News
Private sector pay deals reach three-year high.
Published on 20th January 2012 by William Guy
According to XpertHR's latest pay trends report, pay awards for January 2012 was worth 2.8%, the highest since December 2008 when the figure stood at 3.7%.
In 2011, private sector pay rises were averaged from 2% to 2.5%, and pay across the economy stagnated at 2% for much of the year.
Additionally, the vast majority of pay awards stayed behind inflation in 2011, with just 2% of settlements aligned with the retail prices index (RPI).
Sheila Attwood, XpertHR pay and benefits editor, commented: "The data collected to date suggests that pay bargaining in 2012 has got off to a good start and that, for many private sector workers, pay rises higher than the levels seen in 2011 are a real prospect.
"Over the past few months we have started to see evidence of a shift to higher pay awards than were made the year before. We now find that the majority of pay awards are at a higher or the same level as paid to the same group of employees the year before, with only a handful making lower awards."