The housebuilder was heavily criticised for handing its chief executive Jeff Fairburn a 拢75m bonus earlier this year.

Persimmon

Business committee chair Rachel Reeves has slammed Persimmon after the head of the housebuilder鈥檚 remuneration committee said she did not know how much the average worker was paid by the firm.

At an evidence session held by the MPs on the business committee yesterday Marion Sears said she did not know what the average employee earned.  

鈥淭he average 鈥� I don鈥檛 have that figure to my finger tips,鈥� Sears told MPs, when asked by Reeves (pictured), what average pay was.

Reeves, a Labour MP, responded: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e chair of the remuneration committee at Persimmon aren鈥檛 you? And you don鈥檛 know what average pay is, as chair of the remuneration committee?鈥�

The evidence session was part of a hearing which saw MPs question firms including Persimmon and Weir Group on executive pay and measures being taken to tackle excessive boardroom pay awards. 

Earlier this year Persimmon came in for scathing criticism after handing its chief executive Jeff Fairburn a 拢75m bonus.

Following the evidence session Reeves described the executive pay award at Persimmon as 鈥渁 tale of corporate greed and incompetent pay management鈥�.

She said: 鈥淧ersimmon paid out huge bonuses to the men at the top of the firm and yet this morning we have heard that Persimmon are unable to tell us how much average workers at the company are paid.

鈥淚f Persimmon can pay their chief executive 拢45m, they must ensure they pay all their staff the Living Wage. As a committee, we shall continue to take a close eye to the issue of corporate pay and examine what impact Government action, such as pay-ratio reporting, and new regulatory guidance is likely to have on delivering fair pay鈥�.

Reeves also took to Twitter, calling Sears鈥� answer a 鈥渄isgrace鈥�.

 

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