The vast majority of companies want to “do the right thing” on employee pay and their boards understand the pressures on people living at the bottom of society according to Lord Rose, the chairman of Ocado and former boss of Marks & Spencer.
“It’s unfair to say that anybody responsible for any company is not aware of these issues. Whether you’re Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem, I believe everybody wants to do better for employees,” said the Tory peer. Rose was speaking in response to pressure from living wage campaigners at the internet grocer’s annual shareholder meeting in London.
“I believe in the creation of wealth. If you don’t create wealth then you can’t distribute it fairly. That’s the reason why people voted the way they did last time,” Rose said.
“Five years ago people couldn’t get jobs. That was the real poverty issue.” Rose added that “most boards understand the pressures of living at the bottom end of society.”
His comments came as 20% of shareholders voted against Ocado’s remuneration report.
Rose, who earns £200,000 a year as Ocado chairman and was handed £400,000 of free shares when he joined the company, said Ocado had the “aspiration” to move towards the living wage for all its employees. But he would not commit the internet grocer to paying the living wage rate of £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 across the rest of the UK.
“We have to balance off what we can afford to do and what is right to do,” he said.
Rose admitted that fair wages were “obviously something that all in society UK today need to be talking and thinking about,” as he faced questions at Ocado’s board meeting from Amy Hulme, a living wage campaigner working with ShareAction.
Hulme told Ocado’s board and a handful of investors, who met in the gilded surroundings of Goldman Sachs’ offices off Fleet Street in central London: “I’m concerned that staff working for Ocado may need to use foodbanks.” Her carefully presented question is part of a wider campaign, backed by pressure groups Citizens UK and ShareAction, under which activists will attend the annual meetings of at least 10 retailers.
Rose said the vast majority of Ocado’s staff were already earning above the living wage, once benefits like bonuses were taken into account. He said employees received a 15% staff discount, pension scheme, free shares and the opportunity to participate in a share savings scheme.
“Taken together that’s a fair package, that doesn’t mean we’re complacent and take it for granted and that we don’t think that we can improve things but on balance I think we are doing the right thing,” he said.
Hulme responded: “It’s fantastic that you refer to so many benefits but that doesn’t help with day to day affording to live. I would encourage the board to think hard about paying the living wage.”
