B&M urged to pay staff ‘real living wage’
BUDGET retailer B&M faces pressure from shareholders over workers’ wages amid concerns over its chief executive’s bumper pay package.
Shareaction, a campaigner for responsible investment, said it would attend B&M’S annual general meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday to challenge its board on low pay for workers.
The group says investors will question senior executives about the current pay policy, which guarantees staff pay in line with minimum legal requirements.
The UK’S legal living wage is £11.44 an hour but the Living Wage Foundation says the “real living wage” needed to meet the cost of living is £12 an hour nationally and £13.15 in London.
Shareholders will call on the firm to pay all its staff, including third-party contractors, the real living wage. Dan Howard, Shareaction’s head of good work, said: “More and more households are barely surviving as they’ve struggled as the price of essential goods skyrocketed and wages stagnated. Yet despite the dire economic climate, B&M, who made a £614million operating profit, persists with a policy of paying workers only the minimum legal wage.”
It comes after chief executive Alex Russo saw his pay package nearly double for the 2023-24 financial year to £3.2million after profits and sales soared.
His salary was £832,000 with additional pensions and benefits, and a bonus of £2.3million – a total 147 times greater than the average employee’s pay.
Shareholders have been urged to vote against approving B&M’S report, which includes Russo’s pay, at the AGM on Tuesday.
Shareholder advisory group Pensions & Investment Research Consultants said bonuses were excessive as they exceed 200 per cent of the base salary.
It also noted the ratio of his pay compared with the average employee was “not appropriate” as it exceeded the limit of 20:1.
The report outlines plans for Russo’s salary to rise by 9.4 per cent, and bonus opportunity to rise to 250 per cent of his £910k salary over the next year.
Shareaction has called on a major retailers to end poverty pay, including Tesco, Greggs, Next and B&Q owner Kingfisher, as part of its living wage campaign for retail staff.
A B&M spokesperson said: “We are willing to hear views from shareholders and feel our reward model is appropriate.”
‘Households are barely surviving’