Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts received a £3.8million pay packet last year, but the supermarket is still not paying all its workers the living wage.
New figures from Sainsbury's today show that Roberts' total pay nearly tripled in the 12 months to March 2022.
He got £1.3million the year before, because he did not take a bonus during the worst of the pandemic.
Sainsbury's said the £3.8million pay deal was 183 times bigger than the median worker at the supermarket.
The median is another sort of average, and means the middle - or highest - of a list of numbers ranked in order.
Some statisticians prefer median figures because mean averages can give skewed results if some workers are paid much more or less than others.
The average Sainsbury's worker got a rise of 5.3% in the year to March 2022.
Sainsbury's pays the living wage to its 171,000 full-time staff.
The living wage - which is set by the Living Wage Foundation Charity but is not mandatory - is at least £9.90 an hour outside London, or £11.05 in the capital.
However, it does not ask contractors to pay the living wage.
Sainsbury's hires contractors like Mitie to do services such as security and cleaning.
The supermarket is facing a shareholder vote today (June 7) on the issue.
The Living Wage Foundation charity works out what it believes workers should be paid based on what the average person can live on.
Around 10,000 employers now pay the living wage.
The living wage works out higher than the national living wage, formerly known as the 'minimum wage', which is set by the government.
The national living wage is £9.18 an hour for workers aged 21-22, £9.50 for the over-23s and £4.81 for apprentices.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We continue to lead the way on competitive pay. Our colleagues have received above the government’s national living qage for many years and we are proud to have been one of the first major retailers to pay all store colleagues the living wage. The majority of our contractors are also already paid at or above the living wage.
“At the same time, as we balance the needs of all our stakeholders, particularly in the light of the current cost of living challenges that many people in the UK face, it is vital that we not only pay our colleagues fairly but that we are able to invest significantly to offer customers great value.
“We fundamentally believe that to effectively balance the needs of our customers, colleagues, suppliers and shareholders we must preserve the right to make independent business decisions which are not determined by a separate body. It is for this reason that we are recommending our shareholders vote against the ShareAction resolution at the AGM.”
Last month The Mirror reported that workers are suffering the biggest drop in wages since 2013, as unions slammed the government as "missing in action" over the issue.
Wages fell by 1.2% between January and March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
That is the biggest drop since 2013.
The Trade Union Congress ( TUC ) has accused the government of going “missing in action” as Britain’s cost of living crisis deepens.
The TUC, a group of trade unions, said real wages across the economy are down by £68 a month compared to a year ago, and £131 a month in the public sector.
That adds up to an £816 loss for private sector workers if the situation stays the same, or £1,572 for state employees.
The reason is that inflation is soaring and that real-terms pay is not moving to keep up with this.
