CIPD director-general Geoff Armstrong was paid £343,000 last year, according to figures in the institute’s 2006/07 annual report.
The bumper package was made up of a £317,000 salary, including a performance bonus of £53,000, and £26,000 worth of benefits.
No pension contributions were made to Armstrong in the 2006/07 financial year following the £171,000 payment he received towards his pension fund last year.
His replacement will be Jackie Orme, who will take the new role of chief executive.
The annual report revealed that members’ subscriptions made up about one third of the total income of £35.2m, with most of the balance coming from the CIPD’s commercial activities – training courses, conferences and publishing through its subsidiary CIPD Enterprises Ltd.
The accounts showed a pension scheme deficit of £2.1m following an acturial valution earlier this year, an improvement of £3.7m on last year.
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The institute also spent £713,000 last year on agency staff and consultants.
The CIPD said it had a general fund of £29.3m to meet at least one year’s operating costs, and £1m in cash that was “readily available”.