LONDON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The British government unveiled Tuesday a world-leading package of business reforms that will force companies to reveal the pay ratio between bosses and workers.
The reform package will also mean workers having a say at boardroom level in large companies and firms listed on the stock exchange.
However, Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents millions of employees, slammed the proposals as feeble and demanded a right by workers to elect their own boardroom directors.
TUC is a national trade union center, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions.
A new law on corporate governance is aimed at increasing boardroom accountability and enhancing trust in business, the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Energy said in London.
As part of the new law, all listed companies with significant shareholder opposition to executive pay packages will have their names published on a new public register.
For the first time listed companies will have to publish pay ratios between CEOs and their average UK worker under the government's boardroom accountability reforms.
In the coming months, the government will also introduce new laws to require around 900 listed companies to annually publish and justify the pay ratio between CEOs and their average British worker.
The move follows concerns raised by British Prime Minister Theresa May who said the behavior of a small number of companies had damaged the public's trust in big business. May paved the way for proposals.
TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "This is a far cry from Theresa May's promise to crackdown on corporate excess. It's a feeble proposal, spelling business as usual for boardrooms across Britain."
"The Prime Minister's pledge to put workers on company boards has been watered down beyond all recognition. This now amounts to little more than a box-ticking exercise. Firms will rightly have to publish the pay gap between bosses and ordinary workers, but we are concerned that the government's calculations will take the focus off the lowest-paid."
Stephen Martin, Director General of the Institute of Directors (IOD), said he welcomed the pragmatic approach the government is taking "to improve how company boards work".
"Pay ratios will sharpen the awareness of boards on the issue of remuneration, but they can be a crude measure. Companies will have to prepare themselves to explain how pay as a whole in their business operates, and why executives are worth their packages," said Martin.
