Pay awards remain settled at 2% but show signs of a gentle recovery, according to research by XpertHR.
XpertHR’s January 2011 pay analysis found that, despite the median basic pay award remaining steady, there were signs that pay awards were on the up, with the top quarter of awards rising from 2.3% to 3%.
Almost seven pay awards in 10 were higher than the previous deal for the same employee group.
Pay deals in the services sector moved ahead of those in manufacturing, with the median award in services rising to 2.5% from 2% and the average pay deal in manufacturing set at 2%.
The research also saw a drop in the number of pay freezes, with 13.5% of awards frozen, down slightly on the previous figure of 15.4%.
Sarah Welfare, XpertHR’s pay and benefits deputy editor, commented: “While there are signs that pay awards are slowly recovering from recession as we would expect, we are certainly seeing no evidence of rapid pay inflation in the private sector.
“The going rate for pay deals is still well below the pre-recession levels of 3% to 3.5%. Employees may increasingly be asking for pay rises that come closer to the cost of living but few employers are setting pay rises worth even half that level.”
XpertHR’s pay analysis looked at 99 pay awards settled in the three months to the end of January 2011.
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