May 12, 2012
Honorable Securities and Exchange Commissioners:
As a journalist, I strongly urge that you promptly issue a rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their ratio of CEO-to-worker compensation, as required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Pay-ratio disclosure would, of course, enable boards of directors and investors to evaluate the overall level of CEO compensation relative to other company employees, and to understand the effect that the pay gap has on employee teamwork, productivity, loyalty and motivation.
Additionally, however, journalists writing on business- and labor-related issues and developments could use the information in articles about executive and employee pay, benefits and working conditions -- information that could help readers understand not just major component of a company's health but also a crucial element in the nation's socio-economic environment.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Knee
Freelance journalist
San Francisco