FTSE 100 directors' pay jumps 49pc - Telegraph.co.uk

Separate data published by IDS this week showed median pay settlements in the private sector were 2.6pc in the three months to August.

IDS said: "At a time when employees are experiencing real wage cuts and risk losing their livelihoods, without further explanation it may be difficult for FTSE 100 companies to justify the significant increase in earnings awarded to their directors.

"The pay gap between the boardroom and the shop floor does not yet show any signs of closing."

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said separately that total City bonus pay-outs for 2011/12 were expected to fall 38pc compared with a year earlier to £4.2bn. The last time bonuses were lower was in 2002/03.

CEBR said that would reduce the bonus pot to a third of its pre-recession level, with total bonuses peaking at £11.6bn in 2007/08.

The eurozone debt crisis had constrained activity in the City, and several major banks had reported weak third-quarter results, CEBR said. City bonuses are expected to remain broadly flat through 2012/13, it added.