Public/private pay divide

In their latest Labour Market Outlook, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 54% of public sector employers froze pay in the year to December 2014, while only just over a third of private sector employers did so.

Employers were asked about their intentions for pay awards in 2015. Excluding bonuses, the expected median basic pay settlement was 2%, but just 1% for the public sector median. Only 9% of employers intended to freeze pay, but 45% reported that they did not know what the increase would be.

Asked about pay rises in 2014 the employers reported a median increase of just 1.3% if pay freezes and cuts are included. Seven out of 10 of the employers surveyed had carried out a pay review in 2014, while a quarter had not. The survey was of a sample of 1,003 employers — 73% in the private sector, 21% in the public sector and 6% in the voluntary sector; four out of 10 had 1,000 or more employees.

www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/survey-reports/labour-market-outlook-winter-2014-15.aspx