Pay continues to rise

Over the first six months of 2009 there has been a much wider range of pay increases than many had expected. In the earlier part of the year an urban myth emerged that all pay in the private sector was likely to be frozen this year. In fact, this is far from true and most private-sector companies have awarded rises from 1 per cent to 4 per cent – or, in some cases, more.Undoubtedly, it is the pay freezes that have made the news, such as the one proposed at BA at the moment and earlier ones at Honda and Nissan. And because they have been newsworthy, some pundits have drawn the conclusion that they are more widespread than they are.