Dear employer, all is known that a few weeks ago the CEO of Repsol YPF, Alfonso Cortina, submitted his resignation and was replaced in office by Antoni Brufau. One consequence of this "resignation" is the compensation of 19 million that the company will pay the resignation, as reported, an amount must be subtracted directly from the benefits you can get this company year.

But Repsol YPF well. At the end of third quarter net income was 1696 million, compared to 1608 last year in the same period, January-September. Operating profit had risen 10.4%, reaching 3320 million and net cash flow stood at 3794 million, an increase of 7.1%. However, without detracting from the effort to become more efficient, and raising the price of fuel affecting the increased cost of oil on inflation.

In 2003 the company closed with a net profit of 2020 million and this year seems to be overcome. 19 million over 2020 million representing 0.94%. You mean that shareholders will notice the impact of compensation?

At last year Repsol YPF pay 0.40 euros per share in dividends, the number of shares is 1,220,863,463 so the outlay was 488 million euros. If all 19 million would be distributed among shareholders, Tocharian 0.015 cents each, which may seem a pittance, but it would be consistent with the dividend policy which the company says it aims to reach 40% of profit clean conditions in a half cycle. The payment was made in 2003 was 24.1%.

Perhaps 19 million figure is not relevant when we move in the volumes that we're doing, but if we consider a different perspective, as it could be that of corporate social responsibility, the 19 million are transformed and take on a new dimension in a company doing its social commitment of the flag. The Cortina also said the Social Report 2003: "For Repsol YPF's Corporate Responsibility is the behavior that integrates the business objective of creation of wealth with them Independent Ethics and professional values ​​of those people who constituimos Marbella and the Company with the society and the natural environment. A Commitment shorten them with Criteria of sustainable development. "And that commitment is involved, the concept of social investment, 23.2 million euros. 19 to 23 deal is not as big a difference.

In Spain the labor legislation provides that when there is an opt resigned and, consequently, the company has no duty to the resignation. However, accepting the resignation, in the present case is a euphemism that could frame the issue in the category of unfair dismissal, the company should pay a compensation of 45 days per year worked to a maximum of 42 monthly payments. The president of Repsol YPF is moving in other settings, but to have more references: the former has been in office 8 years and 4 months, ie, 100 monthly, if the total remuneration (as administrator and as an executive) in 2003 was 3 million, the 42 monthly payments of this figure is 10.5 million euros. According to this calculation there are about 8.5 for more published compensation.

Dear employer, do not you think it would have no problem with Mr. Curtain to receive this amount - if the charges at the end, this will have been lucky - or with Mr. Brufau to pay it because he knows that he does. There are two reasons that prompted me to write about the fact. The first showed that the principles of good governance of the company moving forward and that transparency was calant. The thought that I could not have been possible without access to the Internet, in memory of Repsol YPF, which I have removed all the data I used.

The second reason was to share with you the disgust I have to the lack of policy coherence, because now pay 19 million euros for one person and tomorrow, when things do not go so well as now, fired hundreds of employees haggling a few thousand. People are not stupid and has memory. How then can apply effort and commitment of these decisions? I remember the work of the sociologist Richard Sennett in 1998 entitled, The corrosion of character: the personal consequences of work in the New Capitalism.

Joseph Albet

Professor at ESADE

Director DIRECTORS ALBET BCN

jalbet@albetconsellersbcn.org