The article can be read in full under the Time off section of the ACAS website.
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Sainsbury's workers face ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ pay offer 9 March 2018
Unite is representing more than 12,000 employees from Sainsbury and is recommending that a pay offer of £9.20 an hour be rejected as employees will have to make a number of `sacrifices` to secure this rate of pay; including the removal of paid breaks and Sunday premium pay, as well as a number of changes to the attendance policy. Unite the Union is calling Sainsbury’s proposals ‘a robbing Peter to pay Paul’ pay offer. They said that the firm’s proposal to increase pay to £9.20 an hour for workers at Sainsbury’s 1,400 stores from September would be eroded by such ‘strings’ as removing premium pay for Sunday working. The normal current rate is £8.00 an hour.
Unite will be holding a consultative ballot of members across the UK from the end of March, with a recommendation to reject as they believe the conditions will offset any rise in basic pay.
Unite is to decide on the next steps after members have expressed their views in the ballot, which should be known by the end of April.
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South Korea passes bill to reduce 68-hour working week 13 March 2018
This headline makes our 48-hr working week limit, under the Working Time Regulations, look positively lightweight.
South Korea’s National Assembly has passed a bill aimed at shortening working hours despite businesses' concerns about increased labour costs.
An article by HR Review explains that the shorter work week is intended to help improve quality of life and boost birth rates, which hit record lows last year. The working hours under the revision comprise 40 hours a week and up to 12 hours for overtime work – making a new 52-hour week. Under the current rule, a worker can be expected to labour for a maximum of 68 hours, including up to 16 hours on the weekend.
According to a report by the Guardian , South Koreans work about 400 more hours a year compared with workers in the UK, about 10 additional standard work weeks, despite having relatively similar average incomes.
The UK’s Working Time Regulation (WTR) provides the right to a limit of an average 48 hours a week on the hours a worker can be required to work ( normally averaged over 17 weeks). Individuals can choose to work more by opting out of the 48 hour week. Workers under the age of 18 can't work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week under the WTR.
South Korea’s Minimum Wage Commission has set the minimum hourly wage for 2018 at 7,530 won (approximately £5.08), the steepest on-year increase in 17 years. The goal is for this to increase to 10,000 won (£6.75) by 2020.
Below is a stark comparison and reminder of what the minimum wages in the UK rise to from 1 April:
1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019
Hourly rate
National Living Wage (25+)
£7.83
21-24 year old rate
£7.38
18-20 year old rate
£5.90
16-17 year old rate
£4.20
Apprentice rate
£3.70
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The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
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