Latest news with #paygap
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
CEO pay at UK's top companies is 52 times that of typical worker, report finds
The chief executive of a FTSE 350 company is paid 52 times as much as a typical worker, according to the latest measure of inequality between bosses and their employees. Median pay for FTSE 350 chief executives was £2.5m last year, which works out at 52 times a median worker's pay, according to a new report from the High Pay Centre campaign group. The widest gap was found at the cleaning, security and waste management group Mitie, whose chief executive, Phil Bentley, was paid £14.7m, 575 times more than a middle-earner in the 2023-24 financial year. Tesco ranked the second highest for the same period among FTSE 350 companies legally obliged to report the figure. With a package worth nearly £10m, the supermarket's chief executive, Ken Murphy, was paid 431 times more than a typical Tesco worker that year. The most recent ratio, for the company's 2024-25 financial year, was lower, at a multiple of 373 as Murphy's pay fell to £9.2m. Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre, said a maximum pay ratio between chief executives and workers could help ensure that all workers received 'a fair reward for their contribution to business success'. The pay-gap ratio was even starker among FTSE 100 companies, where the median pay of chief executives was 78 times higher than their median employees. When compared with the lowest-earning quartile, the multiple rose to 106. The High Pay Centre suggested all companies should be required to publish their CEO-to-worker pay gaps in their annual reports, and include pay figures for outsourced workers in their calculations. Its research found the pay-gap ratio between chief executives and workers had decreased in the past year, and that there had been growth in pay for the lowest-earning workers. However, the thinktank noted this could also have reflected changes such as a smaller workforce due to job cuts, outsourcing or relocation. Tensions have been growing in the City over big pay packages for chief executives. Last month Centrica, the owner of British Gas, faced a shareholder rebellion after it handed its boss a multimillion-pound pay packet while energy bill payers struggled with record levels of debt. Before the vote, the leading proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services recommended against supporting Chris O'Shea's pay rise as it 'was materially above those given to the wider workforce'. Elsewhere, the pay package of Marks & Spencer's chief executive, Stuart Machin, jumped to more than £7m just weeks before the cyber-attack that rocked the retailer. It marked a 40% rise compared with the £5.1m he took home a year earlier, partly as a result of a sharp rise in performance-linked bonuses. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Bosses in the banking sector are also expected to get bumper pay packages this year after the removal of the UK banker bonus cap in late 2023. NatWest Group proposed a 43% increase in the maximum for its chief executive, Paul Thwaite, taking his total compensation to as high as £7.7m for the year. Meanwhile, his counterpart at Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, could earn up to £14.3m, a 45% increase. HSBC has suggested a 43% rise for Georges Elhedery, for a maximum payout of about £15m. A spokesperson for Tesco said its most recent pay-gap ratio reflected a remuneration policy for executive directors tied to the performance of the business. They said: 'We remain committed to a competitive and fair reward package for all colleagues. Earlier this year we announced a further increase in hourly pay rates, equivalent to an investment of more than £900m over the last three years.' A spokesperson for Mitie said its high multiple reflected a one-off award for its chief executive after the acquisition of another business, Interserve. They said: 'The acquisition saved 29,000 jobs, Mitie's revenues have more than doubled from £2.2bn to £5.1bn, and the share price has risen 125%. 'Our colleagues have also benefited from Mitie's strong financial performance during that time through the gifting of over £19m in free shares as well as £30m of value created for colleagues who participated in the 'save as you earn' scheme during that time.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Same Role, Same Experience—One Tech Worker Found Out Colleague Made Nearly Double The Money. It Could End Up Badly For One Of Them
A tech employee recently discovered a jaw-dropping pay gap between them and a colleague with the same title and similar experience. While they earn $60,000 a year, their coworker, 'John,' makes $115,000. The two work at a large tech company, and the disparity sparked a flood of advice and opinion on Reddit. The original poster explained that they lead two teams—including one that the poster built from scratch—while John is just a member of one. They have been at the company for two years; John has been there for three. The key difference is that John came from a startup that was acquired by the tech giant, keeping his original salary intact. The poster, on the other hand, was hired post-merger through a staffing agency. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Peter Thiel turned $1,700 into $5 billion—now accredited investors are eyeing this software company with similar breakout potential. Learn how you can 'He was hired as part of a startup that was bought by this tech company,' OP wrote. 