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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Pay settlements on the rise in 2018

The first pay awards of 2018 are worth a median 2.5%, according to analysis from pay experts at XpertHR. This is half a percentage point higher than the 2% median wage increase seen throughout 2017, and the highest level recorded for almost four years.

Based on a sample of 59 pay awards effective in January 2018, XpertHR finds that organisations in both manufacturing and production, and private-sector-services, are being more generous in their pay awards this year. Both sectors have recorded a median 2.5% award, with the middle half of increases worth between 2% and 2.8%.

XpertHR has not recorded pay awards across the economy as high as 2.5% since early 2014, so although only a snapshot of the very first deals to be concluded, the figures are a positive sign that employers are making higher pay awards than over the past year. Based on a matched sample, almost 60% of awards paid more to the affected employees than they received in January 2017 (and less than 20% were given a lower award).

Latest pay award findings

The latest rolling-quarterly analysis from XpertHR covers the three months to the end of December 2017. Based on a sample of 39 basic pay awards effective between 1 October and 31 December 2017, we find that:

  • The median pay award across the whole economy was 2%, with the middle half of pay awards (the interquartile range) worth between 2% and 3%.
  • Almost half (47.4%) of pay awards were at exactly the same level as employees received at their previous review. Just 13.1% were lower, but a healthy proportion (39.5%) were higher.

Over the 12 months to the end of December 2017, the median pay award in the private sector was 2%, compared with 1.1% in the public sector.

XpertHR pay and benefits editor Sheila Attwood said:

“It is almost four years since XpertHR’s headline measure of pay awards has stood at 2.5%, but we are now seeing some much-needed growth in pay award levels in the first deals to be concluded in 2018.”

www.xperthr.co.uk