Employee pay awards are running at just 1%, according to provisional analysis from IRS out today (subscription required).
The median basic pay award was 1% over the three months to the end of July 2009. This is a quiet period for pay deals, however. More significantly, our figures for the busy April pay bargaining round have also been revised downwards as more awards are settled, showing that the median basic pay deal has been 1% for each rolling quarter since the three months to April.
We also report that:
- Around four in ten (41.3%) of all pay deals (basic and performance-based) are pay freezes;
- The median pay award in manufacturing is still a pay freeze (see also the EEF's latest figures out yesterday (on XpertHR, subscription required) giving an average pay award for the sector of 0.3%); and
- Private sector deals were worth a median 1% but the figures for the three months to May and June have been revised down to nil and 0.5% respectively - showing just how much pay freezes are dominating the pattern in the private sector.
All the evidence suggests that pay awards will remain subdued for the remainder of 2009. With rising unemployment, a low minimum wage rise due in October and headline inflation in negative territory, the chances of higher pay rises for employees in the near future are slim.
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