466 Hours of Worker Overtime Equals One Hour of CEO Pay
by Dana Lime on December 6, 2013
Workers with retail jobs might not be celebrating much this holiday season, given recent strikes against Walmart and McDonald’s over low pay and working conditions. Growing discontent over perceived pay inequality in the retail and fast-food sectors has prompted President Obama to support the Senate’s proposition to raise the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 to $10.10, an increase of 39%.
Using publicly available data from annual proxy statements and salary monitor site glassdoor.com, NerdWallet Taxes examined the pay disparities at 100 fast-food and retail chains in the U.S. We selected 10 companies with the highest annual CEO pay and examined the hourly pay of sales associates at those companies.
CEOs Earn 874 Times More Per Hour Than a Sales Associate
In our sample of 10 retail and fast-food chains paying the highest CEO compensation, the CEO earns 874 times more per hour than a sales associate at their company.