In this issue we look at employee pay awards in two key areas of the economy, both of which have been in the firing line this recession. In the manufacturing sector, where jobs have fallen by 201,000 since July 2008, pay awards have plummeted to 2.5% over the year to May 2009. In the finance sector, pay awards have also dipped, while the financial crisis has led to a flurry of government reviews, codes of practice and other activity intended to reform the pay practices that encouraged the risk-taking activity by bankers that led to the crisis in the first place.

Pay freezes account for one in four finance deals, and one in three manufacturing pay awards, but many of the finance sector pay freezes are self-imposed by managers, compared with those in manufacturing, where all staff have tended to take the hit.

We also cover a survey of accountants' salaries - which remain healthy - plus we have reports on the most recent pay deals at Sellafield and the Charity Commission. No pay rises have been set this year for employees covered by the two main agreements in the construction industry.

Over the next few weeks, we will be compiling our annual review of pay awards and we will be surveying employers' views on prospects for the year ahead. Please get in touch if you would like to take part or fill in our survey here.

Sarah Welfare
Editor,
Pay and Benefits Bulletin

Pay reports recently added to the site:

Sellafield: 1% in first year of two-year deal

Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council: 12-month pay freeze

Construction Industry Joint Council: pay talks adjourned

Charity Commission: average 3.75% consolidated pay increase

Pay review update: 7 August 2009

The latest pay review update table contains pay settlements at Northern Ireland Electricity, RDF Media, the Northern Ireland Prison Service and many more.

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Statistics and forecasts

The datafile contains the most recent inflation, earnings and labour market statistics, pay settlement data and inflation and earnings forecasts. Our panel of City and academic forecasters expects retail prices index inflation to average -1.2% over 2009. Earnings growth is expected to average 1.9% over the year.

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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:

• Financial crisis plunges pensions £100bn into the red
• Women and Work Commission publishes final report
• Economic outlook August 2009: Recovery prospects hang in the balance
• 2010 national minimum wage report to address interns' pay

Today's tip: explore the XpertHR Job Pricing service

Our new Job Pricing service - which has recently been nominated for two awards by the Data Publishers Association - enables you to benchmark salaries for specific jobs against market pay and benefits data for UK employees in the core business functions of HR, IT, finance, sales and marketing, as well as a number of specialist sectors. To enjoy the benefits of this new service you will need to participate - by providing your organisation's salary data - and take out a separate subscription to one or more of the available job families. To find out more, click here.

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