Pay Packets Rise More This Year Than Last

Salary and pay increases have been significantly higher this year than the year earlier to July, according to the National Employers Annual Wage & Salary Survey.

Pay packets for senior managers earning an average of $72,747 went up 4.38 per cent, or 0.7 per cent faster than the year before. Middle managers earned an average of 3.84 per cent more this year. Typically they earn about $50,000, while "other employees" earned an average 3.57 per cent more. Last year their pay packets went up 3.19 per cent.

The Survey, the longest running in New Zealand, applies for the year ending July across 600 employers and covers 54,244 employees in 208 separate positions.

The figures were collected by the Employers & Manufacturers Association (Northern) on behalf of its associated organisations throughout the country. The pay rates quoted do not include performance incentive payments, or fringe benefits such as company cars, employer contributions to superannuation or health insurance.

For the year ending July 2002, employers were expecting pay rates to keep on rising with 62 per cent anticipating the average increase to be between two and three per cent. A further 22 per cent anticipated these pay rises coming up would be four or five per cent. Last year 57 per cent of employees got increases between two and three per cent.

"Around 30 per cent of general managers with 50 staff or less were paid an average of $84,000 plus some form of performance incentive worth an average of $18,741 a year," said Graeme Perfect, the survey's co-ordinator.

"Senior managers with salaries ranging from $54-$75,000 typically also get large cars, superannuation, medical insurance and incentive payments.

"The compensation of a quarter of middle managers, for example a Quality Controller, includes smaller cars worth $13,441 a year with 26 per cent of them getting employer superannuation top ups worth $5,355.

"Skilled production workers - there were 2098 employees represented in this category in the survey - earn an average of $31,751 with 60 per cent of them earning overtime of $5,626 last year. 41 per cent took home an extra $2775 in shift payments, and 24.5 per cent also earned an average of $2124 in production bonuses.

"Cars for skilled production workers were rarely available though 37 per cent were paid $2,388 in subsidised superannuation and 22.4 per cent had their medical insurance paid worth $417 pa.

"Two thirds of participants in the survey have a redundancy provision in their employment agreements with 64 per cent of employers providing redundancy compensation of 4+2, or 6+2 , i.e. either four or six weeks for the first year of employment plus two weeks for every year employed thereafter.

"When asked what annual holiday entitlements are paid on commencement, 58 per cent of employers reported they allow three weeks a year, with 37 per cent allowing four weeks and five per cent more than four weeks. In the "other employee" category, a fourth week's leave is allowed after five years service by 36 per cent of employers, and another 23 per cent allow a fourth week after six years.

"Further details on a range of individual job positions will be made public shortly."

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