Clerical and secretarial salaries rise by 5.2%

The UKís lowest paid clerical and secretarial workers saw their median starting salary (see notes to editors) rise by 5.2% in 2004 compared with 5.4% in the previous year, according to IRS Employment Review. The IRS survey, published by LexisNexis Butterworths, found that the median starting salary for the lowest paid clerical position in 2004 was 12,000.



This marks a continued decline in the rate of salary increase for clerical and secretarial staff. Although the pace of growth is slowing, it is still well ahead of the 3% median pay increase paid across the economy in the 12 months to December 2004.

Other key survey findings include:

* Working hours for clerical and secretarial staff remain in the region of 35 to 37 hours per week. Several organisations - mainly public sector -reduce London-based employeesí working week by one hour. These include HM Customs and Excise, and the Department of Trade and Industry.

* The lower quartile starting salary ñ below which 25% of pay rates fall ñ stands at 10,575, the rate paid to clerical customer services staff at Lloyds TSB. This represents a 5.75% increase on the 10,000 lower quartile salary rate recorded in IRSís previous survey.

* The upper quartile starting salary ñ the point at or above which a quarter of salaries lie ñ is 14,779. This is the rate for an administrative assistant at Lafarge Cement, and represents a 10.9% jump from the 2003 figure of 13,323.

* The upper quartile rate for the matched sample of occupations rose by a more modest 5.7%, from 14,000 in 2003 to 14,799.

* Underpinning - several employers who quote a basic percentage pay increase will underpin this by a cash amount to ensure that employees at the lower end of the pay scale receive a minimum increase. This is again common practice among IRSís surveyed organisations.

* In the public sector, the Department of Trade and Industry pay award adds 3.7% to the paybill, with employees guaranteed a payment of 500. The Employment Tribunals Service award guarantees a 320 pay increase. At the Valuation Office Agency the performance-related award adds 3.85% to the paybill but provides a minimum 2.75% increase, underpinned by a non-consolidated payment of 500.

* Bonus payments were common in the finance organisations covered by our survey. First Direct gave bonus payments worth an average 16% of base salary. The size of individual payouts depended on basic salary, corporate performance and personal performance. At HSBC, which also owns First Direct, staff are eligible for additional payments worth a maximum of 22.5% to 36% of basic salary. Individual payments are determined by their target award, personal performance and corporate performance.

* Starting salaries - the lowest annual salary for staff stands at 8,500 a year, the starting rate for a member adviser at Britannia Building Society. This is unchanged from the figure recorded in the 2003 IRS survey.

* The highest minimum starting salary was paid to postal clerks at vehicle manufacturer, Land Rover. The spot rate for this group of employees stands at 20,569, and reflects the 3.1% increase on the previous yearís rate of 19,951.

* Highest salaries - the majority (84%) of occupations covered by the survey quote a salary range, while the remainder operate a spot rate. The highest attainable salaries for the lowest paid clerical and secretarial occupations vary considerably across the sample. At the lower end of the scale, the spot rate for clerical staff covered by the environmental engineering industry agreement stands at just 8,667. Elsewhere, the top of the salary range for an administrative officer at Nissan Motor Manufacturing rises to 25,607.

IRS Pay and Benefits editor, Sheila Attwood said:

ìAs in previous yearsí surveys, the respondents are split fairly evenly between those that awarded clerical and secretarial staff a basic pay increase last year (50%) and those that made performance-related rises (47%).

Among the organisations paying an across-the-board basic pay increase, the median pay rise was worth 3% in 2004. However, our survey shows that starting salaries have risen by 5.2% over the year, suggesting that many organisations are conducting additional salary reviews outside of the annual pay review.