Latest news: Public sector faces pay freeze

Public sector pay packets are being hit hard after a new survey revealed that most employees haven’t received a pay rise in the last six months, despite pay levels falling below the current cost of living. 05/08/2011 

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) summer 2011 Employee Outlook survey found that 77% of public sector workers had had their pay frozen since January 2011, compared with 52% in the private sector and 55% in the voluntary sector.

The news means that the average worker will be worse off than last year as inflation and the cost of living continues to rise.

Furthermore, as most pay awards are made between January and May, this means that most staff will not receive a pay rise in 2011, according to the CIPD.

‘Even those who are lucky enough to get an increase in their pay will find it below the current cost of living, compounding consumer belt tightening. Inflation figures later this month will highlight growing pricing pressures, which is likely to continue for some time,’ said Charles Cotton, CIPD’s performance and reward adviser.

‘We will see some increase in the number of private sector workers receiving a pay award in the second half of 2011, especially in the retail, catering and hotel sectors, as the increase in the national minimum wage comes into effect in October,’ he added.