MNI BRIEF: UK Pay Awards Unchanged in November

UK headline pay awards were muted in the three months to November, coming in unchanged on the previous month's 2.0%, data published by XpertHR Thursday showed. The survey revealed that more than a quarter of pay settlements in the rolling three-month period resulted in no increase for employees.

Among the total sample of pay awards, 26.3% are pay freezes, the report stated, with 50.0% of pay settlements lower than in the same group of employees a year ago and 32.5% at the same level. Annual private sector pay awards registered at 2.0% in November, while public sector pay awards recorded 2.5%. While there were no pay freezes seen in the public sector, 36.1% of settlements in the private sector were.

"Many organisations are continuing to struggle with giving even a small pay rise to staff, with the proportion of pay freezes sitting well above trend levels. Given the ongoing COVID-19 situation and Brexit uncertainty, we expect a subdued start to pay bargaining in the new year too," XpertHR's Sheila Attwood said.