Employee motivation: Public and private sector pay comparisons are 'completely misleading'

Date: 07/07/2011

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have risked dampening employee motivation as they revealed that public sector employees are paid on average 7.8 per cent more than their private sector counterparts.

But the general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, says that the pay is not better – rather, it is fairer.

The ONS figures have shown not only higher pay for those working in the private sector, but also that difference between pay has increased by 2.5 percentage points since 2007.

Mr Barber has called comparisons between public and private sector pay "completely misleading".

"Hourly pay has been higher in the public sector for over 30 years. This is because public sector workers tend to be more highly skilled doing jobs like teaching and health care.

"Public sector high flyers are paid six per cent less than those at the top of the private sector, while those in less skilled jobs on lower pay earn six per cent more in the public sector," he pointed out.

Posted by Jo Morgan

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