4. George Paz
> Company: Express Scripts
> CEO rating: 29%
> Company rating: 2.2
> Years as CEO: 9
> No. of employees: 30,000

 

George Paz has grown Express Scripts H0ldings Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX) into the biggest player in the pharmacy benefit management business. Last year, the company made $101.9 billion in revenue, up from $94.1 billion in 2011. That may be why the board asked him to stay at the company’s helm for another three years in January. However, employees at Express Scripts are less happy. Reviewers frequently criticized the company’s work culture as being unreasonably demanding. Comments included, “The expectation is that you will work nights and weekends all the time,” as well as, “The company has horrible starting pay, low raises, and you are treated like a slave.” That may be why Paz earned the approval of just 29% of all employees. Although he has a reputation for frugality, the company’s board has been generous to him. The board has awarded Paz approximately $12.8 million and $13.0 million in compensation in the past two years, respectively.

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3. Do Won Chang
> Company: Forever 21
> CEO rating: 26%
> Company rating: 2.4
> Years as CEO: 30
> No. of employees: 30,000

Under founder and CEO Do Won Chang’s leadership, Forever 21 employees commented on Glassdoor that they receive minimum wage, often have to work late into the night and get very little time off. Chang has often received attention for his actions over the years. In August, a company memo sent to employees stated that salaries and benefits would be cut, which many suspected was done in order to avoid paying health benefits as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. He also decided to have a reference to a Bible passage, John 3:16, sewn to the bottom of the retailer’s carrying bags, which may not sit well with some of his employees and customers. Former employees on Glassdoor claim that they have been threatened with termination if they called in sick.

2. Bill Dillard II
> Company: Dillard’s
> CEO rating: 24%
> Company rating: 2.4
> Years as CEO: 16
> No. of employees: 38,900

Like many of the companies run by unpopular CEOs, Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) retail employees are paid poorly. According Glassdoor, a sales associate can expect to make $10.72 per hour. In contrast, the three family members of the clothing retailer who control the company, William Dillard II, the CEO, the company’s president, Alex Dillard, and its executive vice president, Mike Dillard, have paid themselves a total of $54 million over three years between 2010 and 2012. Bill Dillard II also did not win over employees when the company settled a class action disability discrimination lawsuit brought by former employees for $2 million in 2012. The company allegedly forced employees to reveal confidential medical information in order to be allowed sick days. Employees are under pressure to meet a sales quota that many of them have labeled as unrealistic. One current sales associate stated on Glassdoor, “Sales quotas are not entirely reasonable. Hard work doesn’t always pay off, especially if no one is in the store.”

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1. Edward S. Lampert
> Company: Sears Holdings (Sears/Kmart)
> CEO rating: 20%
> Company rating: 2.5
> Years as CEO: 1
> No. of employees: 226,000

Lampert created Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) after coordinating the merger of retail giants Kmart and Sears, Roebuck & Co. nearly a decade ago. Since then, Lampert has served as chairman of the holding company, and recently took up the role of CEO as well. Lampert controls nearly half of all shares through his fund ESL Investments. Sears has continued to flounder under Lampert, who has repeatedly spun off its various assets and stores into independent entities, including Land’s End and Sears Automotive. Same-store sales, revenue and earnings have all continued to disappoint. A Businessweek profile of the company last year criticized Lampert for pitting divisions against one another. This, according to the article, has discouraged divisions from collaborating. According to one reviewer on Glassdoor, “communication from top levels is weak,” a common complaint for the CEOs with the worst reputations.