Bosses’ pay cap to go ahead
The pay of heads of public companies is to be capped at €450,000, says the Finance Minister
PAY of bosses of public companies will be subject to a set ceiling of €450,000 from either this year or next.
How soon this comes in will vary company by company said Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, confirming plans to put the measure into a law this summer.
As one of his campaign promises François Hollande had promised to cap the bosses’ pay at 20 times that of their lowest-paid workers.
The figure chosen has been based on a comparison with the average pay of the lowest-paid 10% in a sample of 15 companies, the Finance Ministry says.
It is likely to see some other executives’ pay drop as well, so as to retain a hierarchy with the bosses paid the most.
Among those expected to be most affected are EDF boss Henri Proglio who, with earnings of €1.7 million in 2010 is the best-paid public sector boss (compared to the head of privately-owned Michelin, who earned €4.5 million).
Others who will be affected include head of Paris Airports Pierre Graf (€736,000), Areva head Luc Oursel (€679,000) or the head of La Poste, Jean-Paul Bailly (€609,000).
Other perks like stock options, “golden parachutes”, and retraites chapeau (special top-up pensions for bosses), will be subject of a separate law to be presented to parliament in the autumn, the Finance Ministry said.
