The California Court of Appeal (Fourth Appellate District, Division 3) decided Semprini vs Wedbush Securities, Inc., holding that a certified class of employees paid on a commission-only basis did not meet the salary basis test for the administrative exemption from overtime. READ MORE
How pay bands can improve retention, drive engagement
Pay bands, while not necessary, can be a critical part of a compensation strategy, experts say. Used effectively, such structures can help employers maintain competitive salaries, track pay equity, improve retention and increase employee engagement. READ MORE
Snowflake CEO Collects a $95 Million Payout — Every Month
Snowflake Inc. is doing well by any stretch of the imagination. On Wednesday, the cloud-computing company reported that third-quarter revenue more than doubled from a year earlier, and its stock has surged more than 200% since its Sept. 15 initial public offering. READ MORE
One-Percenter Wages Up 160% Since 1979; Bottom 90% See Boost of Just 26%
The redistribution of wage income to the top U.S. earners in 2019 continued a pattern that began in 1979. The top 1% of earners have seen wage income grow by just over 160% in the 40-year period while the bottom 90% of workers have experienced a gain of just 26% over the same period. For the top 0.1% of earners, wages have increased by more than 345% in the past 40 years. READ MORE
Southwest Airlines threatens to furlough more than 6,800 workers after impasse over wage cuts
Southwest Airlines issued furlough warnings Thursday to 6,828 pilots, flight attendants, ramp workers and other employees after failing to come to a deal on 10% wage cuts for next year as the carrier looks to slash costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE
Coronavirus to put ‘massive’ pressure on wages, UN agency warns
The COVID-19 pandemic will likely exercise "massive downward pressure on wages in the near future," the International Labor Organization said in a report released on Wednesday.
Some of the impacts are already being felt: wages fell or wage growth slowed in the first six months of 2020 in two-thirds of countries surveyed, ILO found. The effects were disproportionately felt by women and the lower-paid, albeit they were somewhat mitigated by social safety nets. READ MORE
Pandemic entrenches gender gap in wage bargaining
More women than men said they have less power to ask for a pay raise or benefits in light of the pandemic, indicating that the coronavirus has entrenched the gender disparity in wage bargaining, a survey by Moody’s Analytics and Morning Consult showed. READ MORE
How Biden Can Raise Some Wages Even if Congress Won’t
In its last dying days, the Trump administration is busily at work depriving American workers of rights they previously held. Civil servants are threatened with having their jobs reclassified so Trump can fire them, a threat that encompasses nearly 90 percent of employees at the Office of Management and Budget. READ MORE
Wage inequality gets worse: Bottom 90% stuck in $30,000 range as top 0.1% take home way more than $1 million on average
Wages for the richest 1% in the U.S. have soared 160% over the past four decades while the share of wages for the bottom 90% has shrunk, according to new data from the Economic Policy Institute.
While there has been plenty of research on worsening economic inequality in the U.S., the new EPI analysis paints a clearer picture. READ MORE
Starbucks to Tie Executive Pay to Diversity Goals
Starbucks said it will tie executive pay to the success of its initiatives to increase diversity throughout the company.
The company has said it is aiming to increase the percentage of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to 30% at the corporate level by 2025. Within retail and manufacturing, it is aiming for 40% BIPOC representation. Currently, BIPOC employees are about 18.5% of executives at the level of senior vice president or higher. READ MORE
Executive Compensation Mistakes: Prioritizing “Fairness”
Certain functions in your business are more important than others. And much like these functions, some people on your executive team are more important than others. Their compensation should, therefore, reflect the value of their work and how their work can fuel growth for your business. READ MORE
Is minimum wage increase good economic policy?
Economic hardships of minimum wage workers concern many Americans. Federal minimum wage was enacted in 1938 at $0.25 an hour. It covered 40% of the prevailing hourly rate and covered 50% of non-supervisory workers (Department of Labor). Congress, through a series of amendments since 1938, has increased federal minimum wage and finally ended up with the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour in 2009; that amount prevails today but only for covered workers. It does not cover, for example, tipped workers in industries such as leisure and hospitality. READ MORE
Wages of Error at the New York Times
The New York Times ran a long editorial over the weekend arguing that higher wages can cause economic growth instead of its always having to be the other way around. The basic argument is succinct if conclusory: “Consumption drives the American economy, and workers who are paid more can spend more.” READ MORE
SEC Proposes Changes to Rule 701 and Form S-8
On November 24, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed changes to Rule 701 and Form S-8 under the Securities Act of 1933. While most of the initial attention has focused on the revisions that would allow equity compensation to be granted to “gig economy” workers, certain other revisions are broader in scope and apply to all private and public companies relying on Rule 701 or Form S-8 to grant equity compensation to service providers. READ MORE
More Companies Offer Bonuses as a Challenging Year Ends
To reward employees who have dealt with a year of severe business and personal challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more companies are giving holiday bonuses to their employees this year, new survey data shows. READ MORE
White House Now Supports 2021 Pay Freeze, but Only for Civilians
The announcement marks a reversal for the Trump administration, which previously proposed a 1% across-the-board pay increase for all federal employees. READ MORE
Ex-Goldman Sachs President Cohn has not returned pay after 1MDB clawbacks
Goldman Sachs has failed to persuade former president Gary Cohn to return over $10 million he received in pay, as part of the bank's effort to reclaim executive compensation over the 1MDB scandal, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
There is little that the bank can do if Cohn, the former economic adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, simply refuses or offers up a discounted sum, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter. READ MORE
What Happened When These Places Raised the Minimum Wage to $15
The federal minimum wage — $7.25 per hour — hasn’t changed since 2009, even though the cost of living has risen rapidly. Labor activists long have been asking for a raise in the minimum wage but due to the partisan split between the House and Senate, it seems unlikely there will be a change in the foreseeable future — though President-elect Joe Biden has promised to raise the federal minimum wage to $15. READ MORE
2020 Year-End Key Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Considerations
COVID-19 has, among other things, had an impact on executive compensation and employee benefits, and given rise to a number of new issues and considerations. These compensation issues present challenges for companies seeking to incentivize and retain key employees in the midst of the current economic conditions while balancing competing responsibilities to various stakeholders. READ MORE
Biden Plans to Ban Noncompete, No-Poaching Clauses
Proponents of eliminating the clauses argue that noncompete agreements—which bar workers from accepting new employment in their field or industry for a certain period, often a year or more after they leave an employer—reduce competition among businesses and stifle workers' job mobility and wage growth. The clauses were first introduced to prevent upper-level employees from taking trade secrets to rival businesses but have since proliferated to low-wage and low-skill workers. READ MORE