Salaries of BBC stars revealed … but what if everyone’s wages went online?

The big gossip item in Britain last week was how much the top earners of BBC TV and radio get paid, who gets more than who, why men earn so much more than women and the paucity of ethnic representation at the highest levels.

As required by its charter, the BBC revealed the salaries of employees earning more than £150,000 (Sh20m), a total of 214 staff.

Disc jockey Chris Evans is the top paid person, with earnings of up to £2.25 million, followed by football presenter Gary Lineker on £1.8 million.

TRANSPARENCY
Only one woman made it into the top 10, Claudia Winkleman, co-host of the popular TV programme, Strictly Come Dancing, on £500,000.

Personalities apart, what intrigues most ordinary workers is the fact of salaries being made public at all.

In many, probably most, workplaces, remuneration is a secret between employer and employee and, in some cases, is used by the boss to manipulate work hours and promotions.

INCOME
In one country, however, there are no such secrets.

In Norway, anyone can find out how much anyone else is paid, and it rarely causes problems.

For years, every Norwegian worker’s income, assets and taxes paid were listed in a book available at the local public library.

TAX

In 2001, the information was put online. Economics editor Tom Staavi told the BBC that what is important is transparency.

Norwegians pay high levels of tax, an average 40.2 per cent against the European average of 30.1 per cent.

“When you pay that much, you have to know that everyone else is doing it,” he said.

So enter the name Ema Solberg into the database and you will learn that in 2015 the Norwegian prime minister earned £197,179 and paid £65,011 in taxes.

WAGE EQUALITY
In many companies, people have a fairly good idea how much their colleagues are earning, without having to look it up.

Wages in many sectors are set through collective agreements and pay gaps are relatively narrow.

That includes the gender gap. Norway is fifth best of 144 countries for male-female wage equality.

PEEPING TOM

Officials concede that when everyone’s details went online, snooping was frantic.

“It became pure entertainment for many,” Staavi said.

A new rule was introduced: People now have to log in using their national ID number, and so it is impossible to search anonymously.

Tax chief Hans Christian Hoite said: “We saw a drop to about a 10th of the volume that was before. It has taken out the Peeping Tom mentality.”

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There seems to be a sneaky readiness among British people to commit a relatively minor crime if there’s money in it.

Claims for so-called whiplash injuries in car collisions are 50 per cent higher than a decade ago.

Neck injuries can be caused by a sudden movement of the head, a whiplash effect, upon impact.

COMPENSATION

But this is difficult to prove. It is widely accepted that many of the claims are fraudulent and the Ministry of Justice has announced plans to scrap compensation or place a cap on claims.

The latest money-maker is the holiday sickness claim.

Typically, a family goes abroad for a holiday; on their return, they claim they suffered food poisoning at their hotel or sickness due to poor hygiene and sue their travel agent for damages.

DUBIUS
One couple with two children claimed £10,000 from travel company Thomas Cook for food poisoning on a trip to the Canary Islands.

An English judge dismissed their case after concluding they were not sick.

Thomas Cook said it would henceforth challenge all dubious claims.

The travel organisation Abta said tens of thousands of British tourists had made claims in the past year for sums of between £3,000 and £5,000, despite sickness levels in foreign resorts remaining stable.

This was “one of the biggest issues to hit the industry for many years”, a spokesman said.

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A woman and her husband attend at the dentist’s surgery and the woman says, “I have a tooth that needs to come out, but we are going on vacation and so I want it done quickly.”

“No problem,” the dentist said.

“Our flight is in an hour, so I will dispense with novocaine. Just take it out as quickly as you can and we will be on our way.”

“Gosh,” the dentist said, “you are a brave lady. Which tooth is it?”

The wife turned to her husband: “Show him your tooth, dear.”
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The family had gone on a lakeside vacation when suddenly they realised that three-year-old Billy was missing.

Search parties combed the area and soon the boy was found playing quietly on his own.

His mother was relieved but angry.

She told him: “From now on, Billy, when you want to go somewhere, you tell mummy first. OK?”

“OK,” Billy said. “Disney World.”

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