 73 E

A Guide to Safety Reps and Safety Committees

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 56 E

A Guide to Tackling Workplace Stress

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Additional Information: This guide examines the HSE guidance on tackling stress in the workplace as well possible courses of union action to deal with the problem.

Document number: 07 9 66 E

A Guide to Working Hours

Additional Information: This feature examines the working hours regulations and covers such things as the maximum working week, rest breaks and holidays.

Document number: 07 9 59 E

Hazardous Substances at Work - 2007

Additional Information: This feature examines control of hazardous substances at work including asbestos, lead, chemical hazards as well as major accident hazards.

Document number: 07 9 57 E

Health and Safety at Work - Physical Hazards

Additional Information: This LRD feature looks at such physical hazards as manual handling, fire, noise, and vibration hazards.

Document number: 07 9 58 E

Hours and Holidays 2007

Journal: IDS Study

Document number: 07 9 51

IRS Maternity Pay Survey: Payment for Keeping-in-touch Days

Journal: IRS Employment Review

Additional Information: This IRS survey of pay policies reveals how employers have chosen to deal with the question of paying employees on maternity leave who work "keeping-in-touch" days.

Document number: 07 9 44 E

IRS Pay Databank: 19 October 2007

Journal: IRS Employment Review

Additional Information: The Full findings of the IRS pay databank, providing analysis of basic pay settlements across the economy by sector. The pay databank analysis is based on information from around 1,000 pay settlements collected by IRS pay researchers every year.

Document number: 07 9 49 E

The Management of Health and Safety at Work 2007

Additional Information: Also examines the structure of health and safety law in the UK.

Document number: 07 9 55 E

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Journal: IDS Study

Document number: 07 9 50

Office Health and Safety: Clearing the Air

Journal: Occupational Health

Additional Information: This journal article looks at the issue of air quality in offices. The air in many offices can be surprisingly high in pollutants, so it is vital that employers regularly monitor indoor air quality.

Document number: 07 9 52 E

Pay and Conditions on Call Centres 2007/08

Less Growth in Average Salary Bands for Advisors and Retention Problems Overtake Recruitment Issues.

Journal: IDS Report

Additional Information: In this article we summarise the main findings from the eleventh annual IDS survey of pay and conditions in call centres. We look at salaries for customer service advisors and team leaders, pay settlement levels, recruitment and retention, staff turnover, sickness absence and trends in employment levels. The complete survey includes information from 70 organisations employing a combined call centre workforce of over 93,000 employees, in 188 call centres throughout the UK. The full research document is published separately.

Document number: 07 10 20 E

Private Sector Employers see Higher Pay Rises Continuing into 2008

Journal: IRS Employment Review

Additional Information: Our annual pay prospects survey questions 350 private sector employers on their pat intentions for the year ahead. It finds that employers expect to pay awards to remain high in 2007/08, with predictions at a median 3.5% .

Document number: 07 9 48 E

Public Sector and Civil Service Statistics (March 2006)

Additional Information: Gives figures for total workforce

Document number: 07 9 87 E

Public Sector Pay in 2007 and 2008 - Government's Pay Policy puts Review Bodies Under Spotlight

Journal: IDS Report

Additional Information: Discussions over this year's public sector pay round have been the most long-drawn out for some time, mainly as a result of the Governments policy on public sector pay. A number of major groups have still to settle, and the role of the Review Bodies has been highlighted.

This is particularly so in the Prison Service, and developments there do not bode well for those who would like to see these sorts of arrangements extended to police officers, who are already banned form striking.

But in addition, a complex situation has developed in the NHS, where Review Body status has been extended to cover non-nursing staff, but both they and their colleagues are now voting on an improved pa offer, the sort of situation that review body mechanisms were designed to avoid.

Document number: 07 9 18 E

Public Sector Pay Policy - A Report for the Council of Civil Service Unions (CCSU)

Document number: 07 9 20 E

Redundancy Law: A Trade Unionist's Guide (November 2006)

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 54 E

Stress at Work

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Additional Information: This feature examines the scale of the problem as well as the legal framework covering stress at work.

Document number: 07 9 65 E

Stress, Bullying and Violence at Work

Labour Research Dept (LRD)

Document number: 07 9 70 E

Survey: Part-time Work, Flexitime and Other Non-standard Working Arrangements

Journal: IRS Employment Review

Additional Information: An IRS survey of 163 organisations shows that employees have access to a wide variety of non-standard working arrangements, including part-time work, felxitime and term-time working.

Document number: 07 10 18 E

Top Pay in Local Government, Public Bodies and Agencies

Journal: IDS Executive Compensation Review

Additional Information: To provide a picture of top pay across the public sector, this journal article looks at the senior executive remuneration in 31 public bodies and corporations, 37 executive agencies and 40 local authorities.

Document number: 07 9 37

TUPE - A Guide for Reps

Additional Information: This is a straight forward and practical guide to the law on business transfers- and how it affects employees. It explains recent changes to the TUPE regulations and provides case law examples to show union and workplace representatives how the regulations are used in practice.

Document number: 07 10 12 E

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