(Bloomberg) -- Chief executives of the largest companies listed in the U.K. will take about three days to earn the salary of an ordinary worker this year, according to a study.
The typical FTSE 100 boss would need to work until shortly before 5 p.m. on Jan. 6. -- a few hours longer than a year ago -- to reach the average full-time wage of just more than 29,000 pounds, according to figures from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the High Pay Centre published on Monday.
The estimate is based on the average boss earning 3.46 million pounds ($4.5 million) in 2018, the most recent available data, meaning it would take them 33 working hours to reach that year’s average U.K. salary.
The research comes as large firms listed in the country prepare for rules forcing greater transparency on what they pay their workers. Starting this year, companies with more than 250 staff will be required to report the gap in earnings between their chief executive and the typical employee.
The government on Monday cited CIPD figures showing that the average pay for top CEOs has fallen by almost a quarter since 2012.
“The situation is still concerning, especially in those cases where executives have been rewarded despite failing their employees and customers,” said Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom.