Money | guardian.co.uk: Bosses award themselves bumper bonuses as worker pay rises remain low

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Money | guardian.co.uk Articles published by guardian.co.uk Money

Bosses award themselves bumper bonuses as worker pay rises remain low Jun 30th 2013, 23:01, by Phillip Inman Research reveals last year's bonuses for company directors reached 37.8% while workers saw average rise of just 2% Company directors have given themselves bumper bonus rises over the last year, according to figures from pay research firm Incomes Data Services. While workers' pay increases have failed to rise above 2% on average, senior directors and board members have enjoyed rises of 17.8%. The increase in bonuses has increased the level of bonus packages to 37.8% of salary, IDS said. An assessment of pay at all levels of management found that salaries rose by only 2% over the year, but the average bonus payment jumped from 21.4% of salary to 30%. The findings are likely to fuel concerns that workers are taking the brunt of cuts handed out by directors who have increased their own incomes with bigger bonus payments. Unions have argued that companies have opened up a gap between "them and us" after rewarding top managers with inflation-busting rises while pegging workers' pay. The author of the report, Adam Cohen, said: "Salary rises for management have been subdued, but bonuses, which make up an important element of total pay for senior executives and board members, have shown some increases. "Among companies enjoying improved trading conditions this year, we have witnessed some paying out significantly higher bonuses to top bosses. However, this has certainly not been the case across all organisations." Professional and technical staff enjoyed slightly higher pay rises than their management colleagues, which appeared to account for a 1% decline in bonus payments as a proportion of pay. According to IDS's latest Executive Compensation Review, average annual pay awards during the three months to the end of April 2013 were up 2%, while the Retail Price Index was up 3.3%. The research also found that the higher the management level, the lower the pay rise – 33.3% of board level reviews were pay freezes. The average pay rise for a private sector board member was only 1.7% during this period, compared to 2.1% for more junior professional and technical staff. Executive pay and bonuses Pay Work & careers Phillip Inman guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Media files: Bosses-award-themselves-b-003.jpg (image/jpeg) Bosses-award-themselves-b-008.jpg (image/jpeg)

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