The Retail Prices Index (RPI) dropped back to 3.5 per cent in April, down from 3.6 per cent in March. This modest fall came as a result of a number of upward and downward pressures on prices. The largest downward pressures to RPI inflation came from lower prices for alcoholic drinks, clothing, fares and other travel and the price of motor cars. Offsetting these were upward pressures from housing and petrol. More
At first glance, the average weekly earnings (AWE) figures for March 2012 show total pay rising by just 0.6 per cent, an astonishingly low figure. But this is very largely a consequence of much lower bonuses in the finance sector than a year ago, and such is the size of these bonuses that substantial reductions this year have had a very considerable effect on the measurement of whole economy earnings. More
Facts can be inconvenient, particularly for those running our top companies whose behaviour is currently subject to intense scrutiny. So it is no surprise that an organisation reflecting their interests should seek to minimise the scale of the pay rises received by executive directors. The business organisation, the CBI, is reported in the Daily Telegraph (27/4/2012) to be warning the Government not to ‘misread the widely-quoted survey from last year, which claimed chief executive pay had risen by 49 per cent in just 12 months’. More
The Government’s proposals on extending the use of closed material procedures (CMPs) and special advocates in civil proceedings shouldn’t cause a big stir within employment law circles, right? After all, not only are employment tribunal cases involving national security uncommon, but rule 54(2) of the Tribunal Rules provides a statutory framework for CMPs (which exclude individuals and their representatives from certain aspects of proceedings where there are national security concerns) and special advocates (who represent parties at a closed hearing) – as confirmed by the Supreme Court in Home Office v Tariq.
For the second month running, lower bonuses in the finance sector have contributed to exceptionally low earnings growth of just 1.1 per cent for the whole of the economy in February 2012, down from 1.3 per cent in January. Growth in total earnings in finance and business services was completely flat at 0.0% in February while regular pay (which excludes bonuses) rose by 2.7 per cent. Bonuses in the sector were down by -14.4 per cent compared to February 2011. More
There has been a rather one-sided debate about differences between private and public sector pay in recent months, with much talk of there being a public sector premium. There are economists who actually believe that all public sector workers earn around 8 per cent more than all private sector workers. And there are journalists who believe that the average worker in the public sector earns 8 per cent more than their private sector ‘counterpart’. More
Is it the case that IDS research on private sector approaches to regional pay is flawed? On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning Evan Davis interviewed Mr John Cridland, Director General of the CBI, about private sector approaches to regional and local pay. Evan Davis said that ‘Incomes Data Services says that most large multi-site private sector companies have national pay structures’. More
Lower bonuses in the finance sector contributed to the exceptionally low earnings rise of 1.4 per cent for the whole of the economy in January 2012, down from 1.9 per cent in the year to December 2011. Total earnings in finance and business services rose by 1.8 per cent in the year to January while regular pay (which excludes bonuses) rose by 3 per cent. Bonuses in the sector were down by -22.8 per cent compared with January 2011. More
The Office for National Statistics has set out how it intends to meet concerns about the Government’s preferred measure of inflation, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Stephen Penneck, the Director General of the ONS, has said opens PDF] that the body intends to be in a position to include owner-occupier housing costs in the CPI by early 2013. He also said that the ONS is working to understand and communicate the reasons for the difference between the CPI and the RPI, especially those caused by the formula effect of using different averages for calculating price changes. The ONS will report on this work throughout 2012. More
Human rights and employment law have much in common. Both could be described as growth areas for litigation over the past ten years or so. Both make easy targets for politicians and pundits looking for a scapegoat. And both are reportedly on the Government’s agenda for reform, a fact not unrelated to the previous point. Some recent human rights at work cases illustrate the overlap between the two subjects in the workplace. More
