Compensation for outside corporate directors increased 3%

Total pay for outside directors at the nation's largest corporations increased by a modest 3% in 2017, driven by increases in cash and stock compensation, according to a new analysis by Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, and solutions company. The study also revealed more companies are implementing annual limits on director compensation in the wake of shareholder lawsuits alleging that pay for board members is excessive. READ MORE

None of the state minimum wages provide a family living wage

Amid gridlock in boardrooms and Congress on proposals to improve worker pay and employment conditions, state governments have taken the lead, forcing companies to raise minimums and add benefits.

The big picture: Most states have enacted minimum wages exceeding the federal $7.25-an-hour rate that's been in place for nine years. But there is a wide range of hourly rates and working conditions, and none of the state minimums provides a living wage for a family, says Oxfam in a new national study. READ MORE

OFCCP Issues New Directive for Analyzing Compensation

Organizations doing business with the federal government may be subject to affirmative action requirements, overseen by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). In an effort to provide more transparency and efficiency in its compliance evaluations, the OFCCP recently issued a new directive providing information on how it will analyze contractor compensation. READ MORE

5 Tips for Developing a Compensation Strategy for Your Business

One of your goals as a small-business owner should be to recruit and develop a dedicated, hardworking team that serves the company well and contributes to its success. But if you don't put some serious thought into how you compensate your employees, you're likely to fail in that regard. That's why it's crucial to establish a well-thought-out strategy that serves your workers and your business well. Here's how to start. READ MORE

The economy is booming, your salary is not: Blame the decline of unions

In the past 40 decades, regular working Americans have barely seen their salaries grow, while around them, the cost of housing and basic needs have skyrocketed, as has pay for business executives. What’s behind this decline? Economists and political scientists often point to the decline of labor unions in those same years as a major contributing factor to the current environment of soaring business profits and meager worker salaries. READ MORE

OFCCP Reins in Compensation Analysis by Rescinding Directive 307 and Issuing New Guidance

On August 24, 2018, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) rescinded Directive 3071 and its Obama-era procedures for reviewing contractor compensation systems and practices, and replaced it with a new directive under which OFCCP’s approach to compensation analysis is clarified and constrained.2 Although the new directive does not include a hoped-for safe harbor provision for contractors that undertake robust internal compensation audits and adjust compensation based on their findings, it does provide significant guidance to both OFCCP compliance officers and federal contractors about how compensation analysis will be approached and what contractors can expect. READ MORE

The Promotion That Comes Without the Pay Raise

More workers are facing the same dilemma: How do you respond when your boss offers you a nice new title, without a nice new raise to match?

Some 39% of employers often hand out promotions without a pay raise, up from 22% in 2011, according to a recent survey of 300 employers by the staffing firm OfficeTeam. Many employees are left wondering whether to swallow their resentment and accept the news, or push back for more money. READ MORE

Stagnant wages are a problem. Trump is the solution.

Since the 1990s, the share of national income going to working- and middle-class Americans has been dropping.  For most of the post-WWII period, wage-earners captured 64% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  At the beginning of the 21st century, however, things started to change for the worse.  In 2017, wages and salaries accounted for just 43% of the GDP.  This is the lowest level since 1929.  READ MORE
 

What’s Holding Back Wages in America?

America’s labor market is a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces don’t quite fit together.

Unemployment has plummeted to 3.9 percent, the lowest level since the early 2000s. Earnings calls are replete with chief executive officers bemoaning employee shortages. Small businesses are also feeling the pinch. In a July survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, 37 percent of owners reported at least one vacancy, and more than half said there were few or no qualified candidates for the job. READ MORE

Higher Minimum Wages Blamed for Closure of Iconic NYC Coffee Shop

Before she was the rising star of the progressive left, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez worked shifts at the iconic Coffee Shop in Union Square, Manhattan.

That espresso-sized biographical nugget tells you a lot about Ocasio-Cortez. It grounds her as a real woman of the people, for one. She's held a low-paying service sector job. She had to commute from the working class, minority community of the Bronx to fill the coffee cups of well-off New Yorkers living in Manhattan. Union Square might not be the Upper East Side, but the contrast with Ocasio-Cortez' neighborhood is still pretty stark. READ MORE