'As such, his higher pay carried over after the merge. I was hired after the merge through a staffing agency.' OP later updated the post to add: 'I found out today that the company is trying very hard to find a reason to get rid of John, which is at least partially because he makes so much. Maybe our pay difference was for the best lol!' This revelation added a surprising twist to the situation. While OP may be underpaid, John's inflated salary appears to have made him a target. Many companies are always looking for ways to cut costs. If they think someone is overpaid and replaceable, some start building a case to get rid of them. What started as a frustrating realization for OP might ultimately end in job loss for John. The title of 'highest-paid peer' can sometimes come with a bullseye. Trending: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Commenters were quick to point out a harsh truth: negotiating power is everything. 'Apply to another job and get an offer. Use that offer to negotiate higher pay at your current job. Then—maybe—take the new job, it might be time to move in a new direction,' one commenter advised. Another added, 'There is no maybe. Take the new job.' Many echoed the same idea: internal raises tend to be small, and significant jumps usually come by switching employers. Others cautioned that bringing up John's name directly in negotiations would be a mistake. 'Try to negotiate a raise and don't bring John up in any way, shape or form,' someone warned. 'You now know how high the ceiling is and they don't know that you know. Use that to your advantage.'Many highlighted how hiring timing and negotiation skills play a bigger role than job performance. John kept a premium salary due to his previous startup role, while OP started at the lower end because of agency involvement and timing. '60k in tech is low, and that has nothing to do with the 'pay gap,' it's just low, period,' one compensation expert wrote. 'You should be looking and interviewing, and the same would be true if you didn't have a better-paid colleague.' Some speculated that John's days may be numbered. 'If they had someone that they thought was capable of doing John's job for $60k, they would fire John today and hire that person,' a person foreshadowed what could happen before the post was updated. The overwhelming consensus is not to count on your company to fix pay discrepancies. Use market research, get external offers, and be willing to leave. 'You're only as valuable as someone is willing to pay you,' one person summarized. Read Next: Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Inspired by Uber and Airbnb – Deloitte's fastest-growing software company is transforming 7 billion smartphones into income-generating assets – Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Same Role, Same Experience—One Tech Worker Found Out Colleague Made Nearly Double The Money. It Could End Up Badly For One Of Them originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Truth about Sharon Stone's iconic Basic Instinct scene revealed
Sharon Stone is no Hollywood Karen. Never afraid to speak her mind or seek fair compensation for her work, Stone, 67, has been in the headlines for her criticism of Hollywood's pay gap. In a resurfaced 2023 interview with Deadline, Stone revealed how she is still offered far less money than her male co-stars, despite being a world-famous star. 'Thirty years ago, when I did Basic Instinct, Michael Douglas made $14 million and I made $500,000,' she told Deadline. 'Last year, there was a $100 million film being made by a studio, and the actor, who was new, was going to be paid something like $8 million or $9 million – someone we don't really know – and the studio offered me again $500,000 to be the female lead. 'And I thought, 30 years later this is still happening. So, I don't think it has changed much.' Making Basic Instinct wasn't an ego-boosting experience for Stone. In her autobiography, The Beauty Of Living Twice, she described the humiliation of the producer constantly calling her 'Karen' and being reminded she was the 'thirteenth choice' for the role of Catherine Tramell. Plus, Stone was duped into filming the movie's infamous leg-crossing scene, only discovering she had exposed herself at a screening. 'That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I'd been told: 'We can't see anything – I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on,'' she wrote. 'Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I'm the one with the vagina in question, let me say: The other points of view are bullsh*t … It was me and my parts up there.' Describing herself as the 'the last of the sex symbols' in an interview with the BBC, Stone explained how her Basic Instinct fame has been a double-edged sword. On one hand it put her on the map in Hollywood and gave her a platform to raise money for AIDS charities, but it also came at a huge personal cost. Appearing on Bruce Bozzi's Table For Two podcast, Stone said her groundbreaking performance was weaponised against her during a custody battle with her ex-husband Phil Bronstein. 'The judge asked my child – my tiny little boy, 'Do you know your mother makes sex movies?' Like, this kind of abuse by the system – that I was considered what kind of parent I was, because I made that movie,' she reflected on losing custody of her eldest adopted son Roan. Throughout her 30+ years in the spotlight, Stone has struggled with her femme fatale image. Far from being a sex siren, before Basic Instinct Stone insists she was 'still shy and introverted', and had to be coaxed into embracing a more sexually confident persona. 'Chuck, my manager at the time, had told me that no one would hire me because everyone said I wasn't sexy,' she wrote. 'I wasn't, as they liked to say in Hollywood at the time, 'f**kable'.' All that changed after Basic Instinct, and the line between Stone herself and her character became blurred for many in the industry. On Louis Theroux's podcast, Stone divulged that producer Robert Evans had asked her to have sex with her Sliver co-star Billy Baldwin to save the film from being a flop. '[Evans is] running around his office in his sunglasses, explaining to me that he slept with Ava Gardner and I should sleep with Billy Baldwin, because if I slept with Billy Baldwin, Billy Baldwin's performance would get better,' Stone remembered. 