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Massachusetts has the second-highest individual tax burden: $18,538 in total tax, or 23.5% of the median individual income in that state, $78,811.
“Massachusetts has one of the, if not the highest median incomes of any state in the country, which puts them into the highest tax bracket,” said Josh Koebert, data scientist and researcher at FinanceBuzz. READ MORE
Orange County Supervisors will not rescind the 25% raise they gave themselves last year despite a scathing grand jury report that called them out for a lack of transparency and urged them to return the money by the end of this month.
“This decision was not only tone-deaf—it reflected a deeper disconnect from the Board’s duty to serve the public with transparency and fiscal responsibility,” the OC Grand Jury wrote in a report released in December. READ MORE
Connecticut’s largest labor federation is pushing legislation that would require employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings.
But at least one of its own affiliates appears to believe the rule is for everyone else. READ MORE
While progress toward gender parity remains slow, several career paths offer above-average representation of women as well as high pay, according to a report from Resume Genius published Mar. 3.
Resume Genius, an online career platform and resume builder, identified the top 10 careers with high median salaries and projected job growth in which women make up 50% or more of workers, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. READ MORE
The bipartisan Senate bill would mandate that large bank executives surrender their salaries and bonuses if their bank fails.
Three years after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, which includes Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), reintroduced legislation to “ensure that big bank executives are not allowed to collect massive paychecks and bonuses, disregard prudent risk management, and walk away scot-free if the bank blows up.” The Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act of 2026 would ensure that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has the authority to “hold executives of failed banks financially responsible for some of the costs those failures impose on the rest of the banking system and the economy,” according to a press release. The bill would allow the FDIC to claw back at least part of the compensation bank executives received over the three-year period preceding a bank’s failure. READ MORE
President Donald Trump in August 2020 decried the multimillion-dollar salary of the Tennessee Valley Authority's then-president, Jeff Lyash, calling for him to be replaced.
"The new CEO must be paid no more than $500,000 a year," Trump said. "We want the TVA to take action on this immediately." READ MORE
REI Co-op is pushing back on accusations from the REI Union Wednesday that it illegally backed away from collective bargaining and unilaterally instituted cuts to pay and benefits. READ MORE
A phased-in minimum wage hike in Los Angeles that will mandate up to $30 per hour for hotel workers, signed into law by mayor Karen Bass, is already causing problems for the hotel industry and putting the squeeze on the working-class demographic that minimum wage laws are purportedly intended to help.
"The bottom line is the city of Los Angeles has forced a wage and benefits package on hotels that is utterly unaffordable at a time when Californians and Americans are laser focused on affordability," Hotel Association of Los Angeles (HALA) President Dr. Jackie Filla told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. READ MORE
SEC Rule 10D-1 – often referred to as the compensation clawback rule - requires public companies to adopt policies to recover excess incentive pay that was paid to current or former executives because it was based on metrics that were later restated. Created under the Dodd-Frank Act, the rule aims to reinforce accountability by requiring the recoupment of bonus or performance-based compensation tied to incorrect results, regardless of whether the error was caused by simple mistakes or misconduct. It applies to both material (“Big R”) and immaterial (“little r”) restatements. READ MORE
Jackson, Wyo., has long been a refuge for the rich. But the last five years saw a boom in wealth of a kind never before seen. Across the country, the 2017 tax cuts minted hundreds of new billionaires. READ MORE
Economic volatility, market disruptions and unpredictable performance trends have made executive pay design more complex than ever. Compensation committees and HR leaders face the challenge of creating incentive plans that remain motivating, fair and aligned with shareholder interests — all while accounting for uncertainty.
One of the most critical components of this process is incentive plan goal-setting, which becomes particularly difficult when future outcomes are unclear. With goal-setting top of mind now, we explore practical strategies that organizations can adopt to safeguard incentive plans in uncertain times. READ MORE
Median public company director pay rose a modest 3% in 2025, according to the 27th annual Director Compensation ReportOpen in a new tab produced by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and executive compensation advisory firm Pearl Meyer.
The report analyzed compensation and governance practices at 1,400 public companies across 24 industries. Companies were grouped into five size categories based on revenue: micro ($50 million to $500 million), small ($500 million to $1 billion), medium ($1 billion to $2.5 billion), large ($2.5 billion to $10 billion) and top 200 (the 200 largest companies in the S&P 500 by revenue). READ MORE
The U.S. economy grew at a 3.6% annualized pace in the fourth quarter of 2025. Corporate profits as a share of GDP reached a post-World War II high. On paper, the numbers look solid.
But inside organizations, something else is happening.
According to KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk, the resilience of the economy “feels more illusory than real.” READ MORE
What does it actually take to be considered “wealthy” these days — especially if you’re Gen Z? With rent prices doing the absolute most and iced lattes somehow costing $8, the definition of rich has gotten fuzzy.
GOBankingRates took a survey of 1,000 Americans (over age 18) and asked them what they considered to be upper class. Over one-third of Gen Z actually believe you need to make just $75,001 to $200,000 to be considered upper class.
Here is a closer look at what experts think puts Gen Zers in “wealthy” territory heading in 2026. READ MORE
Equal Pay Day on March 4 carries new weight for employers this year. It’s a day to bring awareness and legitimacy to the ongoing issue of pay inequity and the gender wage gap in the U.S., and a moment for HR leaders to reflect on how they advance fairness and pay equity in compensation decisions.
However, reflection alone is not enough. Compensation decisions now sit at the intersection of heightened regulatory requirements, growing employee expectations for pay transparency and equity, and AI-driven workforce transformation that’s rapidly reshaping job responsibilities and salaries. READ MORE
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday unveiled a highly anticipated proposed rule to determine how employers should classify independent contractors.
The proposal would replace a Biden-era rule that made it more challenging for organizations to classify workers as contractors with one similar to what the Trump administration advanced during the president’s first term in office—largely considered a more business-friendly standard. READ MORE
For most companies, climate action has limited influence on executive decision-making. Here’s how boards can design compensation structures that motivate leaders to meet corporate climate ambitions. READ MORE
Have you ever wondered what it really takes to create a global sales compensation plan that inspires and motivates sellers in different countries across the world? Designing global sales compensation plans for multinational organizations is a complex puzzle filled with unique challenges. When companies settle for a global “one-size-fits-all” approach, sellers can quickly become confused or frustrated — especially when their compensation plan feels out of touch with their local norms. Ultimately, this disconnect typically leaves them unmotivated and disengaged, undermining the very purpose of a sales incentive program. READ MORE
You may remember that strange phase of the labor market after the pandemic that got dubbed The Great Resignation — when employers were hiring like mad, and lots of workers were leaving for better-paying jobs.
They had good reason. According to data from the payroll company ADP (where occasional Marketplace collaborator Nela Richardson is chief economist) back in the first half of 2022, your annual salary went up 8% more if you left your job than if you stayed. READ MORE