Pay Ratios

 

Interest by the media, the public, and shareholders in the pay of CEOs has never been higher, and governments have increasingly taken notice of this in recent years. It is perceived as inequitable and often unjustifiable as to why there should be such large discrepancies between the pay of CEOs and of the employees in their companies. Recent legislation in some countries, and proposed legislation in others, has sought to address this concern by ensuring that companies disclose the ratio of CEO pay and the median employee’s pay in their company.

US Companies

In 2015 the SEC adopted amendments to Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K, on pay ratio disclosure such that companies have to provide details of the relationship of the annual total compensation of their employees and the annual total compensation of their Chief Executive Officer (CEO), i.e. the ratio of the CEO pay to the median of the annual total compensation of all employees. This applies to companies’ for their first fiscal year beginning on or after 1^st January 2017.

Honeywell International, a large multinational corporation, was the first major U.S. public company to disclose its ratio of CEO pay to that of the median employee with a pay ratio of 333:1.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) highlights that in the S&P 500, Mattel had the highest ratio of CEO pay to median worker pay with a ratio of 4987:1. They reported a higher ratio still in the Russell 3000 where Weight Watchers International had a pay ratio of 5908:1. More detail is available at:

https://aflcio.org/paywatch/company-pay-ratios

UK Companies

In the UK, listed companies with more than 250 UK employees will legally be required to annually publish and justify the pay difference between chief executives and their staff for the first time. The regulations governing pay ratios will, subject to Parliamentary approval, come into effect from 1 January 2019 with companies reporting their pay ratios in 2020.

The disclosure of pay ratios is part of a move to hold larger companies more accountable for CEO pay and will provide helpful insights into the difference between CEO pay and average employee pay in different sectors and in individual larger companies in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-biggest-firms-will-have-to-justify-pay-gap-between-bosses-and-their-workers

 

Japan

Japan is a country whose CEOs have traditionally earned less than their global peers and where the ratio of CEO pay to that of the average employee has been lower than in countries such as the US. Part of this is attributable to the culture of Japan where very high pay ratios between CEO pay and average employee pay would not be viewed favourably.

It will be interesting to see what the impact of the disclosure of pay ratios in the US and other countries will be in the coming years.  Already shareholder revolts over executive pay during 2018 are growing and high pay ratios of CEO pay to the average employee’s pay could increase shareholders’ dissent on this issue.

 

Chris Mallin

June 2018