The voluntary sector has had the lowest median pay rise over the past year, according to XpertHr’s annual review of pay trends.

The annual review looked at pay awards across 12 industrial sectors from September 2009 to August 2010. The research is based on 1,327 pay awards in the private and voluntary sector.

The highest median basic pay award by sector was recorded in the general manufacturing and food, drink and tobacco sectors. Both sectors recorded median pay rises of 2 per cent.

However, in the charity sector the median pay rise was only 1 per cent. Even worse, the median pay award in housing associations was nil, meaning that at least half of basic pay awards froze pay rates.

The findings match a survey by CFDG earlier this year which found that the most common pay award for finance directors was 1 per cent in 2009.

XpertHR pay and benefits deputy editor Sarah Welfare said: "Over 2010 we have seen manufacturing pay deals recover somewhat compared with the previous year, while others, such as the voluntary sector, have seen pay deals plunge to new lows. Employers' predictions suggest that while pay rises may creep up a little in those sectors recovering well from the recession, most are forecasting rises of 2 per cent comfortably below the pre-recession norm of 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent."