CRH has worst pay disparity of any FTSE 100 company

Irish building materials group CRH has the highest chief executive to median salary ratio of any FTSE 100 company, according to Tortoise Media’s latest Responsibility 100 index, which ranks companies on their commitments to key social, environmental and ethical objectives.

It found that while a third of FTSE 100 companies paid their chief executive more than 100 times the amount paid to the median or mid-point worker, CRH paid its top person 289 times its median wage.

According to latest annual report, CRH chief Albert Manifold’s total remuneration in 2021 was €13.9 million while the median salary in the group was €48,200. This was the worst ratio in the FTSE 100 Index.

Workers at CRH’s main UK subsidiary Tarmac threatened strike action earlier this year amid anger over Mr Manifold’s 24 per cent pay hike.

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In a row with management over pay, Tarmac employees described it as “a kick in the teeth” and described Mr Manifold’s bonus as “eye-watering”.

Mr Manifold’s €13.9 million pay package, which includes various bonuses and awards, set a new record for the head of an Irish-listed company.

Tortoise’s latest index found that chief executive pay among FTSE 100 bosses increased, on average, by 31 per cent since last year. The median Tesco employee was found to earn a base pay of £19,676 a year — less than the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s acceptable standard of living. While Tesco’s chief executive, Cork-born Ken Murphy, was paid £4.7 million — 224 times the median Tesco employee.

Some 47 companies in the FTSE 100 index were found to have no female executives, no female chief executives, chief financial officers, chief operating officers or chairwomen. The report also noted there were only 21 female chairwomen in the UK’s financial listings.

There were dismal findings in relation to climate too. The index found that more than 90 per cent of emissions generated by FTSE 100 companies are not covered by science-based targets, which require deep emissions reductions while minimising the use of offsets.

This sets the UK’s biggest listed companies on a pathway that overshoots the goal of 1.5 degrees agreed in the Paris climate talks in 2015, the report noted. It found that 78 per cent of companies who increased their scope 1 and 2 emissions last year had net-zero targets in place. Scope 1 are direct emissions from company-owned and controlled resources while scope 2 are indirect.

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In terms of strong performing companies, Unilever secured top spot on the index as a result of strong scores in climate and social measures, including low scope 1 and 2 emissions, comprehensive scope 3 reporting, almost 100 per cent of waste recycled, and a low gender pay gap.

It was followed by AstraZeneca, NatWest, Relx and Taylor Wimpey.

“To maintain a liveable planet for a lot of the world’s people, we need to be cutting emissions sharply this decade and get to net zero by 2050,” said Jeevan Vasagar, climate editor at Tortoise Media.

“But more than 90 per cent of emissions generated by FTSE 100 companies are not covered by science-based targets, the gold standard of carbon reduction. The Responsibility100 Index shows that the UK’s biggest companies are not shaping up for the future,” he said.