PAY rises have fallen to a median basic of 1 per cent, the lowest level since last summer, new research suggests.
Pay analysts XpertHR said the latest figure for the three months to January compared with 2 per cent in the quarter to the end of December.
It was also the lowest figure recorded since the three months to the end of August 2020, said the report.
Pay freezes remain commonplace, accounting for one in three settlements in the survey of 100 agreements.
All of the pay awards recorded by XpertHR in the three months to the end of January 2021 were in the private sector.
XpertHR pay and benefits editor Sheila Attwood said: "The fall in the headline rate of pay awards at the beginning of 2021 reflects the continuing uncertainty in which businesses are operating.
"The number of organisations choosing to freeze pay rather than make any increase is discouraging, but for many this decision would not have been taken lightly on the back of the effort many employees have put in over the past year."
