Latest pay awards news: July 2024
The latest analysis of pay settlement trends from Brightmine reveal that pay awards are staying close to 5%, boosted by changes made to the national living wage. However, around three fifths remain lower than the highs recorded in the same period last year.
Published: 24 July 2024 | by Sheila Attwood, Senior Content Manager, Data and HR Insights at Brightmine
Falling inflation rates mean that the median basic pay award for the three months to the end of June is unchanged from the previous rolling quarter at 4.9%.
Around one in six basic deals were worth more than 7%, which largely reflects settlements given to employees who receive the national living wage. From April 2024, these employees saw a rise of 9.8%.
For employees who are awarded pay awards based solely on their individual performance, the median pay award budget increase is 4%, while the most common basic award is also worth 4%.
Chart 1: Pay review pattern – whole economy, June 2023 to June 2024
Private sector pay deals lagging behind public sector
Few public-sector pay deals have yet to be confirmed for 2024, however, for the 12-months to the end of June 2024, the median basic pay award for the private sector remains at 5%, two percentage points lower than the public sector.
Chart 2: Pay review pattern – private and public sectors, June 2023 to June 2024
Sector specific pay trends
Employees in the information and communication sector saw the lowest median basic pay award at 3.3%, compared to transport and storage sector employees who received a median basic pay award of 6.4%. Several long-term deals in the transport sector have yielded increases above the whole-economy average. Other sectors standing less than the whole economy median include the not-for-profit sector (4.1%), which often lags behind other sectors, and engineering and metals at 4.5%.
The analysis represents 145 pay awards that came into effect between 1 April and 30 June 2024, covering approximately 370,339 employees at UK organisations.
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About the author
Sheila Attwood
Senior Content Manager, Data and HR Insights at Brightmine
Sheila leads the team that is responsible for the data and market insights content on Brightmine, including the employer practice surveys, webinars and podcasts, and reward content.
Sheila holds a BA in geography. She has almost 30 years’ experience of working in a research and editorial capacity in a publishing environment, with a focus on the labour market, reward, industrial relations and HR practice.
Sheila is an expert on company pay awards and is regularly called upon to appear in the broadcast and print media to comment on the level of increase in pay rates.
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