The UK economy has successfully avoided a triple-dip recession, but the economic situation remains precarious, with growth flat and unemployment rising once more.

This month's pay review resources contain a package of tools and data to help pay and benefits professionals plan for the year ahead.  

As the bargaining year draws to a close, we present our analysis of the state of pay bargaining over the past year. 

The latest XpertHR research looks at why organisations are using employee recognition schemes and how effective these schemes are in meeting their objectives.

On this week's XpertHR Weekly, we discuss how compensation is calculated in discrimination cases and the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in HM Land Registry v McGlue EAT/0435/11, in which it provided guidance on remedies in discrimination claims, including injury to feelings awards and aggravated damages. We also discuss the importance of setting pay at the correct level and what role salary surveys can play in the pay-setting process. 

We provide a summary and the full transcript of a recent employment tribunal equal pay ruling in which the employer successfully argued that a difference in pay between the female claimant and a newer male recruit was caused by its need to offer him a competitive salary to get him to take the job. 

A National Insurance Contributions Bill, addressing the cost of employing people, and measures aimed at furthering the Government's deregulation agenda feature in the Queen's speech, which sets out legislation planned for the coming year.

As one of the UK's largest employers, Marks & Spencer was among the first companies to face auto-enrolment. Occupational Pensions looks at how it came up with and implemented a new pension arrangement that achieved the company's objectives and suited its diverse workforce.

The XpertHR "how to" section provides guidance for employers on how to choose and how to use a salary survey. 

For the past 38 years, one of the principal surveys gauging trends in workplace pensions has been conducted by the National Association of Pension Funds. Its latest research indicates how employers are responding to auto-enrolment, in addition to a wide range of other topics.

The details of the Government's much-trialed plan to radically reform the state retirement benefit system by replacing many of its components with a single pension have finally been revealed. Occupational Pensions examines the proposals, and considers who will be the winners and losers under the new reforms.

Take part in our annual benefits and allowances survey by 25 April 2013 and you will receive a free copy of this year's XpertHR benefits and allowances report as soon as it becomes available and a special participant rate for access to the full data through XpertHR Salary Surveys. 

April 2013 is a crucial month for economic recovery, with the release of economic growth figures that will show whether or not the UK is in an unprecedented triple-dip recession. 

On this week's XpertHR Weekly, we discuss the implications for reward practitioners of the announcements made in Budget 2013, including the new tax-free childcare scheme that will be available from autumn 2015. We also look at the key considerations for pay professionals when conducting pay reviews, including how to use inflation statistics in pay setting.