# Plain Language Summary: Greater Accountability in Pay Act of 2021

This bill requires large publicly traded companies to publicly report how much they're raising pay for their executives compared to regular employees. Specifically, companies would have to disclose the percentage increase in compensation for their top executives and compare it side-by-side with the percentage increase for all other workers. They'd also have to calculate a ratio showing how much faster executive pay is growing compared to worker pay. For example, if executive compensation went up 10% while regular employee pay went up 2%, companies would have to report that 5-to-1 ratio.

The bill also adds context by comparing these pay raises to inflation. Companies would need to show whether executive raises are keeping pace with the rising cost of living (measured by the Consumer Price Index) and do the same for regular employees. This lets investors and the public see whether workers are actually getting ahead or just getting raises that don't match inflation. The requirement applies to most large companies that trade on stock exchanges, though it excludes smaller "emerging growth companies" that are still relatively new to public markets.

The core idea behind this bill is transparency. Right now, companies don't have to systematically report how executive pay growth compares to worker pay growth, so investors and employees often don't know if the gap between top and bottom is widening. By forcing companies to disclose these numbers in their annual reports, the bill aims to give shareholders and workers better information to evaluate whether company leadership is distributing raises fairly.

Greater Accountability in Pay Act of 2021

Velázquez, Nydia M.

Greater Accountability in Pay Act This bill requires specified issuers of securities to disclose compensation information regarding executive officers and employees.