The rules relating to the US taxation of equity awards in an international context are often complex and sometimes uncertain. This On the Subject explores how COVID-19-related travel restrictions affect the US taxation of certain equity awards for employees transferred to and from US-based employers. READ MORE
Only 10% of employers expect Covid-19 layoffs to be permanent
Two-thirds of employers took some action in March and April that negatively impacted employee pay, including layoffs and furloughs, according to data released today by Salary.com. READ MORE
How COVID-19 and work from home is transforming rewards packages
Flexible work arrangements may have been around for decades, and COVID-19 has flipped the script by hyper-accelerating WFH through a need for tens of millions of workers to shelter in place. Despite the lack of HR policies and protocols for an almost instant shift to 100% remote working, American creativity configured a solution and reimagined our approach to total rewards. READ MORE
Bankruptcy pay evasion
In the early 2000s, large troubled firms developed a practice of paying retention bonuses to senior managers immediately after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Congress banned this practice in 2005 with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), citing the need to protect public confidence in the bankruptcy courts and fight “glaring abuses of the bankruptcy system by the executives of giant companies.” READ MORE
ISS Urges Shareholders To Just Say No To Big Media And Big Tech Executive Pay Policies
There's a Schizophrenic Quality to Minimum Wage Support
One of these days, the economy will get back up on its feet. But will the recovery resemble a V, with a sharp upward thrust, or a flat U shape, keeping us in the doldrums interminably? READ MORE
Department of Labor Permits Payment of Incentive Compensation by Employers Using Fluctuating Workweek
On May 20, 2020, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) released a Final Rule authorizing employers that use the “fluctuating workweek” method for calculating employees’ regular rates of pay to award employees additional incentive-based compensation above their fixed weekly salaries – such as bonuses, premium payments, commissions, or hazard pay – without running afoul of the DOL’s fluctuating workweek rules. The new rule is designed to give employers who rely on the fluctuating workweek the ability to use incentive pay to address staffing issues that may arise as businesses attempt to reopen in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE
Making Proposals Personal With Executive Compensation
A critical component in developing comprehensive client insights in your proposals is knowing how a client’s executives are compensated. Yet in my experience, most strategic account managers and sellers do not use executive compensation in their sales process. In this article, I’ll explore several dimensions of executive compensation: READ MORE
Why localized compensation in a work-anywhere world isn't so simple
Last Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook’s 48,000 employees that he expects upwards of 50% of the company will be working remotely within 10 years. After outlining many of the advantages that remote work confers — including to “potentially spread more economic opportunity around the country and potentially around the world” — he added that those who choose to move to other places in the U.S. or elsewhere will be paid based on where they live. READ MORE
Hertz paid top executives $16 million in bonuses ahead of its bankruptcy filing
Hertz paid out millions of dollars in bonuses to its executives just before its bankruptcy -- and a month after it started laying off thousands of employees. READ MORE
Salaries Get Chopped for Many Americans Who Manage to Keep Jobs
Companies across the U.S. are cutting salaries as they fight to survive the coronavirus, upending a key assumption in modern economics and raising another hurdle to rapid recovery. READ MORE
DOL Broadens Overtime Exemption Rule for Commissioned Retail and Service Workers
In an effort to provide clarity during an uncertain time, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule on Tuesday to simplify an overtime exemption for commission-based workers in retail and service industries. READ MORE
What is the average American salary?
The U.S. workforce is one of the key things that makes it one of the world's superpowers. From education and health care, manufacturing and construction through to business and agriculture, American jobs vary at levels, skills and also, in wages. READ MORE
A CARES Act Executive Pay Framework
Companies that are participating in the CARES Act are still facing a hot market for their top talent, particularly those recipients in distressed circumstances. Associated compensation restrictions freeze or reduce executive pay, requiring a different playbook than what companies have become used to. While being cognizant of windfalls, it is a time to ensure your best talent is responsibly aligned with recovery, while sending the right messages to stakeholders. As such, companies need to turn to a new playbook. READ MORE
Companies are giving essential workers bullshit rewards
As the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States took hold in March, Walgreens decided to let its workers wear jeans. It would be nearly two weeks before the pharmacy announced it was also giving them masks. READ MORE
Pay Cuts Become a Tool for Some Companies to Avoid Layoffs
“Shared sacrifice” in the white-collar ranks aims to avoid the cost of staffing up again. With no end to the crisis in sight, it is a leap of faith. READ MORE
US billionaires got $434 billion richer since coronavirus pandemic began
Even as the coronavirus pandemic plunges the U.S. economy into the worst downturn since the Great Depression, some of the wealthiest Americans have seen their collective fortunes increase exponentially, according to a new report. READ MORE
Facebook: Workers Can Bid Goodbye To Menlo Park And Hello To Midwest – But With A Salary Cut
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that most Facebook employees can work from home wherever they want. But they should not expect to get Silicon Valley salary levels if they relocate to less-expensive areas. READ MORE
Investors Beef With McDonald’s Board Over Fired CEO’s Exit Package
McDonald’s Corp. Chairman Enrique Hernandez, Jr. and another key board member up for reappointment on Thursday will face opposition from investor groups who take issue with their approval of a severance package valued over $44 million for former CEO Steve Easterbrook after he was accused of wrongdoing. READ MORE
Alphabet Investors Should Reject CEO’s Pay, Proxy Firms Say
Alphabet Inc.’s executive pay packages have come under fire from a second influential shareholder advisory firm ahead of the Google owner’s annual meeting. READ MORE