DOs are ranked below halfway in pay league

The government has come under fire over the findings of a pay survey which reveal that the average UK worker received a below-inflation earnings increase in the year to April 2007, while progress towards closing the gender pay gap has slowed considerably.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), published by the Office for National Statistics, provides a wealth of pay benchmarking data including guidance on average pay for employed optometrists and dispensing opticians.

A 1 per cent sample of the workforce was identified from the HM Revenue & Customs PAYE tax lists and obtained confidentially from employers.

Optometrists ranked 28th in the pay league by occupation with a gross annual income of £43,755, while DOs were ranked 193rd with a gross annual income of £23,379. The league assessed gross annual full-time salaries for 341 occupations and revealed that the median annual earnings for workers was £24,002 - 2.7 per cent more than the previous year (£23,002).