Summary of the editorial from IDS Pay Report 965, December 2006

City bonus payments outstrip average earnings

Latest figures from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) show that average incentive pay for male full-time employees in the City of London reached £35,769 a year in April 2006, an increase of 36.1 per cent on the previous year. Incentive pay includes any payments received through profit sharing schemes, productivity or performance pay, piecework and commission payments. The figure for average City bonus payments is higher than the total average earnings figure for male full-time employees in the rest of the economy - where the average salary in April 2006 reached £32,774 a year, up 4.2 per cent on 2005. The average level of incentive pay for male full-time employees across the UK was £2,886 a year. The average salary for male full-time employees in the City of London was £104,622 a year. According to ASHE, average weekly earnings for all full-time employees in the UK were £537.3 a week at April 2006. Average earnings for male full-time employees were calculated at £591.6 a week and average earnings for women full-time employees were £453.6 a week. All three figures were up 4.1 per cent on the previous year. The equivalent figures for annual salaries were: £29,331 a year for all full-time employees, £32,774 a year for male full-timers and £23,896 for female full-time employees.  

... the full editorial can be read in IDS Pay Report 965