Regulators are set to approve a contentious new rule requiring companies to disclose the pay gap between rank-and-file employees and the chief executive, marking the culmination of years of debate and pressure on the Securities and Exchange Commission over a mandate from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The SEC is slated to vote on a final version of the rule at a meeting today. The measure is expected to leave corporations and their trade groups disappointed by allowing companies to exclude only 5 percent of their overseas workers from the pay-ratio calculation. Companies had argued the SEC should allow them to exclude a much larger percentage of foreign workers, an approach that would have likely narrowed the reported pay gap at some multinational firms. The rule would require companies to disclose median worker pay — the point on the income scale at which half their employees earn more and half earn less — and compare it with CEO compensation.
