Increases in employees' pay have been stuck at the same level for the longest period since the end of 2006, according to the latest data released by pay analysts at XpertHR.
Pay awards in the three months to the end of May 2015 were worth a median 2%, according to the latest XpertHR data. This marks the fourteenth consecutive rolling quarter in which pay awards have been at this level. Prior to this, the longest period of stability (since our records began in 1984) ran to the end of 2006, which marked 40 consecutive rolling quarters of pay awards worth a median 3%.
XpertHR believes it is likely that pay awards will remain at 2% for some time, too. Private-sector employers surveyed by XpertHR at the beginning of the year predicted a 2% pay award for the duration of 2015. This figure also remains by far the most common pay award, with more than a quarter of pay awards in the latest analysis made at this level.
Other key findings from XpertHR's analysis of pay awards effective in the three months to the end of May 2015 include the following:
- Deals settle close to the median - the middle half of pay awards are worth between 1.3% and 2.5%
- Higher pay deals are uncommon - just 6.8% of settlements paid increases of more than 3%.
- Sectors converge - the median pay award in both the manufacturing-and-production sector, and private-sector services, sits at 2%.
- Pay freezes diminish - just a handful of all pay deals (6.5%) resulted in no increase for employees.
- Public sector continues to lag - pay awards in the public sector were worth a median 1.5% in the 12 months to the end of May 2015, compared with 2% in the private sector over the same period.
XpertHR Pay and Benefits editor Sheila Attwood said:
"We expect the stability in the level of pay awards to remain, with 2% likely to be the going rate for pay awards through to the end of the year. With RPI inflation forecast to remain below this level in 2015, employees will continue to receive a real-terms increase in wages."