Delaware Bans Compensation History Inquiries

On June 14, 2017, Delaware Governor John Carney signed into law a bill that amends Delaware’s Code relating to unlawful employment practices to prohibit employers from (i) engaging in salary-based screening of prospective employees where prior compensation must satisfy certain minimum or maximum criteria or (ii) seeking the compensation history of a prospective employee from the prospective employee or a current or former employer (the “Law”). Under the Law, “compensation” is defined broadly to include wages, benefits, or other compensation.  READ MORE

Developments in Tax Withholding for Equity Awards under Employer Stock Plans

When an employee exercises or settles an award such as a stock option or restricted stock unit, there is often a measure of value that must be included in the employee’s compensation income. Consequently, employers are required to withhold and remit payroll and income taxes with respect to that compensation, and employers will typically require employees to satisfy their portion of those taxes. Either the employee must come up with other sources of liquidity, or in some cases the taxes may be satisfied by “net settlement” – withholding some of the shares from the award. Two recent developments – one in the accounting arena and the second in securities law – affect how this withholding can be handled.  READ MORE

The Compensation Accounting Tack That Makes PayPal’s Numbers Look So Good

How could stock-based compensation — which is a company expense, after all — have helped PayPal’s performance in the quarter? Simple. The company does not consider stock awards a cost when calculating its favored earnings measure. So when PayPal doles out more stock compensation than it has done historically, all else being equal, its chosen non-GAAP income growth looks better.  READ MORE

U.S. jobs come with paltry pay growth

American jobs and more of them continue to be a crowing point for the White House, as over one million jobs have been created since President Trump took office, as tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And more are likely on the way thanks to recent deals like the one Wisconsin cut with Apple (AAPL) supplier Foxconn – which alone will create 3,000 jobs.  READ MORE

Balance Due

Structuring executive compensation is a delicate balancing act that isn’t getting easier. Pay plans have multiple goals — attracting and retaining top talent, motivating performance, and keeping activist shareholders at bay — that are often at odds with each other.  READ MORE

Executive Compensation Practical Pointers- CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure

Some state and local governments are attempting to apply new taxes and other charges to publicly traded companies with disclosed pay ratios that exceed certain thresholds. Therefore, companies making such disclosures should consider whether these laws will apply to it and, if so, whether the ratio will exceed the applicable threshold. The company should also involve its tax department to determine any potential tax impact. READ MORE

U.S. orders Wells Fargo to reinstate whistle-blower and pay $577,500 in compensation

The U.S. Labor Department has ordered Wells Fargo & Co. to reinstate another former employee who alleged she was fired after reporting part of the widespread fraud that engulfed the bank in a major scandal.

The whistle-blower, a former branch manager in Pomona, will be reinstated and paid $577,500 in back wages, damages and other compensation, , the agency said, based on an investigation by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. READ MORE

Top 10 Ways to Change Compensation Structure Without Causing Panic

Business owners often need to make employee compensation alterations for various reasons, whether it’s to adjust for new business goals, launch new incentive programs or simply lower expenses. Unfortunately, many organizations forget to include employees in the process. This can lead to an overall sense of disappointment, anger and frustration with the employer and ultimately, hostility and lower productivity. To help avoid any unwanted surprises and keep a calm and professional working environment, we’ve asked 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question: READ MORE

Survey Shows Job Satisfaction High, Compensation Satisfaction Lags

The good news? Overall U.S. employee job satisfaction continues to rank highly at 89 percent. The not-so-good news? There's a wide gap between those who rate satisfaction with compensation as very important (61 percent) and those who actually feel very satisfied with their current level of compensation (26 percent). This 35 percentage-point difference regarding compensation was the largest gap noted in the 2016 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey from the Society for Human Resource Management. READ MORE