Once a year, Pay and Benefits Bulletin takes stock of the world of pay bargaining. In this special issue, we present the findings of our research.

We start with the results of our survey of 268 private sector employers, which contains their predictions for pay rises over the coming year. It also looks at the key pressures employers expect will influence how they set their 2009 pay rises.

Our comprehensive review of pay settlement patterns over the past year includes an investigation into how settlements are linked with inflation levels and a special review of performance-related pay.

We also look at the economic measures of most interest to pay setters - inflation, the labour market and earnings growth - and review the predictions of key commentators for the year ahead.

Other useful resources in this issue include:

• Summary of key findings
• The pay bargaining calendar
• The IRS pay databank: FAQs

All of these resources, and details of how IRS collects pay settlement data, can be found on the homepage of the October issue of Pay Intelligence.

The next edition of Pay and Benefits Bulletin will include our sector-by-sector review of pay trends in 2008 and the outlook for pay awards in 2009.

Sheila Attwood
Editor,
Pay and Benefits Bulletin

Statistics and forecasts

The datafile contains the most recent inflation, earnings and labour market statistics, pay settlement data and inflation and earnings forecasts. For this issue only, forecasts for inflation and earnings can be found in the economic outlook.

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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:

• Happy Monday: recession already?
• Battle-lines drawn for the 2009 national minimum wage increase
• CPI inflation breaks the 5% barrier
• Employers shy away from equal pay audits

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Coming soon…

The next edition of Pay and Benefits Bulletin will provide a sector-by-sector review of pay trends in 2008 and an outlook for the year ahead.