William Hill is suspending payment salary increase and bonuses for the upper management, considering the predicted losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Suspending of Bonuses and Planned Salary Increase
William Hill has announced the new salary packages for chief executive Ulrik Bengtsson and new chief finance officer Matt Ashley. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bengtsson will forego a contractual bonus and a planned salary increase.
The announcement comes as a follow-up on a previous important financial development company when, back in March, William Hill predicted a decline in the company revenue before interest, tax, amortization and depreciation. The predicted loss for 2020 is between £100 million and £110 million. This has inevitably led to the present development with William Hill making important decision concerning bonus schemes for the leadership team and executive directors.
William Hill’s Remuneration Packages
The CEO annual bonuses at William Hill can reach 150% of the salary but some incentive plans can top up this number to 200%. While this sounds like a hefty bonus, due to the current virus outbreak, the company has suspended all incentives and annual bonus schemes for the executives and senior employees, with William Hill executives hopefully behind the decision, these measures could help protect rank-and-file employees as well as streamline the financial operations of the company.
As per the announcement, an annual salary of £600,000 will be paid for Bengtsson and additional £30,000 will be invested for his pension, but no annual salary increase will be applied due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition to this, a reduction was applied towards the contribution rate for pensions of the executive directors, taking the number down from 20% to 5%. This effectively will make the rate equal to all employees of the company.
Further Actions Taken by the Bookmaker in Time of Crisis
On the other hand, we have Matt Ashley that recently resigned from National Express and started as chief financial officer at William Hill as of the April 6. He received a salary of £450,000 and his pension contribution will be 5% as it is for all William Hill employees but his incentives and bonus were suspended. Furthermore Ashley will be required to hold at least 200% of his salary in company shares.
The proposed changes of the executive employee’s remuneration packages will need to be discussed and approved at the company meeting on May 15, 2020. The bookmaker did not forget to mention that they “decided to top-up the wages of furloughed colleagues to 100% of normal salary levels for the time being”.