'And we needed Billy to get better in the movie, because that was the problem.' Stone refused. And was painted as the villain of the Sliver set by Evans, who told everyone she had the charm of a barracuda. It all became part of the enduring narrative that Stone is demanding. There was talk she'd pulled a gun on a Basic Instinct cameraman to warn: 'If I see one ounce of cellulite on the screen, you're a dead man.' Then she was painted as greedy for taking producers of the sequel to court. And in his gossip-laden autobiography, Red Carpets And Other Banana Skins, Rupert Everett moaned how Stone had kept cast and crew waiting on the set of their 2004 film A Different Loyalty. While unapologetic about being a strong woman in Hollywood, surviving a catastrophic stroke has given Stone fresh perspective. In a candid speech at the Women's Brain Health Initiative panel in 2017, she described how the life-threatening brain injury – which, she was told, only had a 1 per cent survival rate – made her re-evaluate a lot of things. 'I had lost my marriage, lost custody of my child, lost my place in line in the business, lost all my money because I was paying so many different things,' she detailed. '[I was] scraping by. I know what it's like to go through a situation where you are the top, top, top of your field, to [be] absolutely wiped out.' Celebrate Stone's return from the brink with a watch of these seminal roles. The Quick And The Dead: Stone joins gunslinging Oscar-winners Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman and Leonardo DiCaprio in this under-appreciated Western directed by Sam Raimi.
Telegraph
12-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Women are now the breadwinners in one in four couples
Are you the female breadwinner in your household? Tell us your views: money@ Women are now the breadwinner in one out of four relationships, The Telegraph can reveal. Analysis shows that the proportion of wives earning more than their husbands has risen from 20pc to 25pc over the past decade. The data shows an increasing shift in traditional earning dynamics between couples in which the man has a higher salary. It comes as the gender pay gap sits at a record low of 13.1pc, as of April 2024, down from 14.2pc the previous year. Dr Eliza Filby, historian and author on generational changes in society, said: 'Women are out-earning and out-educating men in their 20s, and so it's no surprise that they are increasingly the breadwinner. We are also seeing the decline of working-class men's wages.' She highlighted how the financial dynamics of relationships have changed from the days of one parent staying at home looking after the children, as this is no longer a viable option. She said: 'We are seeing the rise of prioritising financial compatibility in relationships. For Gen Z, this is increasingly important. This generation grew up with increasing divorce, increasing dual incomes and rising costs with respect to housing, childcare and living. You cannot live on one income alone.' There are certain professions in which women typically earn more than men, such as physiotherapy, gardening and counselling, according to the Official For National Statistics (ONS). But the biggest earner for women is working as an energy plant operative, overseeing the generation and distribution of electricity, where you can get paid 25pc more than a male counterpart. Female social and humanities scientists may often be the breadwinner, as they tend to earn 21pc more than men, according to the ONS. On the other end of the spectrum is the world of finance, where men still earn 28pc more as managers and directors. Female civil servants in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) earn on average 91pc of what men earn. Women are a minority in the MoD, and few top earners are female. The rise of women bringing in the main income could be because young women earn better salaries than young men. Earlier this year, it was revealed that 16- to 24-year-old women earn £2,200 more than men on average. This is a drastic reversal from two years earlier, when the average young man earned £1,000 per year more than women, according to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). The CSJ said the shift was the result of a 'crisis' for boys and young men that is seeing them fall behind in education and the workforce. In the first three months of this year, the unemployment rate for men was 4.4pc, while it was 4.1pc for women, data company Statista has found. Last year, Mel Stride, the former works and pensions secretary, blamed porn and video games for the increase in jobless men. Women are still more likely to go to university than men, data from the Government shows. The UCAS acceptance rate for 18-year-olds is 41pc for women, compared with 30pc for men. Women also make up a greater proportion of the students at Russell Group universities, 24 of the UK's leading institutions. Nearly 64pc of King's College London students are women, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Since 2017, any company with 250 or more employees on a specific date each year must report their gender pay gap data. The gender pay gap gradually increases with age, rising from 9.7pc for 30- to 39-year-olds to 18.9pc for 50- to 59-year-olds. Dr Filby said: 'We are seeing a trend of see-saw marriages, in which the majority earner switches between the man and the woman because of promotions and pay rises, but also inheritance.' PwC has previously highlighted a 'motherhood penalty' which widens the gender pay gap after women take time off for work during pregnancy. James Neave, of hiring platform Adzuna, said: 'It's fantastic to see more women stepping into the role of primary earner in a relationship, as this suggests we are making good strides towards achieving pay parity. 'In recent years, many forward-thinking employers have taken steps to help close their gender pay gaps, including implementing flexible working and offering female-centric work perks, such as childcare support and enhanced maternity and paternity leave – all of which help level the playing field.'
