UK reward metrics · Pay

Do UK organisations operate a formal counter-offer policy?

Source lumi HRBase 265 organisationsFieldwork 2026 H1

54.3%No formal policy (handled ad hoc)

54.3% of organisations in the lumi HR community answered “No formal policy (handled ad hoc)” on formal counter-offer policy (base: 265 UK organisations, 2026 H1).

Figures describe organisations in the lumi HR community, not a random sample of UK employers.

How UK organisations answered

Never counter-offer 13.6% Case-by-case with senior approval 28.7% Routinely counter-offer 3.4% No formal policy (handled ad hoc) 54.3%
Formal counter-offer policy (base: 265 organisations, 2026 H1). Percentages percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding.
Formal counter-offer policy: share of organisations by answer
AnswerShare of organisations
Never counter-offerrare13.6%
Case-by-case with senior approvalalternative28.7%
Routinely counter-offerrare3.4%
No formal policy (handled ad hoc)common54.3%

Common, alternative and rare describe how each answer sits against the community: the most chosen answer is common; an answer chosen by fewer than one in five organisations is rare.

Definition

The organisation's stance on matching external offers to retain resigning employees, from never countering to routine counter-offers. See the methodology for how the base is built, how not-applicable answers are handled, the public floor, and which organisations are excluded.

Cite this figure
Source: lumi HR, UK Reward Metrics, September 2026, lumihr.co.uk/metrics/formal-counter-offer-policy
Last updated 19 September 2026 · Data licence: CC BY 4.0 for the figures in the CSV download.

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