As this unusual year comes to an end, many firms will be divvying up profits and assigning new partner salary or draw amounts for 2021. Where there are compensation agreements, this is primarily handled contractually, but there is usually some wiggle room for discretionary or merit adjustments. In larger firms this is usually done by a committee and in less larger firms by the partners together or by the majority owner for smaller firms. READ MORE
AN OVERVIEW OF THE GLASS LEWIS APPROACH TO PROXY ADVICE
The following 2021 voting guidelines are a detailed overview of the key policies we apply in each of these markets. In conducting our analysis, we review each company and proposal on a case-by-case basis, considering the company’s performance, industry, stock exchange, place of incorporation and other factors. READ MORE
Kodak's stock soars 80% after probe reportedly finds no wrongdoing in government loan
Kodak's stock rocketed about 80% higher in early trading Monday after the US government reportedly found no wrongdoing in Kodak's now-halted $765 million loan to help the company produce pharmaceutical ingredients.
US government regulators reportedly have been investigating why Kodak announced the loan on July 27, the day prior to the official announcement -- the same day some executives, including Jim Continenza, Kodak's executive chairman and CEO, received stock options. READ MORE
How Bonuses are Taxed
Working hard all year to help your company meet its annual goals deserves a reward, and you've definitely earned that bonus. But bonuses count toward your income for the year, so they're subject to income taxes. READ MORE
Millions of U.S. workers have the skills to earn 70 percent more than they do today.
As many as 30 million American workers without four-year college degrees have the skills to realistically move into new jobs that pay on average 70 percent more than their current ones. That estimate comes from a collaboration of academic, nonprofit and corporate researchers who mined data on occupations and skills, The New York Times’s Steve Lohr reports. READ MORE
400 politicians worldwide press Jeff Bezos to raise wages, pay more taxes
Jeff Bezos has been put on notice by 400 politicians worldwide who are demanding that Amazon clean up its act as a global corporate citizen. READ MORE
TikTok's new generation of millionaires: 'I did it 100% on my own'
Friday’s bleak jobs report revealed that millions of Americans are still out of work, but some of the country’s richest people continue to accrue wealth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
And one controversial social media platform — TikTok — has created a brand-new class of young millionaires who are becoming the breadwinners for their households. With one in three Americans on TikTok, according to the Chinese-owned app, it has become a clear winner for eyeballs and ad dollars even as lawmakers continue to criticize its security practices. READ MORE
Yahoo Finance Investor Paul Tudor Jones rejects 'false god' of low pay, calls on companies to pay living wages
The fight to close the growing wealth gap is “true social change” that has to begin in the private sector by raising worker wages, according to billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones.
According to Jones, with the private economy total economic output at $20 trillion — compared to the federal government's $4.5 trillion in spending and private philanthropy's $400 billion — it makes the private sector the best place to tackle inequality. READ MORE
Biden set to push minimum wage hikes
President-elect Joe Biden’s administration is likely to push for raising the minimum wage at the federal and local levels next year through any means available.
Biden’s economic team includes several labor economists who are expected to push for increasing worker earnings through executive actions, federal legislation in Congress, and use of their bully pulpit to encourage state and local governments to raise their own minimum wages. READ MORE
SEC Proposes to Ease Restrictions on Compensatory Offerings to Employees, “Platform Workers” and Other Service Providers
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed amendments that would ease restrictions on compensatory securities offerings to employees and other service providers under Rule 701 and Form S-8, both implemented under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). At the same time, the SEC also proposed a temporary five-year expansion of Rule 701 and Form S-8 eligibility for certain compensatory offerings to “platform” or “gig economy” workers. READ MORE
Commission-Only Employees Are Not Exempt from Overtime
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