Briefing: what's happening to shift premia?

Premium rate payments for shift work are marking time in the recession, research by IRS for XpertHR reveals.

An IRS survey of 87 organisations which employ shift workers found that four in ten had raised shift premia at the same rate as basic pay levels in their most recent salary review.

Nearly one-third reported that both basic pay and shift premia had been frozen.

The survey found that shift premia were most commonly paid as a fixed percentage of non-shift rates, while a further one in four employers added a fixed cash sum on a shift or weekly basis.

Among those adding fixed percentages, the most generous additional payments were generally given for night working, with time-and-a-third the most common arrangement.

High rates were also common where workers were employed on continental shift patterns (a form of continuous working involving rapidly rotating shifts.

The full report can be found on XpertHR (XpertHR subscription required).