Private sector pay rises ‘the highest for 3 years’
Pay rises among private sector employees are the highest for three years this month, according to the latest industry report.Research carried out by XpertHR shows that pay rises effective in January 2012, which were exclusively in the private sector due to a lack of public sector bargaining, were worth a median 2.8 per cent.
This is the highest level seen since December 2008 - well above the two to 2.5 per cent median increase seen through 2011 in the private sector, and above the 2.5 per cent median recorded in the three months to the end of last year.
The organisation noted that the increase in pay awards is set against a "marked fall" in retail prices index inflation and, if the pace of decline in inflation continues, there is a "real opportunity" for employers to make up for years of low pay rises with an increase that is worth more than inflation, noted XpertHR pay and benefits editor Sheila Attwood.
She explained that the data collected so far 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," she added.
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Posted by John Oak
