FTSE 100 CEOs get 183 times more pay than ordinary worker

The High Pay Centre think-tank throws light on the income gap between top executives and normal employees. Reuters

The average pay package of FTSE 100 CEOs in 2014 was 183 times more than that of an ordinary worker, according to a report.

The FTSE 100 CEO pay jumped to £4.964m (€6.98m, $7.76m) in 2014, according to a new report published by the High Pay Centre think-tank, which monitors income distribution. That compares to just £27,195 median pay for a full-time employee in the same year, according to official figures.

The CEOs' average pay rose from £4.923m in 2013 and £4.129m in 2010, according to the report. Average FTSE 100 CEO pay was 182 times the earnings of the average full-time UK worker in 2013 and 160 times in 2010.

Research by the High Pay Centre also found that the top 10 highest-paid CEOs alone were paid over £156m. Highlighting the underwhelming shareholder protest against executive pay policy at annual general meetings, the report also showed that the average vote against pay awards across the FTSE 100 companies was just 6.4%.

"Pay packages of this size go far beyond what is sensible or necessary to reward and inspire top executives. It's more likely that corporate governance structures in the UK are riddled with glaring weaknesses and conflicts of interest," High Pay Centre director Deborah Hargreaves said in a statement.

"The coalition government introduced some welcome reforms in 2013 that have at least enabled us to get a better understanding of the executive pay racket. However, it's clear that these reforms didn't do nearly enough to start building a pay culture where everybody is rewarded fairly and proportionally for the work that they do."

The think-tank's research was based on data from CEO salaries published by the companies. The 2013 Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act requires companies to publish a "single figure" plus historic comparisons for CEO pay in their annual reports.

The High Pay Centre also recommended that companies publish their own figures on the difference in pay between executives and their workers. In addition, it also wanted a system in which employees have a say in pay negotiations.