Extra Blog : March

Executive Paywatch

High Paid CEOs & the Low Wage Economy

• In 2013 the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 331:1 and the CEO-to-minimum-wage-worker pay ratio was 774:1. America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, a country where hard work and playing by the rules would provide working families a middle-class standard of living. But in recent decades, corporate CEOs have been taking a greater share of the economic pie while wages have stagnated and unemployment remains high. 

• Highly paid CEOs of low-wage employers are fueling this growing economic inequality. In 2013, CEOs of the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index companies received, on average, $11.7 million in total compensation, according to the AFL-CIO’s analysis of available data from 350 companies. 

• Today’s ratio of CEO-to-worker pay is simply unconscionable. While CEO pay remains in the stratosphere, production and non-supervisory workers took home only $35,239 on average in 2013, and a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage earned only $15,080. 

• Even as companies argue that they can’t afford to raise wages, the nation’s largest companies are earning higher profits per employee than they did five years ago. In 2013, the S&P 500 Index companies earned $41,249 in profits per employee, a 38% increase. 

• It doesn't have to be this way. Politicians should raise the minimum wage. Corporations should pay their employees a living wage. And workers should have a collective voice on the job to demand their fair share.

1983 : 46
1993 : 195
2003 : 301
In 2013 the CEO-to-worker pay was 1:331*

*2013 CEO to average worker pay ratio calculated based on AFL-CIO analysis of 350 available companies in the S&P 500. Average worker pay according to the Bureau of Labor  Statistics data for production and non-supervisory workers.

• Side Fact : 49.6% of workers making at or below the minimum wage are 25 years of age or older.

Women: 25+ = 31.8%
Men 25+ = 17.8%
Women: 20 - 24 = 16.4%
Women: 16 - 19 =14.1%
Men: 16 - 18 = 10.1%
Men: 20 - 24 = 9.8%

Percent of workers, by race, earning, at or below the minimum wage:
Black - 4.9%
Latinos - 4.4%
White - 4.3%
Asian - 3.3%

Some College - 34.3%
High School Graduates - 29.7%
Some High School - 23.6%
Bachelor's Degree and Higher - 7.9%
Less than 1 Year of High School - 4.4%

CEO Race Demographics:
White - 95.4%
Asian- 1.8%
Latino- 1.6%Black - 1.2%

CEO Gender Demographics:
Male- 95.4%
Female- 4.6%

• Side Fact : Tipped workers live in poverty at 3 TIMES the rate of the U.S. workforce.

• If the minimum wage would have kept up with productivity and the income gains of the top 1% since 1986, it would be $18.30 and $31.45, respectively. 

CEO pay in California: 

California Companies for the fiscal year of 2014:Location of the company's HQ's, the company's CEO,  as well as their total compensation.

Total Compensation: determined by adding the following components:

1. The Salary
• salary paid to the CEO for the fiscal year
2. The Bonus
• bonus paid to the CEO
3. All Other Compensation
• All Other Compensation: the value of perquisites and other benefits provided by the CEO. THis could include personal use of company cars and airplanes, country club memberships, tax reimbursements, insurance plans or payments to saving plans. Payments to saving plans are part of Change in Pension Value and Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Earnings.
4. The value of stock and option awards
• Value of Stock Awards: in the form of stock or restricted stock that is either time vesting or performance vesting
• Value of Option Awards: the right to purchase a specified number of common stock at a stated exercise price for a specified period of timed
5. The value of non-equity incentive plan compensation and the change in pension values 
• Non-Equity : This compensation earned pursuant to non-equity incentive plans. This includes incentive plan awards that are not stock or equity. Incentive plans generally provide for compensation intended to serve as an incentive for performance to occur over a specified period.
• Change in Pension Value: increase in actuarial value to the executive officer of all defined benefit pension plans and earnings on non-qualified deferred compensation plans over the past year
6. Non-qualified deferred compensation earnings
• increase in actuarial value to the executive officer of all defined benefit pension plans and earnings on non-qualified deferred compensation plans over the past year

Text & Graphic Sources: 

• 49.6% of workers making at or below the minimum wage are 25 years of age or older. 
• Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

• Tipped workers live in poverty at 3 times the rate of the U.S. workforce. 
• Recipe for Success: Abolish the Subminimum Wage to Strengthen the Restaurant Industry, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.

• 21.3 Million workers--of which nearly 6.8 million are Latino--would be affected directly by raising the minimum wage to $10.10.
•  Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Give Working Families, and the Overall Economy, a Much-Needed Boost, David Cooper and Doug Hall.

• From 2009 to 2012, the top 1% captured 95% of the income gains in the first three years of the recovery. 
• Striking It Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States, Emmanuel Saez.

• In 2013, S&P 500 companies made an average profit of $41,249 on each employee. 
• S&P 500 LLC.
• 2013 CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio
• CEO-to-worker pay ratios from 1983 to 2003 calculated by Bloomberg Businessweek, as reported in Executive Excess 2005, Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy, Aug. 20, 2005 (p. 13). CEO-to-worker pay ratio for 2013 calculated based on an AFL-CIO analysis of average CEO pay at 350 available companies in the S&P 500 Index, and 2013 U.S. worker pay data calculated from the BLS Current Employment Statistics Survey—Table B-2.

• CEO compensation data was obtained from proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the latest fiscal years. It includes data for some 3,000 corporations, including most of those listed in the Russell 3000 Index. The compensation year reported on the website denotes the fiscal year as reported in the proxy statements. This data is updated, usually monthly, throughout the year. Industry classifications are based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes obtained from proxy statements. 

• Hourly CEO pay assumes 52 40-hour workweeks using the CEO's total compensation. All data are actual, derived from proxy statements.

• The average annual income earned by workers is taken from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics Survey—Table B-2: Average hours and earnings of production and non-supervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls. The average weekly pay is multiplied by 52. 

• The BLS Occupational Employment Statistics Survey is the source for the data on median annual income by occupation.