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NOVEMBER 2018
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N E W S A N D V I E W S I N T H E B U S I N E S S W O R L D
Business
A new report from the High Pay
Centre, a think tank that looks at
top incomes, has revealed that
the average FTSE 100 company
pays its CEO 140 times more
than its average employee,
something experts warn can
harm businesses in the long run.
The High Pay Centre,
revealed that the average
FTSE 100 CEO’s pay package
jumped from £4.96m in 2014 to
£5.48m in 2015. This 10.5 per cent
increase means the average
ratio between these executives’
remuneration and that of their
employees was 140:1 in 2015.
The think tank is not alone in
warning business leaders on the
disadvantages of accepting
overly-lavish pay packages. “A
recent CIPD study showed that
six in ten of employees say that
high levels of CEO pay in the UK
demotivates them at work,” said
Peter Cheese, chief executive
at the CIPD, the association for
human resource management
professionals. “The message
from employees is clear: ‘The
more you take, the less we’ll
give’. This kind of culture in
the workplace is bad for both
employers and employees.
When executive pay isn’t linked
to performance or business
outcomes, it undermines trust
in business.”
New research from TotallyMoney to
discover which countries in Europe offer
a maximum of leisure time to keep their
citizens happy and a minimum of working
hours, found that Denmark and Sweden
top the work/life balance list – with the UK
coming in at an unlucky 13th position.
Denmark and Sweden have
comparatively less working hours a week,
a good number of bank holidays and
holiday allowance, and plenty of time
dedicated to leisure each day.
HERE ARE THE TOP 5:
1.
Denmark was the top scorer for
happiness and fared exceedingly well on
average salary against cost of living, time
devoted to leisure, and hours worked.
A freeze on business rates,
increased free town centre
parking and safeguards around
access to cash and banking,
must be put in place to help
struggling businesses on the
high street, say the Federation
of Small Businesses (FSB).
The burden of rising rates
bills and ever-increasing
rents, coupled with soaring
employment costs and pressure
from online retailers and out-of-
town shopping centres, are all
creating a perfect storm in our
town centres.
The FSB has set out new
recommendations which
should be targeted by
policymakers to provide an
urgent lifeline for the sector in
England.
• Create fairer business rates
bills for high streets and beyond
• Build an easy system for
businesses to appeal rates bills
• Abolish the rate relief rule
that penalises small business
expansion into additional
premises
• Create more free parking and
invest in the maintenance of
local road networks, which
support local high streets and
their customers
• Put in place measures
to safeguard access to cash
and banking services
Mike Cherry, National
Chairman at the FSB, said: “We
know that small business owners
are resilient and are used to
adapting to market forces. But
we want to see Government
and local authorities come
together to look at real solutions
to these issues so that our high
streets are not only able to
survive, but to thrive.”
BOSSES
RAKING IT IN
THE HIGH PAY CENTRE
REVEALS THAT THE
AVERAGE FTSE 1 0 0
CEO ’ S PAY PACKAGE
HAS GROWN BY 1 0.5
PER CENT IN ONE YEAR
2.
Sweden scored similarly to Denmark,
but had a much higher amount of
average time worked in a week – by 3.5
hours! They did, however, have three more
bank holidays a year.
3.
The Netherlands topped the results
for their low number of hours worked
in a week, averaging only 30.3 in total.
They did, however, suffer a lack of bank
holidays, with only nine in a year.
4.
Finland’s low productivity meant that
although they have one of the better
results for working hours, their commitment
to the work itself means they’re giving
almost too much focus to their leisure to
achieve a good balance.
5.
France’s strong point was their hours
dedicated to leisure and personal care
each day – 16.4 (including sleep), the
highest across all the research.
While far from the lowest scoring (a
position which went to Turkey), the UK
could have fared better. There was a
comparatively low number of bank
holidays – the lowest in the research – but
the UK holiday allowance of 28 days was
second only to Spain, with 30. The UK also
came 13th for happiness, winning out over
many other major European powers.
Help the
high streets
RECOMMENDAT IONS
FROM THE
FEDERAT ION OF
SMALL BUSINESSES
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY?
SCANDINAVIA THE BEST PLACE FOR A GOOD
WORK- LI FE BALANCE – WHILE UK LOSES OUT
TO IRELAND, GERMANY, SPA IN