Our latest analysis of retail sector reward trends, published in this edition of Pay and Benefits Bulletin, finds pay settlements holding firm despite deteriorating trading conditions. The median retail pay award is 3% for the year to 31 May 2008, unchanged from 2007.

Elsewhere, issues surrounding women's inequality in the workplace remain depressingly current. Research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission claims that the glass ceiling constraining women's progress in the workplace has become a "reinforced concrete" barrier. Employment and discrimination specialist Elaine Barton looks at recent Court of Appeal rulings on the similarly contentious issue of pay equality between the sexes.

Other top stories in this issue include:

• Average City salary falls to £50,645
• Take-home pay rises by 4.5%

Finally, a reminder that there is still time to take part in our annual Pay Prospects survey, which looks at private sector reward practice. The closing date is 18 September 2008. All respondents will receive a full copy of the report, and will be entered into our prize draw, for a chance to win one of three £25 Marks & Spencer vouchers.

Michael Carty,
Deputy Editor,
Pay and Benefits Bulletin

Pay reports recently added to the site:

Department for Work and Pensions: 3.6% paybill increase plus non-consolidated payments

Family Mosaic: 2.3% paybill budget increase

Pay review update: 12 September 2008

The latest pay review update table includes details of industry-wide deals for construction workers and builders, alongside pay settlements at Tesco, Woolworths, and many more.

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Statistics and forecasts

The datafile provides comprehensive and up-to-date statistics on inflation, earnings and the labour market, alongside pay settlement data and inflation and earnings forecasts. Inflation is expected to peak at 4.8% in the third quarter of 2008, before falling to 4.7% in the final quarter and continuing to fall throughout 2009, according to our panel of City and academic forecasters. But average earnings growth will show little deviation from its current rate, averaging 4% in 2008 and 3.9% in 2009.

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From the blog

Launched and run by the editorial team that produces XpertHR and the IRS e-journals, the Employment Intelligence blog is regularly updated with news, comment and links to the latest employment developments. Recent posts include:

• UK interest rates notch up half a year at 5%
• Women now face a "reinforced concrete ceiling"
• REC survey: "Muted" pay growth is good news for some
• Why it doesn't pay to be a graduate in 2008
• Darling renews calls for pay restraint
• Graduate recruitment part 3: starting salaries

Today's tip: access official pay benchmarking data

Did you know that XpertHR provides detailed breakdowns of the latest official pay benchmarking data? Our official pay data pages present a selection of the most up-to-date official data on pay levels, collected by the government's statistics agency and published in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. We present breakdowns by occupation, sector and UK region.

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