The 5 states where salaries have risen the most over the past decade

Salaries have steadily increased across the United States over the past decade, but workers in some states are growing their pay at a faster rate than others, according to a new report from Approve.com. 

The spending management software firm looked at salary information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and compared the average wage in 2010 for each state with the average wage in 2020. Researchers found that some places saw a nearly 50% jump in their workers’ salaries while others saw only a 25% increase.  READ MORE

Run naked or reveal salary: Why is pay transparency scarier than streaking?

Many Americans would prefer to bare their bodies instead of their paychecks in the workplace. Twenty-eight million employees said they would rather run naked through the office for all their colleagues to see than reveal their salary earnings, according to a survey by Trusaic, a regulatory compliance software company.

The survey found that pay transparency remains a taboo subject for many workers. The question “Would you like information on everyone’s income to be made publicly available online?” revealed the general attitude of employees: READ MORE

Are teachers overpaid or underpaid?

Whether public employees are overpaid or underpaid relative to their private sector counterparts is a source of lively debate. 

Much of the research on the relative compensation of public and private workers has focused on teachers, the largest segment of the public workforce. Moreover, the issue of teacher compensation has gained currency since the Great Recession, as states and school districts have frequently faced tough budget decisions to cut benefits or halt pay raises. And teacher compensation has important implications for hiring and retaining high-quality teachers and, consequently, for student academic performance.  READ MORE

SEC Votes to Revive Clawback Rule Stripping Executives Of Their Paychecks

The executive compensation clawback rule mandated by Congress in Section 954 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), is back. In the event of corporate misconduct, it will enable the SEC to recoup executive compensation (i.e., bonuses or other incentive-based pay), regardless of whether the executive was directly involved in or accused of any wrongdoing. READ MORE

Tying exec pay to diversity goals isn’t so straightforward

Video game-maker Activision Blizzard will report its quarterly earnings after the markets close today. The company is facing a lawsuit brought by the state of California, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination and an investigation by the SEC over how it handled complaints.

Last week the CEO said he’d ask the board to drastically cut his salary to $62,500 until the company shows progress meeting gender and diversity goals. It’s a pretty dramatic cut for a guy who made about $150 million last year. But, it fits into a growing trend of tying executive pay to diversity measures. READ MORE

Obama adviser rips Dem plan to cut taxes for blue state millionaires: 'That's obscene'

A former economic adviser to President Obama ripped House Democrats' plan to give a tax cut to millionaires, especially those in high-tax blue states, calling the proposal "obscene."

Jason Furman, president of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) under former President Obama, lambasted the Democrats’ plan to repeal a cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, pointing out that multimillionaires would benefit the most from lifting the SALT cap. READ MORE

Soaring Stock Price Tightens Golden Handcuffs at Morgan Stanley

The recently elevated stock prices of some wirehouses’ parent banks has, in turn, hiked up the ticket price for recruiting many advisors.

Typically, wirehouses pay a portion of advisors’ deferred compensation in stock shares of the parent bank. As those banks’ stock prices have climbed—Morgan Stanley’s has almost tripled in five years and Merrill Lynch parent Bank of America’s has more than doubled—the value of their advisors’ deferred compensation has grown in tandem. READ MORE

Pre-Bankruptcy Executive Pay a New Target for Fairness Advocates

Large companies’ awards of millions in executive bonuses on the eve of bankruptcy are drawing renewed congressional focus.

Bankrupt companies need court approval to award executive bonuses. But there isn’t a similar restriction on pre-bankruptcy bonuses, a loophole that’s been increasingly used by some big-name companies, such as Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. READ MORE

EPLI Often Excludes Wage and Hour Claims

Historically, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) hasn't covered Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar state law claims, so employers shouldn't mistakenly assume they'll be reimbursed by EPLI for their wage and hour claims. Nonetheless, employers may be able to recoup their attorney fees and defense costs, even for wage and hour claims, and perhaps more, depending on the terms of their EPLI policies. READ MORE