6 ms·

Playtech in London isn't firing but cut all employee salaries by 10% across the board. The CEO just awarded himself a 30mil bonus: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/a

Playtech in London isn't firing but cut all employee salaries by 10% across the board. The CEO just awarded himself a 30mil bonus: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/playtech-plan-to-pay-boss-30m-bonus-lmqf9fb2z https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/playtech-plan-to-pay-boss...

Torn 6y ago
Corporate looting on the cusp of a recession. Classy
t0mas88 6y ago
Well... That's an overhyped media headline. In reality it is a stock based compensation over the next 5 years, based on performance of the stock price, capped at a maximum of 30 million. So it was already very unlikely he was going to get 30m (= 6 per year) pre-crisis. And given the current stock market he is probably going to get nothing for the coming two years or longer.
- toyg 6y ago
  > based on performance of the stock price, Lulz, classic case of bad incentive: I bet revenues for online gambling are way up at the moment, now that more and more people are forced to stay home and be fundamentally unsupervised all day. But because stock markets are drying up across the board, stellar profits might well not get reflected in stock prices. Just another reason for not basing exec compensation on stock prices.
  - gcoleman 6y ago
    It depends on the type of gambling. Sports based gambling has basically disappeared. Bingo/slots/casual games are up in general I think.
    - toyg 6y ago
      Good point - I was thinking card games really, and it's true that most sports betting is currently frozen - although there are reports that minor leagues (which are still running in some countries) are being heavily targeted by desperated punters and gambling orgs.
TulliusCicero 6y ago
It's more than a little misleading to say that the CEO 'just' did this when the article is from 2019 Dec 4, so before the pandemic.
- caust1c 6y ago
  And it's a gambling company, so I'm sure they have a strong moral compass.
- McDev 6y ago
  The bonus might not have been paid until this month though, the start of the new financial year
WhyNotHugo 6y ago
Wow, I didn't think any developed country allowed employers to legally cut an employees salary.
- loriverkutya 6y ago
  If the alternative is getting laid off, I'm happy to accept the cut as I did last week.
- dirtydroog 6y ago
  Well, they do have to ask your permission to do so. And if you say no, then...
- rusticpenn 6y ago
  That is standard in Germany. For a period of upto 12 months during emergencies, employees contracts can be reduced to x% (for x % hours), the govt will cover the remaining money (upto 60% of net salary). Its called shotrt-term work or kurzarbeit.
  - catwell 6y ago
    That also exists in France (and is currently used extensively) but it's very different from reducing salaries.
  - lysium 6y ago
    Employee must agree. Most do with their initial contract or because of unions, though.
- Kiro 6y ago
  That's happening in all modern countries right now and the correct way to combat this downturn instead of letting companies go bankrupt or do layoffs. Do your research and you will see that this is not controversial at all.
speedgoose 6y ago
As a Frenchman I can recommend light protests, from home. Instead of burning a few wooden pallets and having a BBQ while blocking the company entrance, you guys could perhaps put a firewall rule to drop all incoming traffic to the VPN and having an online video party.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > you guys could perhaps put a firewall rule to drop all incoming traffic to the VPN How could you ever trust an employee who did this with their access privileges?
  - dmichulke 6y ago
    In France, employees don't earn the trust of the CEO, the CEO earns the trust of the employees.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      I don't know how other employees could trust an employee abusing their privileges like that, either.
      - speedgoose 6y ago
        It's fine if it's a common decision among active employees.
        chrisseaton 6y ago
        I don't think that's fine at all - seems a terribly unethical thing to do and completely indefensible.
  - cerberusss 6y ago
    The same could be said about a CEO who cuts everybody with 10% and gets a huge bonus at the same time. I'm not disagreeing with you, though.
tomp 6y ago
> cut all employee salaries by 10% across the board How does that work exactly? I imagine you're presented with a contract that says "you salary is now <previous salary 0.9>"* and you're also told (or heavily implied) that if you don't sign, you're fired. Surely the employer can't just start paying you less than specified in your original contract? And maybe if you don't sign, you're owed some benefits (but who wants to be jobless going into pandemic+recession+inflation)?
- scandox 6y ago
  Yes they just say take pay cut or we make you redundant because we cannot afford you.
  - mnw21cam 6y ago
    If you have evidence that the redundancy is a direct result of you not taking a pay cut, then it's illegal and you can take them to a tribunal. It still happens though.
- mnw21cam 6y ago
  Yes, if you decide not to sign the new contract, and they fire you because of it, you can take them to tribunal for it. It's illegal.
  - barbegal 6y ago
    IANAL but it's not always illegal. If a company has a choice between going bust and imposing pay cuts on everyone then that is perfectly legal.
    - memsom 6y ago
      If they follow the procedure in the UK, they can do this AFAIK. Though, they might need to make the position redundant and offer another position at a lower wage. Either way, it's a contract change.

