Pay awards remained stable at 2.5% during the second quarter of 2019, according to the latest data from XpertHR.
A sample of 303 pay awards for the three months to the end of June showed many of the pay rises to be bunched around 2.5%, the sixth consecutive rolling quarter at this level.
Pay awards remain below retail price index (RPI) inflation, which stood at 2.9% during June.
Among a matched sample of pay awards, just over a quarter were the same (25.8%), and almost a third (32.4%) were higher than in the previous year. Just over four in 10 (41.8%) are lower than the same group of employees received in the same period a year ago.
The most common pay award was exactly 2.5%, handed out by 22.6% of employers in the sample.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Pay in the public sector over the 12 months to the end of June was 2.3%, compared to an average of 2.5% in the private sector. Public sector employees are due to receive a boost in pay following an announcement earlier this week that certain hospital workers, police constables, military staff, teachers and prison officers would receive the largest pay rise in six years.
XpertHR pay and benefits editor Sheila Attwood said: “The current run of pay awards at 2.5% looks set to continue as we head into the quieter months of the pay bargaining year. The increases recommended by the pay review bodies will also provide a welcome boost to pay award levels in the public sector.”
