May’s mixed message on fatcat bosses
THERESA May has been accused of attacking greedy bosses to mask a U-turn on plans to curb fatcat pay.
The Prime Minister said some business leaders were wrecking Britain’s “social fabric” by rewarding themselves with “abhorrent” wage packets.
The Government will set out plans this week to name and shame corporate chiefs who May brands the “unacceptable face of capitalism.”
But the Prime Minister has watered down her original proposals for workers’ representatives on boards and shareholder votes on bosses’ pay.
Instead, workers will be given a “louder voice” either by having an employee advisory panel, a dedicated board member or an employee representative on the board.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “If the Government were serious about reining in executive pay, they’d be putting workers on company boards too.”
May said a “minority” of firms were “falling short” of the standards expected of them by paying bosses multi-million pound salaries.
A report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the High Pay Centre has revealed the huge gulf in pay at some firms.
The average FTSE 100 CEO was handed a package worth £4.5million last year, of which their salary was £876,000.