Annual survey puts pay rises at 3.3%

Over the last 12 months pay increases across the economy have averaged 3.3%. This is the main finding of the annual review of the pay round in the October issue of the Labour Research Department's Workplace Report magazine.

The survey covers the 12 months to July 2005 and gives details of 774 collective agreements covering 6.7 million workers in all sectors of the economy.

While the overall mid-point for all settlements was 3.3%, the private sector median was 3.5%, ahead of the 3.0% recorded for the public sector.

As well as looking at basic pay settlements the survey covers incentive and performance-based pay and merit pay. It also looks at a range of other workplace issues such as family-friendly initiatives, pensions, skills and education.

The review uses comparative data from other sources to place the settlements in the context of inflation, average earnings increases and unemployment. Both overall trends and particular features such as staged agreements are examined.

The issue includes a supplement with details of more than 700 agreements covering pay increases, hours, holidays and pay rates.