Pick N Pay’s Lowest-Paid Employee Earns Around R5 600 a Month As Executive Pay Gap Revealed

• Pick n Pay's remuneration report revealed the pay gap between its highest and lowest earners
• CEO Sean Summers earned over R56 million while the lowest-paid worker received around R67 700 a year
• Sister company Boxer showed a similar gap, with its CEO earning R34.9 million during the same period

Pick n Pay's latest remuneration report has laid bare the vast difference in earnings between its top executives and its lowest-paid staff, with CEO Sean Summers taking home more than R56 million during the 2026 financial year while the retailer's entry-level worker earned just under R70 000 for the entire year. The report, released alongside figures from sister company Boxer, comes as South Africa's retail sector faces increasing scrutiny over worker wages, executive pay and the widening gap between the two.

According to the report, Pick n Pay's lowest-paid employee received R67 700 per year, roughly R5 641 per month. The figure applies to a newly appointed Category 1 unskilled general worker paid at the prescribed minimum wage of R28.79 per hour. The employee had not yet qualified for an annual bonus or additional benefits at the time, which brought the figure down further. Pick n Pay noted that if learners on its training programmes were factored in, the lowest figure would fall to around R42 000 annually, though those individuals receive a statutory training stipend rather than a standard salary.

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Sean Summers' R56 million package

At the top of the pay scale, Summers received R56.7 million. His package included roughly R25.2 million in guaranteed pay and R31.5 million tied to share-based incentive awards. The retailer reported an average pay-gap ratio of 15.5:1 between its top and bottom 5% of earners, a disclosure required under changes to South Africa's Companies Act, which now compels listed companies to be more transparent about executive and employee remuneration.

Boxer's numbers told a similar story. The discount retailer's lowest-paid employee, a full-time general assistant in their first year, earned R67 369 per year, or around R5 614 per month. Boxer CEO Marek Masojada received R34.9 million during the financial year, drawn from guaranteed pay, performance bonuses, legacy settlements and long-term share awards.

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Source: Briefly News