Level B1 Business English
Lesson 100
Article
記事

1
TOPIC QUESTION
今日のトピック

Is it right that a CEO can claim a bonus when the employees are taking a pay cut?
従業員の減給時に社長がボーナスを要求するのは正しいか?

2
ARTICLE
記事

プレゼント

Read the following article aloud.
課題: 以下の記事をはっきりとした声で音読しましょう。

Declining to take a bonus is not a pay cut

The executive pay debate still has a way to go when a chief executive can claim the moral high ground for declining to take a bonus after reporting a loss.

This reporting season has seen a string of high profile chief executives reveal they will ‘just’ get their normal pay this year.

The decision is reported as ‘CEO Takes Pay Cut’ when in fact the chief executive will still get his or her base pay plus all the usual perks, it's just the bonuses for good performance that are being held back after a string of poor investment decisions or just an average year because the economy isn't too flash.

It works the same for most workers – no bonus in a bad year – but chief executives and, it seems, the rest of the community have come to think of bonuses as being part of the normal pay for bosses.

After Qantas's Alan Joyce, Bluescope's Paul O'Malley, BHP boss Marius Kloppers have been shown the real world, maybe that expectation will change.

3
VOCABULARY
語い

Directions: First repeat after your tutor and then read aloud by yourself.
課題: 先生の後に続いてくり返した後、今度はひとりで発音してみましょう。

executive
幹部
investment
投資
decline
辞退
reveal
明らかにする
CEO
最高経営責任者

4
Questions
質問

Directions: Read the questions aloud and answer them.
課題: 質問を声に出して読んだ後、答えてみましょう。

1. Why did the chief executive decline the bonus?
2. If the company has a bad year financially or made some bad investments, does the CEO still get a bonus?
3. Is it right that a CEO can claim a bonus when the rest of the employees are taking a pay cut? Explain your answer.
4. What actions would you take if this had happened to you?