yardstick

Benchmarking World Cup preparations...

Chart 2: Provision of special
Business benefits of staff watching games
Chart 1: Provision of special
facilities for employees working arrangements
With the 2010 World Cup set to kick off this Friday
(11 June 2010), a majority of UK employers have Provision of special working arrangements
plans in place to allow their employees to watch  during 2010 World Cup
matches taking place during their working day. But Flexible start
TVs in 31 employers believe and end times 67%
rather
communal areasthan causing disruption,
these arrangements will have a positive impact on Extended
TVs inbusiness.
staff room 15 among the key findings of lunch breaks 49%
These are
benchmarking research on sporting policies Consider late
44%
undertaken by9IRS for XpertHR, and based on
Use of radios requests for
annual leave
Allow responses
employees from 100 organisations employing a
to watch event 4 Time off
in lieu
30%
combined
on the internet workforce of 285,386.

4two-thirds of out to watch relevant World None 16%

Almost
Other
employers (63%) have Cup matches in a local pub. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
arrangements0 10
in place20 to 30 A majority
40 of employers Chart 2: Provision of special
Source: IRS employees toNo. of employers Source: IRS % of employers
allow follow the (88%) believe that accommo- facilities for employees
football World Cup. dating employees desires to
By sector, private sector follow the World Cup will
employers are much more minimise its impact on pro- Provision of special facilities for employees
li kely to ma ke specia l ductivity. A further 85%  during 2010 World Cup
arrangements to a l low believe such arrangements TVs in
employees to watch major will be good for business and communal areas 31
sporting events such as morale.
World Cup matches. Two- Three-fifths of employers TVs in staff room 15
thirds of public sector organ- (60%) believe flexible starting
isations (67%) have no such and finishing times are the
provision in place, compared most popular sporting poli- Use of radios 9
with only one-third (31.8%) cies among employees, while Allow employees
in the private sector. two-fifths (38%) cite extended to watch event 4
The most popular work- lunch breaks. on the internet
ing time arrangement put in
place to allow employees to key statistic

63%
watch World Cup matches is
flexible start and end times,
followed by extended lunch
breaks (see chart, top).
The most popular special
facility to allow employees to
follow World Cup matches
during working hours is to
make TVs available to staff
(see chart, bottom).
One employer plans to
allow employees to have time
Percentage employers with
arrangements in place to
allow employees to follow
the World Cup
Source: IRS/XpertHR
Other 4
0 10 20 30 40
Source: IRS No. of employers
Access full benchmarking data on World Cup
preparations and sporting policies:
XpertHR data
 www.personneltoday.com/xperthr70
XpertHR benchmarking
Read detailed analysis of the 2010 sporting policy The new benchmarking service
survey findings: www.personneltoday.com/xperthr71 from XpertHR draws together a
wealth of HR benchmarking data
that will be useful to your job.
Chart 1: Pay review pattern, We believe this is the most

Indicators... at-a-glance business data
Pay awards
The median basic pay
award stood at 1% over the
three months to 30 April
2010, according to data from
IRS for XpertHR.
Just over one-third of pay
awards (36.3%) resulted in a
pay freeze.
The interquartile range
for pay awards was between
nil and 2%.
Three-fifths of pay deals
(59.5%) were worth less than
a year ago.
Consumer prices index
(CPI) inflation: 3.7% (April
2010).
Retail prices index exclud-
ing mortgage interest pay-
ments (RPIX): 5.4% (April
2010).
www.statistics.gov.uk
Unemployment
Headline unemployment
rate: 8.0% (January to March
2010).
Unemployment level: 2.51
million (January to March
2010).
December 2008 to December 2009 comprehensive resource of HR
benchmarking data available to
UK employers. Drawn
Whole economy pay review pattern:  predominantly from IRS survey
data, its designed to be both
 April 2009 to April 2010 accessible and interactive.
www.xperthr.co.uk/hr-benchmarking
4 Take part in IRS
benchmarking surveys
3 The IRS benchmarking survey
research programme has a
four-decade history of reporting
2
on and setting the agenda for
HR best practice. Take part in
1 our research to benefit from our
expertise.
www.irsresearch.co.uk
0
Apr 09

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan 10

Feb

Mar

Apr

www.xperthr.co.uk/paybenefits Statistics you need to know

Claimant count unem- Key employment law facts and
Inflation ployment rate: 4.7% (March figures, supplied by XpertHR.
Retail prices index (RPI) 2010). www.personneltoday.com/rates
inflation: 5.3% (April 2010). www.statistics.gov.uk

www.personneltoday.com 8 June 2010 23