Performance-related pay awards

Sheila Attwood Editor's message: Many organisations link either all or part of the pay awards made to individuals to an assessment of their performance - measurements of performance can include competencies, skills and knowledge as well as results and achievement of objectives. Organisations often find that performance-related pay (also called merit pay) is one of the best ways of both recognising and raising employee performance.

However, a performance-related pay scheme has to be carefully designed to ensure that it fits with the organisational culture and values and has the confidence of employees. You must be confident that you have a robust method of assessing employee performance, to ensure that a fair and consistent approach is applied.

Sheila Attwood, managing editor, pay and HR practice

New and updated

Review of pay awards 2019: Performance-related pay settlements

Date:

26 September 2019

Type:

Survey analysis

Using employee performance to determine pay increases remains popular among some industries in the private sector.
Review of pay awards 2018: Performance-related pay awards

Date:

27 September 2018

Type:

Survey analysis

Almost a quarter of pay settlements recorded by XpertHR are linked to individual performance. We take a look at these pay awards in more detail, including how organisations allocated pay increases in 2017/18.
Review of pay awards 2017: Performance-related pay awards

Date:

28 September 2017

Type:

Survey analysis

Nearly a quarter of the pay settlements recorded by XpertHR are based on individual performance. Here we take a closer look at these pay awards and how organisations allocate pay increases to individuals.
Performance-related pay survey 2016

Date:

26 May 2016

Type:

Survey analysis

Our survey looks at the practicalities of running a performance-related pay scheme and the effect that this method of reward actually has on employee performance.
How to design, introduce and run a performance-related pay scheme

Type:

How to

Practical guidance on introducing a performance-related pay rise scheme.
Performance-related pay

Type:

Employment glossary

Definition from the XpertHR glossary.
Review a performance-related pay scheme

Type:

Tasks
Introduce a performance-related pay scheme

Type:

Tasks
Holiday pay: Holiday pay to include attendance and performance bonus

Date:

16 February 2007

Type:

Law reports

In May Gurney Ltd v Adshead and others EAT/0150/06 the Employment Appeal Tribunal holds that the remuneration of employees entitled to a perfomance bonus "does vary with the amount of work done". Accordingly the amount of a week's pay for the purpose of calculating holiday pay will be determined by taking the employees' average pay over the 12 weeks preceding their holiday.
PRP scheme lacked transparency

Date:

1 June 1994

Type:

Law reports

An assessment process for performance-related pay purposes, which led to a woman being paid £780 a year less than men on like work, suffered from confusion, double counting and an absence of transparency, rules a Norwich industrial tribunal (Chair: D R Crome) in Latham v Eastern Counties Newspapers Ltd.

About this topic

HR and legal information and guidance relating to performance-related pay awards.