Pay awards in the three months to the end of November were stuck at 2%, according to data from pay specialists at XpertHR.
Basic pay rises have remained at or around this level every month for more than a year, and show little sign of a strong return to growth in 2015, say XpertHR’s pay experts.
XpertHR resources – pay
Almost a quarter of pay awards logged with its database were worth 2%, making this the most common pay increase.
Just over one in 10 received a 3% pay rise, while 17.8% of respondents said they offered a 1% rise.
Workers in manufacturing and production received the highest pay awards, at a median of 2.3%. This was heavily influenced by one notable pay deal – the Offshore Diving Industry Agreement for divers and life support technicians – which will see 14,000 staff receive a 3.55% increase.
Employers in the public sector – having been subject to pay increase caps for some time – reported an average of 1.5% in wage rises, while pay increases across the private sector remained at 2%.
Organisations offering performance-related pay tended to offer above the median basic pay award, with wage increases between 2.5% and 4%.
Encouragingly, the proportion of employers implementing a pay freeze has almost halved compared with the last rolling quarter (to the end of October), from 12.2% to 6.4%.
However, despite greater competition for candidates and more confidence in the employment market, employers are likely to remain cautious about pay in early 2015, said XpertHR.
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In the report, HR practice editor Jo Jacobs wrote: “Many economic worries exist within businesses, including the prospect of higher interest rates in 2015, continued weak export growth and low productivity.”
