Wagemark is an international wage standard used to certify that the ratio between a business, non-profit or government agency's highest and lowest paid earners is competitive and sustainable.
The standard compares the total earnings of the highest-paid employee with the average pay of the bottom decile of earners within an organization.
In 1977, Drucker wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal that decried the corrosive effect of lavish executive salaries.
Drucker's simple solution was to make company wage policies more rational and transparent by fixing the maximum compensation of corporate executives as a multiple of the lowest paid regular full-time employee.
The work of the foundation continues as Inspired by Wagemark, in May 2014, Rhode Island State Senator Catherine Cool Rumsey introduced legislation to establish a preference in government contracts for organizations with wage ratios of 32:1 or less.