2006 Will See Higher Merit Pay Increases, New Business & Legal Reports Pay Budget Survey Forecasts

Business Wire, August 17, 2005

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. -- A new salary survey finds that compensation managers are feeling optimistic, and that could mean good news in your paycheck. Business & Legal Reports, Inc. (BLR) has just released its 2006 Pay Budget Survey, which predicts that the national average merit increase for exempt office employees will hit 4.0% in 2006 (up from 3.7% in 2005). Non-exempt office workers (those who must be paid overtime) will see average increases of 3.8%.

More than 1100 organizations participated in BLR's July 2005 pay survey. Projected merit increases are greater this year for three of the four employee categories surveyed. Unionized plant workers, however, will see merit increases smaller in 2006 than in 2005 (2.9% vs. 3.1%). Non-union plant workers will fare better, with a projected 3.5% increase in 2006 vs. 3.2% a year ago.

Susan Schoenfeld, J.D., editor at Compensation.BLR.com, commented on the results of BLR's survey of planned 2006 pay increases: "BLR's annual salary forecast is an important indicator of how companies feel about the economy and labor trends. By projecting merit increases to go up in 2006 they seem to be saying that the non-union labor market will continue to be strong in 2006, and that their organizations are healthy enough to pay for those raises."

For the second year in a row the BLR 2006 Pay Budget Survey projects that the Central/Rocky Mountain/Southwest region will provide the highest merit pay increases in the country, where exempt employees will get increases of 4.4% (vs. 3.9% in 2005). The lowest planned merit increases are projected for union plant workers in the Northeast/Middle Atlantic region at 2.3%.

Complimentary 2005 Pay Budget Survey Available

Interested employers may download a free summary report of the 2006 Pay Budget Survey at: http://www.blr.com/82008500/PRS41 The summary includes merit and general pay projections for four categories of employees as well as by type of employer.

About BLR

Old Saybrook, Conn.-based BLR produces plain-English compliance and training resources for HR, compensation, safety, and environmental managers. For more information about other audio conferences and a free catalog, call 800-727-5257 or visit www.BLR.com.