Torn 6y ago

Corporate looting on the cusp of a recession. Classy

t0mas88 6y ago

Well... That's an overhyped media headline. In reality it is a stock based compensation over the next 5 years, based on performance of the stock price, capped at a maximum of 30 million. So it was already very unlikely he was going to get 30m (= 6 per year) pre-crisis. And given the current stock market he is probably going to get nothing for the coming two years or longer.

toyg 6y ago
> based on performance of the stock price, Lulz, classic case of bad incentive: I bet revenues for online gambling are way up at the moment, now that more and more people are forced to stay home and be fundamentally unsupervised all day. But because stock markets are drying up across the board, stellar profits might well not get reflected in stock prices. Just another reason for not basing exec compensation on stock prices.
- gcoleman 6y ago
  It depends on the type of gambling. Sports based gambling has basically disappeared. Bingo/slots/casual games are up in general I think.
  - toyg 6y ago
    Good point - I was thinking card games really, and it's true that most sports betting is currently frozen - although there are reports that minor leagues (which are still running in some countries) are being heavily targeted by desperated punters and gambling orgs.

TulliusCicero 6y ago

It's more than a little misleading to say that the CEO 'just' did this when the article is from 2019 Dec 4, so before the pandemic.

caust1c 6y ago
And it's a gambling company, so I'm sure they have a strong moral compass.
McDev 6y ago
The bonus might not have been paid until this month though, the start of the new financial year

WhyNotHugo 6y ago

Wow, I didn't think any developed country allowed employers to legally cut an employees salary.

loriverkutya 6y ago
If the alternative is getting laid off, I'm happy to accept the cut as I did last week.
dirtydroog 6y ago
Well, they do have to ask your permission to do so. And if you say no, then...
rusticpenn 6y ago
That is standard in Germany. For a period of upto 12 months during emergencies, employees contracts can be reduced to x% (for x % hours), the govt will cover the remaining money (upto 60% of net salary). Its called shotrt-term work or kurzarbeit.
- catwell 6y ago
  That also exists in France (and is currently used extensively) but it's very different from reducing salaries.
- lysium 6y ago
  Employee must agree. Most do with their initial contract or because of unions, though.
Kiro 6y ago
That's happening in all modern countries right now and the correct way to combat this downturn instead of letting companies go bankrupt or do layoffs. Do your research and you will see that this is not controversial at all.

speedgoose 6y ago

As a Frenchman I can recommend light protests, from home. Instead of burning a few wooden pallets and having a BBQ while blocking the company entrance, you guys could perhaps put a firewall rule to drop all incoming traffic to the VPN and having an online video party.

chrisseaton 6y ago
> you guys could perhaps put a firewall rule to drop all incoming traffic to the VPN How could you ever trust an employee who did this with their access privileges?
- dmichulke 6y ago
  In France, employees don't earn the trust of the CEO, the CEO earns the trust of the employees.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    I don't know how other employees could trust an employee abusing their privileges like that, either.
    - speedgoose 6y ago
      It's fine if it's a common decision among active employees.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        I don't think that's fine at all - seems a terribly unethical thing to do and completely indefensible.
- cerberusss 6y ago
  The same could be said about a CEO who cuts everybody with 10% and gets a huge bonus at the same time. I'm not disagreeing with you, though.

tomp 6y ago

> cut all employee salaries by 10% across the board How does that work exactly? I imagine you're presented with a contract that says "you salary is now <previous salary 0.9>"* and you're also told (or heavily implied) that if you don't sign, you're fired. Surely the employer can't just start paying you less than specified in your original contract? And maybe if you don't sign, you're owed some benefits (but who wants to be jobless going into pandemic+recession+inflation)?

scandox 6y ago
Yes they just say take pay cut or we make you redundant because we cannot afford you.
- mnw21cam 6y ago
  If you have evidence that the redundancy is a direct result of you not taking a pay cut, then it's illegal and you can take them to a tribunal. It still happens though.
mnw21cam 6y ago
Yes, if you decide not to sign the new contract, and they fire you because of it, you can take them to tribunal for it. It's illegal.
- barbegal 6y ago
  IANAL but it's not always illegal. If a company has a choice between going bust and imposing pay cuts on everyone then that is perfectly legal.
  - memsom 6y ago
    If they follow the procedure in the UK, they can do this AFAIK. Though, they might need to make the position redundant and offer another position at a lower wage. Either way, it's a contract change.