Skip to content

4 February, 2023

Subscribe Advertise About Us
  • My Account
  • Register
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

  • Governance
  • Strategy
  • Risk
  • Ethics
  • News
    • Categories

      • View All
      • Board Moves
    • diversity talent pipeline

      News round-up: this week in governance

      Target diversity early; directors job market 'ossified'; US extends duty of oversight; 'kindness bias' hinders...

    • investors vote climate Investors favour votes against directors over say-on-climate proposals

      Rather than push for say-on-climate votes, unhappy shareholders tend to simply vote against the reappointment...

    • ESG M&A ESG grows in importance as driver of M&As

      One in 10 mergers and acquisitions now has an ESG component, according to estimates by...

  • Insight
    • Categories

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • governance recession

      What use is governance in a recession?

      Companies seeking competitive advantage in uncertain times will find that effective governance allows much sharper...

    • climate litigation

      Climate litigation: how 2022 will shape 2023

      This past year saw a rise in climate litigation, with a focus on the commercial...

    • value whistleblowing

      Why we need to value whistleblowing

      Encouraging staff to speak up and stop harm can reduce legal and reputational risk—both for...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • A week of business moving to the centre of human rights

      A week of events signals the initiatives underway to have companies play a central role...

    • audit reform IIA Why we need audit reform right now

      There is an "urgent need" for reform to the audit landscape as well as internal...

    • climate change energy crisis Sustainability and climate change: the other energy crisis

      The world is addicted to cheap energy. We need to admit this and have the...

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • Board priorities 2023 Board priorities 2023: tact, trust and transparency

      We asked key figures what would help boards this year. The answers ranged from 'smarter...

    • Group of investors/shareholders in glass building Climate issues likely to figure prominently at next year’s AGMs

      A recent webinar heard that say-on-climate voting is expected to rise, while ESG remains a...

    • NEDs role NEDs ‘needed more than ever’ in times of uncertainty

      The non-executive director’s role is to both challenge and listen to management, agreed the panel...

  • Careers
      • View all
      • Selection
      • Board Moves
    • diversity talent pipeline News round-up: this week in governance

      Target diversity early; directors job market 'ossified'; US extends duty of oversight; 'kindness bias' hinders...

    • NED recruitment News round-up: this week in governance

      Your country needs NEDs; governance does not compute; financial firms get more women on board;...

    • HR corporate trust HR: How to build employee trust in corporate culture

      The right HR director is essential to lead on a culture that gets the best...

  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Corporate & Advisory Services
    • Edelman Trust Barometer 2023

      2023 Edelman Trust Barometer

      The report is the result of the Edelman Trust Institute's research, which sampled more than...

    • Sophos 2023 Threat Report

      Barriers to entry for would-be cybercriminals are lower, with tools and tactics becoming available to...

    • The C-Suite Outlook 2023: On the Edge

      The Conference Board 2023 C-Suite Outlook survey reveals the events that C-suite executives see as...

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Selection
    • Board Expertise
    • finance
    • Technology

High Pay Commission declares ‘Fat Cat Wednesday’

by Gavin Hinks on January 4, 2017

Think-tank declares 4 January the day on which the average top boss has earned as much as the average worker will all year.

Pound coins

Image: Shutterstock

Pound coins.
Image: Shutterstock

Today has been dubbed “Fat Cat Wednesday”, the day by which the “typical” UK top boss will have made as much money as the average worker all year.

The name comes from the High Pay Centre, a think-tank which campaigns on pay issues. A counter on the centre’s website shows how much the average FTSE 100 chief executive earns over the year. Wednesday will see the counter reach £28,200, the average annual pay packet. Median FTSE 100 CEO pay in 2015 was £3.973m, according to the centre.

High Pay Centre director Stefan Stern said: “Our new year calculation is not designed to make the return to work harder than it already is.

“But ‘Fat Cat Wednesday’ is an important reminder of the continuing problem of the unfair pay gap in the UK. We hope the government will recognise that further reform to pay practices are needed if this gap is to be closed. That will be the main point in our submission to the business department in its current consultation over corporate governance reform.”

