The Gold Coast Bulletin

Exec pay attacked

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RIO Tinto has come under fire at its London annual meeting for paying out bonuses to executives in a year when two of its workers died on the job.

Proxy adviser Glass Lewis said paying bonuses linked to safety at a mining company that had suffered a workplace death was “considered a serious breach of moral and ethical code by many investors”.

Glass Lewis said Rio rivals such as BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals and Newcrest generally cut the safety component of a bonus, generally housed under short-term incentive payments, to zero in years when an employee died.

Rio chief Jean-Sebastien Jacques and chief financial officer Christophe­r Lynch had their safety bonuses reduced last year but not cut in full.

The miner has introduced a new executive pay framework that places greater emphasis on safety and ensures the safety-linked component is void if a worker dies.

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