CBC
04-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
B.C. government says provincial gender pay gap seeing 'modest improvement'
Social Sharing B.C.'s second annual pay transparency report shows a two per cent improvement in pay equality between women and men in the province, which a Canadian organization championing gender equality says is far from enough. The report reveals a two-cent decrease in pay inequality, with women earning 85 cents for every dollar a man earned in 2024, up from 83 cents in 2023. Sectors that saw the largest improvements in closing the gender pay gap, according to Statistics Canada data, were agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, where pay inequality has dropped from 45 percent to 36 per cent since 2023 — a nine per cent decrease. Mining, quarrying and oil-and-gas extraction saw a seven per cent decrease in pay inequality from 24 per cent to 17 per cent, and young women with trade certificates or diplomas saw a 13 per cent drop in the gender pay gap from 18 per cent to 11 per cent in B.C. from 2017 to 2024. WATCH | B.C. government introduces new pay transparency law: The report says 85 per cent of job postings in B.C. in 2024 included information about pay, whereas other parts of the country came in at 52 per cent, according to the job-search platform Indeed. According to the report, B.C. has the fourth-highest gender pay gap among Canadian provinces. When intersectional identities are considered, such as being Indigenous or a female newcomer to Canada, pay inequality is higher. Humera Jabir, a staff lawyer with the West Coast branch of the Women's Legal and Education Action Fund (LEAF), says a two-cent improvement in closing the gender pay gap in this year's annual report is negligible. "The Pay Transparency Act has no teeth and it has no ability to enforce the changes that we need to see to close the gender pay gap in B.C." Jabir says to close the gap, B.C. needs a living wage for all people, policies that support and value caregivers, higher assistance for those on disability assistance, and fairness and protection for migrants. "We need the B.C. government to recognize that this is a systematic issue of pay discrimination that is deeply built into our economy and reflects the social and economic devaluation of work that's done by women and people who experience marginalization." Jabir says a lot of women and marginalized people work in spaces with fewer than 50 employees, so they will not be reflected in pay transparency data under the act in B.C. The pay transparency act tool that the government is relying on is not capturing everyone, especially those most impacted by the gender pay gap, says Jabir. "Unfortunately, what the reports are showing over and over again is that there is gender, systemic inequality in how people are paid. We've known that for decades, so what is the B.C. aovernment doing to do about it?" Karsari Govender, B.C.'s human rights commissioner, says that while the numbers in the report show slight improvements, it is worth noting that the data is limited to a select group who work for larger employers with 1,000 or more employees. Gender pay gap data will be expected from B.C. employers with 300 or more employees beginning this November, and employers with 50 or more employees will be expected to compile and post reports about their gender pay gap data starting in November 2026. Govender says only 86 per cent of employers complied with the pay transparency legislation, so the numbers from the report don't paint an entirely accurate picture. "Pay transparency legislation is an important step towards pay equity, but the problem is it can't be the only step. The biggest issue is that we don't have pay equity legislation." Govender notes that while gender pay gap reporting is mandatory in B.C., there are no mechanisms to enforce it to hold employers accountable. She says an enforcement mechanism, such as fines or other penalties for non-compliance, is needed for the legislation to work more effectively. The intersectional data collected in the report is important, says Govender. Women overall made 85 cents on the dollar compared to men, while women with disabilities made 82 cents, and transgender women made 52 cents.
