Portland, OR to vote on fining CEOs for excessive pay

•Portland, OR, will be the first U.S. city to hold pay disparities between CEOs and their employees in check if their vote on the proposal passes. The city will fine company heads an extra 10% in municipal fines if they earn 100 times or more than their workers’ median pay, reports Namely, a payroll and employee benefits firm.

• A 2016 Economic Institute Policy study shows that CEO pay is 276 times the average employee’s. The disparity has grown three times larger in the past 20 years and 10 times larger in the last three decades. EIP notes that as the stock market recovered and company profits grew in 2012, workers’ wages have stagnated.

•Portland’s city council is expected to vote on the pay disparity ordinance in December. If approved, the measure could generate $3.5 million a year in revenue for the city. Citing former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich as a source, Namely reports that the San Francisco is holding a hearing on a similar ordinance in December.

www.hrdive.com/news/portland-or-to-vote-on-fining-ceos-for-excessive-pay/429349/

Pretty sure a CEO does not work 276 times harder than their average employee. We need measures like this.