Loss of life won’t dent CEO’s pay, says PIRC

Research from the PIRC pensions investment research organisation has found that the work-related death of an employee cuts chief executive officer pay by just 0.85%.

It found the average loss of earnings suffered for FTSE 350 highest paid directors because of an employee fatality during the 2019/20 reporting year was just £33,628. Not much of a dent in their average total income of £3,942,236.

“A bonus should be given for exceptional performance,” said PIRC’s Conor Constable, who undertook the research. “In the UK’s broken executive pay system the bar is set so low that a company killing or injuring less of the workforce is effectively treated as exceptional. And the extra reward that directors receive on top of their salary is simply fractionally lower if a worker dies on the job.”