The UK government has published a green paper on corporate governance, which contains proposals for shareholders to receive binding annual votes on remuneration.

“Effective representation for ordinary workers on the company remuneration committees that set executive pay, and publication of the pay ratio between the highest and average earner within a company, would bring a greater sense of proportion to the setting of top pay,” Stern added.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail

Related Posts

  • High Pay Day reflects slight fall in FTSE 100 CEO pay
    January 7, 2022
    CEO putting pay in his pocket

    This year is the first time since 2011 that the median FTSE 100 CEO has had to work into a fourth day to make the average annual income.

  • CEO Covid pay cuts merely ‘symbolic’
    July 19, 2022
    pandemic pay

    Top-level pay was boosted to pre-pandemic levels by incentives schemes in many cases, leaving investors ‘outraged’, researchers found.

  • Average FTSE 350 pay ratio 'almost doubles' in 2022
    May 23, 2022
    Pound coins in a stack

    Gap between FTSE 350 CEOs and average workers has risen from 34:1 to 63:1, according to early figures collated by the High Pay Centre.

  • Predictable pay-outs expose the charade of performance-related pay
    November 16, 2021
    CEOs chasing money

    Incentive plans, share awards and bonus payments have become almost a guaranteed part of a chief executive’s pay package.

For thoughtful journalism, expert insights on corporate governance and an extensive library of reports, guides and tools to help boards and directors navigate the complexities of their roles, subscribe to Board Agenda

Executive pay, Fat Cat Wednesday, FTSE 100, High Pay Centre

Search


Sign up to our Newsletter

Receive independent news, thoughtful journalism & expert insights about leadership, corporate governance & key boardroom issues straight to your inbox every week.

SIGN UP

Follow Us

 

 

 

 

Most Popular

  • Investors favour votes against directors over say-on-climate proposals
  • Shell overhauls its board
  • ESG grows in importance as driver of M&As
  • News round-up: this week in governance
  • Audit reform in the UK risks ‘losing momentum’
 

Featured Partner Profile

Diligent

Diligent

Diligent Corporation, which was founded in 2001, is headquartered in New York, NY with a European HQ in London. Diligent’s modern governance platform empowers leaders and teams at every level of the organisation to digitally transform and create ...

Featured Partner Resources

2022 AGM Season Forecast: An Eye on The Horizon

To help prepare for AGMs in 2022, Equiniti (EQ) hi...

Stakeholder Engagement: A Roadmap for UK Plc Boards

This guide aims to provide directors and their col...

Digital Boards: How Technology Adoption is Driving Culture Change and Resiliency

Digital tools proved their worth to boards during ...
Leadership in AI report

Leadership in AI

This report from Board Agenda and Mazars, in assoc...
Creativity in a Crisis: a Boardroom Map for Innovation

Creativity in a Crisis: a Boardroom Map for Innovation

In the uncertain times at the height of any crisis...
Board Directors Guide to D&O Liability Insurance - November 2020 - AIG & Board Agenda

Board Directors' Guide to D&O Liability Insurance

Directors face liability over a range of new threa...
Leadership-in-Risk-Management-Board-Report

Leadership in Risk Management: Board Report

Board Agenda, in association with Mazars and INSEA...
Director's Guide to Internal Investigations

A Director's Guide to Conducting Internal Investigations

An internal investigation must be handled meticulo...

 


 

ADVERTISE – FREE CORPORATE LISTING

FREE - Add your company profile to our Corporate & Advisory Directory.
ADD

ADVERTISE – PROMOTE YOUR REPORTS & WHITEPAPERS

FREE - Add your company profile to our Corporate & Advisory Directory.
Add Resource

Register Free

Register to receive free article views, selected resource downloads, and all the latest news alerts straight to your inbox. Register


  • Editors & Contributors
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Corporate & Advisory Services
  • Media Marketing Solutions
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Board Director Network
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Sitemap
|