Management: Pay in practice

Pay is understandably a sensitive topic in the current economic climate and, according to Optician’s 2023 annual salary survey, there is variation in salaries.

Of the 1,255 responses received, 40.4% earned between £20k and £40k, but notably, 4.3% earned between £10k and £15k and another 7.4% earned less than £10k.

As to how pay should be set, from a legal perspective, Lucy Gordon, a director at Walker Morris, says: ‘There is no such thing as “fair” pay, only equal pay.’ This means outside of negotiated pay agreements with a trade union, or national pay awards, pay is determined by the employer.

She says: ‘It is up to an employer to decide what factors to take into account, whether this is inflation, Retail Prices Index, or what their competitors are paying.