Tell Us: How Much is Too Much for a CEO to Make? Switzerland overwhelmingly voted down a measure that would have capped executive pay at 12 times the salary of the lowest-paid employee.
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Executives of big companies often make more than their employees. But how much more is too much more? Is there such thing as too much for a boss to make?
According to Swiss voters, the answer is no.
Switzerland voted overwhelmingly to overturn a measure which would have capped executive compensation to 12 times what the lowest-paid employee makes.
While such a proposal would likely not even come to a vote in the U.S., it raised a bit of an eyebrow that the measure did not pass in Europe, even if Switzerland does tend to go its own way from the rest of the continent.
For half a year, Switzerland has been embroiled in a tense campaign, led on the labor side by the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and led on the other by leaders in the business community.
Advocates for the 1:12 measure said that no executive in a company should make in one month what another employee makes in a year. Opponents of the measure said that limiting executive compensation would make Switzerland less competitive for businesses and entrepreneurs.
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So, what do you think? Should there be a limit on what executives on a business team can make? If so, what should the cap be? If not, why not?
Tell us your thoughts below.
