By Ross Kerber

(Reuters). -There are more shareholder revolts at Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE 🙂 Holdings General Electric A new study by the NYSE: shows that corporate directors shouldn’t hesitate to raise CEO salaries in difficult times.

According to As You Sow (a shareholder advocacy organization focused on ESG, environmental, and social governance) proxy votes against executives at companies increased last year.

Rosanna Landis-Weaver, one the report’s author, stated that companies will soon begin to release proxy statements detailing compensation details.

“Last Year we could clearly tell when companies were doing such things and shareholders responded,” she stated. She added that investors may have a harder time spotting bad pay practices because of the current pandemic.

Among the S&P 500, a record 16 companies had the pay of their CEOs and other top leaders rejected by more than half of investors last year, up from ten in 2020 and seven in 2019, according to the report, which also used data from sustainable ratings agency HIP Investor.

One case mentioned in the report was that of Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO Frank Del Rio, who received $36.4 million for 2020. This is more than double the amount paid to him in 2019, even though the company suffered from the effects of the pandemic. A filing indicates that 83% of May’s votes were in opposition to the pay.

Norwegian stated via e-mail that the 2020 pay plan was intended to preserve its management and it would “carefully take into account” shareholders’ opinions when it reviewed future pay policies.

General Electric gave Larry Culp, CEO of General Electric, new shares linked to lower financial targets. These were the major portion of Culp’s $73 million earned in 2020. According to a filing, Culp was voted against by 58% in May.

In a statement e-mailed by a representative, Thomas Horton, GE lead director and chair of the Management Development and Compensation Committee, said “GE’s Board of Directors strongly believes the actions taken in 2020 to secure several additional years of Larry Culp’s leadership was, and remains, in the very best interest of GE and our shareholders.”