Federal Contractors Should Prepare for 2025 Minimum Wage Hike as Legal Challenges Unfold

Federal contractors may need to be prepared to increase pay for employees working on, or in connection with, covered federal government contracts. The hourly minimum wage for employees performing work on federal contracts will rise from $17.20 to $17.75 on Jan. 1, 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) has announced. The new minimum wage rate will apply in full to tipped and non-tipped employees alike, as well as to workers with disabilities.

Contracts entered into, renewed, or extended prior to Jan. 30, 2022, generally remain subject to the minimum wage rate under Executive Order 13658. The operative minimum wage for those contracts will increase from $12.90 to $13.30 per hour. READ MORE

Social Security Tax Limit Jumps 4.4% for 2025

The Social Security Administration (SSA) just announced two key 2025 adjustments: the Social Security COLA (cost of living adjustment) and the new Social Security tax limit.

While you’ve likely heard a lot about the COLA, did you know there's a cap on the amount of income subject to Social Security payroll tax? This ceiling, known as the Social Security tax limit or "wage cap," sets the maximum earnings that can be taxed to fund the Social Security program. READ MORE

The Next President Must Ensure Americans Can Earn a Living Wage | Opinion

As the U.S. presidential election nears, Kamala Harris is touting her plans to establish an "opportunity economy" for all, while Donald Trump promises an elixir of tariffs and tax cuts to create "the biggest, greatest, and strongest middle class in the history of our country."

Yet one thing is conspicuously absent from both candidates' economic agendas: any mention of the need to ensure that every American can earn a living wage. READ MORE

California's $20 fast food minimum wage didn't lead to major job losses, study finds

A study from the University of California Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment found that a California state law raised the minimum wage for fast food workers did not lead to large job loses or price hikes.

AB 1228 went into effect in the Golden State April 1, setting a $20 per hour minimum wage for those working at fast food restaurants with less than 60 locations nationwide and restaurants located inside airports, stadiums and convention centers. The law further gave employees stronger protections and the ability to bargain as a sector. READ MORE

Compensation planning for 2025: Five trends that matter

Compensation planning decisions have become increasingly complex, especially considering shifts in the way we work, governance and pay equity, the skills needed for future growth, and the desire to reward top performers. We have identified five trends in the labor market that we believe will shape an employer’s response for 2025: labor costs, pay transparency, the minimum salary test, AI use in hiring and retention strategy. Below, we explore what those trends are and how your company can respond to address them. READ MORE

You can, and should, negotiate for more than just salary—here are the easiest asks to bump up your comp package

There are few things as stressful — and consequential to your future earnings — as negotiating the salary of a new job. We’re routinely told that hiring managers expect you to negotiate when they make an offer, yet a majority of workers don’t initiate it at all.

Even fewer people, then, may think about negotiating aspects of a compensation package beyond the base salary on offer. READ MORE

See the Median Salary of Americans Your Age in Every State

How much you earn varies greatly depending on where you live, and also where you are in your career. Are you just starting out? In your peak earning years? Or are you retired?

According to a recent study by Scholaroo, overall, Generation X has the highest salaries in the country. But they aren't bringing in big bucks in Mississippi, where millennials, Generation X and baby boomers all have the lowest median income. Gen Z has the lowest salaries overall, and their median salary is the lowest in West Virginia, the study found. Meanwhile, the highest-earning boomers are in Hawaii. READ MORE

CFO compensation at recent IPO companies hits $1.2M average

In a sign of a possible market recovery, initial public offerings have raised $27.3 billion during the first nine months of this year, 40% more than the same period in 2023 but well below levels early this decade, according to EY.

The payoff for companies that turned to the IPO market during the period exceeded returns on benchmark stock indexes, yielding average gains of 23.9% compared with increases ranging from 10.4% to 18.1% in the S&P 500 Index, the NASDAQ and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, EY said. READ MORE

First comes pay transparency. Next comes pay equity.

Pay transparency is now a norm for many US employers, according to recent surveys, thanks to a wave of legislation requiring businesses to share information about salaries in job postings.

But transparency can also reveal pay inequities within organizations, prompting questions for HR leaders. The surveys also indicate employers are starting to develop strategies to address pay equity, and in some cases are budgeting for raises to address compensation gaps within their workforces. READ MORE

Do you qualify for the high end of a salary range? Probably not, says new data

As more companies have started posting job listings with pay ranges—in part due to state laws mandating some measure of pay transparency—many job seekers are now armed with more information when they enter into salary negotiations.

