Manufacturers defer pay settlements

The manufacturers’ organisation EEF has revealed that an increasing number of employers in the sector are deferring their pay settlements.

EEF analysis of 529 settlements reached in the three months to the end of March, covering almost 70,000 employees between them, also found that they averaged 2.6% – 0.4 percentage points below the median figure for manufacturing settlements in unionised workplaces recorded on the Labour Research Department’s Payline database over the same period.

David Yeandle, EEF deputy director of employment policy, said the findings indicated “the tough economic conditions that companies are facing”.