Legal News
New Poll Reveals Little Public Support for Multimillion-Pound Executive Pay (1 February 2012)
Date: 01/02/2012
A new poll has revealed a lack of public support for executive pay, with few people believing that top bosses are worthy of earning in excess of £1 million per annum. A poll of over 2,000 adults, conducted by the research group, High Pay Centre, revealed that two-thirds of all surveyed desire executive pay to be curbed, while almost as many adults claimed that they failed to believe that executive pay rates were open and transparent. Seven per cent of those polled claimed to support the £1 million incomes of chief executives of companies in the FTSE 100. Only one per cent believed that senior bosses at the top end of business were worthy of their £4 million salaries. Two out of three adults agreed that company remuneration committees should feature a worker representative, a move ruled out by the Government.
Deborah Hargreaves, the High Pay Centre’s director, claimed that top executive incomes and business behaviour were issues at the centre of the public debate over the rebuilding of the economy. She added that their polling showed that the public did not support the multimillion-pound incomes offered to executives and that it was time for the boardrooms to realise that top executive incomes were unfair and that public trust needed to be rebuilt. Ms. Hargreaves believes that the Government’s plans for greater shareholder scrutiny and increased transparency over executive pay were insufficient, adding that the public desired rewards based upon fairness.
Duncan Lewis’ employment law solicitors are able to provide essential legal advice relating to income disputes.