But the salary information in job listings can also prove misleading, especially when employers provide broad pay ranges that span over $50,000 (or even up to $100,000), since prospective hires may assume they will slot into the top half of a salary band. READ MORE

ESG Comp: An Easy A for CEOs?

Tying some amount of executive compensation to a company’s ESG performance has become more common among U.S. public companies over the last generation, Adam B. Badawi and Robert Bartlett write in a new paper.

But ESG-related pay remains a very modest part of total CEO pay and is awarded with unusually high frequency, find Badawi, a professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, and Bartlett, a professor at Stanford Law School, in their article “ESG Overperformance? Assessing the Use of ESG Targets in Executive Compensation Plans,” available on www.ssrn.com. READ MORE

How to use Creative Compensation Strategies for Employee Satisfaction

In today’s challenging economic environment, where many businesses struggle to provide regular pay increases, it's becoming essential to explore alternative ways to reward and recognise employees. As financial constraints continue to affect organisations, offering creative compensation strategies beyond traditional pay raises can help boost employee satisfaction and retention.

According to ADP's "People at Work 2024: A Global Workforce View" report, 77% of workers globally expect a pay rise within the next 12 months. However, for many businesses, meeting these expectations may not always be feasible. The good news is that there are various non-monetary alternatives that employees value and that can have a positive impact on workforce morale. READ MORE

‘Say on Pay’ Data Points to Strong Support for Exec Comp Plans

When it comes to 2024 results and the end of the recent proxy season, WTW’s U.S. executive “say on pay” research covering the Russell 3000Open in a new tab showed a continuation of the 2023 data trend.

Brian Myers, a North America governance team lead and the director for executive compensation at WTW, explained that results from the 2024 proxy season identified persistent strong support (from both proxy advisors and shareholders) for pay plans that began in 2023 — with pay and performance alignment influenced by strong stock price movement to date. READ MORE

How Pay Transparency Connects with Job Architecture and Employee Trust

In 2021, the state government of ColoradoOpen in a new tab caused a stir when it began requiring employers to disclose pay ranges on job postings. Although the state of MarylandOpen in a new tab and the cities of CincinnatiOpen in a new tab and ToledoOpen in a new tab in Ohio had already enacted pay transparency laws in 2020, they did so without the visibility that Colorado’s law required. Additional states and municipalities have since enacted pay transparency laws or proposed changes that strengthen their existing laws — and the list is growing. READ MORE

Gaming Increases Salary And Career Success. 3 Reasons It Works

If you want to increase your salary or achieve success in your career, gaming may be the perfect strategy. There is evidence that gaming as a child is linked with better pay and more promotion as an adult—and you can accomplish similar results with continued gaming as well.

It’s a tough job market today and there is tons of competition not only for the best roles, but also the best projects and promotions. Employers are looking for those with brilliant thinking and problem-solving skills in addition to people who embrace tech and who can cope with all of the current challenges. READ MORE

2024 Proxy Season Highlights: Compensation Trends and Lessons Learned

As the 2024 proxy season comes to a close, we reflect on key executive compensation trends and consider any lessons learned. This article discusses three such trends. In general, 2024 was not significantly different from 2023 but we did see the second year of pay versus performance disclosures. We also saw support for say-on-pay proposals increase this year and a diverse range of executive compensation-related shareholder proposals. READ MORE

Trends in DE&I Compensation Metrics

Amidst the debate over corporate ESG and DE&I practices, Teneo’s analysis of recent S&P 500 proxy filings reveals an interesting trend: the practice of including DE&I metrics in executive compensation is not only widespread, but increasing in prevalence.

Contrary to headlines suggesting a retreat from DE&I pay measures, our findings indicate more companies have added DE&I metrics to compensation plans than removed them in 2023. However, a notable shift has occurred – many companies are disclosing less detail about the specific DE&I metrics and goals impacting executive payouts. This shift, likely a strategy to reduce backlash from anti-DE&I activists, clashes with investor demand for transparency and the trend towards increased disclosure that began before the inception of say-on-pay. As companies navigate this complex landscape, they must consider the governance and shareholder implications of altering their DE&I pay-related disclosures. READ MORE