Our friends across the pond have traditionally set the pace for ever more jaw-dropping levels of executive compensation. But US telephone company Qwest has truly raised the bar in accommodating the whims of its high-fliers, granting one of its executives personal use of its corporate jet, to ease his stepdaughter's journey to school.
UK reward specialists will be taking notes from the amended employment agreement for incoming Qwest chief executive Ed Mueller. Scrolling past mentions of a piffling $1.2 million basic salary and a frankly puny $2.4 million annual bonus potential, we come to clauses 3.8 and 3.9 (concerning "Relocation expenses" and "Use of corporate aircraft", respectively), which permit Mueller and his nearest and dearest use of the jet for the short (800 mile) hop across the Rocky Mountains between their current residence in California and Denver, Colorado, home of Qwest.
Colorado's own Rocky Mountain News was quick to put two and two together, noting that this perk will enable Mr Mueller's stepdaughter to complete her high school education in California without interruption.
Revelations of Mr Mueller's emoluments coincide with today's publication of a TUC exposé of pension fund excesses in UK executive boardrooms, casting new light on TUC general secretary Brendan Barber's belief that "top executive pay has already created a new group of the super-rich who float free from the rest of society".
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