Latest pay awards news: July 2024

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.