Bonus schemes grant huge upsides to executives in good years. The system has to be seen to work in reverse in leaner times
This week’s pay row comes at Morrisons. Or, at least, one assumes a few of the supermarket group’s shareholders will rouse themselves to protest against the remuneration committee’s dubious manoeuvre on executive bonuses.
The pandemic was not the executives’ fault, runs Morrisons’ argument, thus bosses should get a full 100% bonus whack even though profits halved in the year. In effect, the committee added back £290m of Covid-related costs to the profits line and declared a triumph.
