Most of what you hear in the news about pay settlements centres around whether this or that group of (usually public sector) workers is getting a big enough pay rise this year. Consequently, you might be surprised by one statistic in the summary table of the CIPD’s annual reward survey. It finds that only 54% of the 600+ organisations surveyed apply an annual general pay rise.
So what is happening in the other 46% of organisations? Some of them, of course, will just not give rises if the business cannot support the extra cost. Some will base pay levels on movements in market rate and only adjust pay when they need to, and then not necessarily treat all staff the same. Others will give non-consolidated bonuses instead (usually based on company performance). Many will give annual rises determined on an individual-by-individual basis to reflect market movement and personal performance in a single, undifferentiated increase.
The survey breaks this down by sector (table 8). This shows that annual general rises are, unsurprisingly, most common in the public sector with over 85% of employers in the public services and over 80% in the voluntary sector paying them. Manufacturing and production are in the 45% – 50% range. The lowest proportion is in the category ‘private sector services’ at around 35%. This group will include the City banks and large professional services firms together with lots of smaller owner-managed businesses and partnerships – the organisations most sensitive to individual contributions.
