Eight years after Congress mandated it, companies are finally disclosing the difference between their CEO’s pay and what their workers make.

As expected, there are some eye-popping numbers.

Weight Watchers International CEO Mindy Grossman’s $35.5 million compensation was 5,908 times more than the $6,013 that the diet plan’s median worker — a receptionist who worked an average of 10.7 hours a week  — made last year.

But some CEO pay ratios seemingly indicate that income inequality — the issue many hope the disclosures will cast a spotlight on — is not a problem.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported a CEO pay ratio of less than 2-to-1, based on the $100,000 annual pay that the billionaire has taken from the conglomerate for more than 25 years.

Determining the impact that the new data will have is difficult because the numbers in the first crop of disclosures don’t necessarily tell the whole story.

The retail and service industries have the highest ratios because, like Weight Watchers, they rely more on part-time workers. And those workers’ pay is being compared to that of CEOs who get a big chunk of their pay based on the anticipated future value of stock and option awards. Those estimates will be off the mark if the company succeeds or fails spectacularly — or if a CEO departs before being eligible to cash in the incentives.

Moreover, ratios can vary widely between similar companies.

Toy maker Mattel reported a ratio of 4,987-to-1, based on a worker in its Malaysian factory who made $6,271 and CEO Margaret Georgiadis’ compensation of $31.3 million. Hasbro, another toy maker, reported a ratio of 160-to-1, based on a worker who made $74,207 and CEO Brian Goldner’s $11.9 million compensation.

The variance reflects not only the difference between what the two CEOs were paid but also differences in the way each company operates. Mattel’s overseas workers manufacture its toys. Hasbro outsources that work to workers whose earnings are not factored into the company’s pay figure.

Pay consultants and activist investors say the significance of the ratios will make more sense after the figures have been reported for several years. That will allow investors to determine how median worker pay is changing in relation to CEO pay.

“Looking at a one-year number is less informative than looking at a trend over time,” said Rob Du Boff, corporate research director for Just Capital. The nonprofit research organization provides investors with rankings of companies based on how well they pay employees and other factors.

Mr. Du Boff said the biggest issue among investors is how companies treat their employees. The pay ratio will make it easier for them to evaluate that.

South Side-based teen clothier American Eagle Outfitters reported the highest ratio among companies in the Pittsburgh region: 1,064-to-1.

That was based on CEO Jay Schottenstein’s compensation of $6.5 million and the $6,100 paid last year to the apparel company’s median worker.

Another retailer, Dick’s Sporting Goods, had the second-highest ratio. CEO Edward Stack made $10 million — 1,015 times more than the Findlay company’s median worker, a part-time U.S. sales associate in the retailer’s bikes and fitness department who earned $9,885 working 24 hours a week.

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, a Bridgeville specialty steel producer, reported the lowest ratio, 12-to-1, followed by Wheeling, W.Va., banker WesBanco at 22-to-1.

Congress mandated the CEO pay ratio disclosure as part of the sweeping Dodd-Frank legislation passed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

Unlike the shareholder vote on executive pay — another Dodd-Frank requirement which took effect in 2011 — implementation of the pay ratio disclosure was delayed by a protracted fight over how the number should be calculated. Companies balked, saying it was a costly exercise that wouldn’t provide useful information.

After wading through hundreds of comments, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finalized the rules last year.

Publicly traded companies have to report the ratio for the first fiscal year that began on or after Jan. 1, 2017. Most companies with fiscal years that began later than that have not yet disclosed the ratio.

The median worker is someone who earns more than half of the work force and less than the other half.

The SEC requires companies to include full- and part-time workers, temporary and seasonal help in determining median worker pay. Independent contractors are excluded.

Overseas workers, who are generally lower paid than their U.S. counterparts, can be excluded from the calculation as long as they account for 5 percent or less of a company’s total work force.

Emerging growth companies — those with revenue under $1 billion that started trading after Dec. 8, 2011 — do not have to disclose the pay ratio.

Because of the confusion that the numbers can generate, many companies are providing more than the minimum disclosure required.

Weight Watchers disclosed that Ms. Grossman’s $35.5 million pay included one-time awards when she was hired and which “the company does not expect to provide in future years.” The payments included stock and options valued at $26.3 million.

Courtney Yu, research director for Equilar, a Redwood City, Calif., corporate consultant, said fuller disclosure helps investors better understand the number. “It’s all about does the ratio make sense in the context of the company and the industry,” he said.

Some companies are identifying what job their median worker holds.

Cranberry-based MSA Safety identified its median worker as a full-time hourly production worker at its Murrysville plant who made $62,294, while Ansys, a Cecil software developer, said its median worker worked in South Korea and earned $133,074.

Identifying the median worker is one of the most interesting bits of information the disclosure provides, according to Rosanna Landis Weaver of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group that emphasizes environmental and social corporate responsibility issues.

She believes the information revealed thus far has shed light on the issue of income inequality.

Each new round of disclosures will reveal whether the trend of CEO pay increasing faster than worker pay is continuing.

“I think shareholders are going to be tracking that,” Ms. Weaver said. “This is a very tangible piece of information we didn’t have before.” 

Len Boselovic: lboselovic@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1941