How climate change can be addressed through executive compensation

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are increasingly becoming incorporated across all aspects of organizations, including business strategies, operations and product/service offerings.

Recent global research of boards of directors by Willis Towers Watson found that 70 to 80 percent of respondents have identified ESG priorities and developed ESG implementation plans. However, only 48 percent have fully incorporated ESG into their businesses, indicating that organizations are at different stages in their ESG journeys. While the most cited reason for taking ESG actions is that they see it as the right thing to do, over three-quarters (78 percent) of respondents indicate that they believe ESG is a key contributor to strong financial performance. READ MORE

SEC enforces a clawback for accounting violations

Remember the clawback provision of SOX 304? That provision provides a reimbursement remedy against CEOs and CFOs when the issuer has restated its financial statements as a result of misconduct. Although the provision was enacted in 2002, it wasn’t until 2007 that an executive was successfully hit with a clawback claim (and a big one it was—the executive returned approximately $600 million in cash and options). And since then, SOX 304 hasn’t gotten all that much of a workout. As reflected in this Order, the SEC has just brought settled charges against the former CEO and CFO of WageWorks Inc., alleging that they made false and misleading statements and omissions, including to the company’s outside audit firm, that led to improper revenue recognition and ultimately resulted in a financial restatement. The settlements with both former executives included reimbursement of incentive-based compensation under SOX 304. READ MORE

Want to convince workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine? Try money

As many employers consider their COVID-19 vaccination plans and mull how they’ll get reluctant employees to buy into the vaccines, new data points to one effective strategy: money.

A new survey from Blackhawk Network, a payments provider, finds that although some 40% of respondents are either unsure about getting the vaccine or do not plan to get it, certain incentives could boost vaccination rates. For as little as $100, one-third of employees will agree to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the survey of 1,105 employees finds. READ MORE

Charting The Risk Associated With Common Workplace COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Programs

Now that a COVID-19 vaccine is becoming increasingly available, how can employers encourage employees to receive it? Beyond requiring the shots as a mandatory condition of employment – which is not an option many employers are currently considering due to the many legal and employee relations questions it raises – one concept appears to be on the minds of most employers: offering employees incentives to take the vaccine. While this may be an attractive option to many employers, you need to understand the risks associated with various possible incentive programs before launching one at your workplace. READ MORE

Business Groups Seek Vaccine Incentive Guidance From EEOC

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should clarify what kinds of incentives employers can legally offer workers to encourage Covid-19 vaccinations, according to a letter signed by more than 40 business groups.

The groups requested in a Monday letter for the workplace civil rights agency to weigh in on incentives, as employers like JBS USA and Aldi offer financial perks like extra pay and bonuses to workers who get vaccinated. READ MORE

Boeing giving employee bonuses despite losing $12B last year

Boeing Co. has said it will dole out annual performance bonuses next month to most employees despite losing $12 billion over the last year during the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of the company's employees did not receive annual bonuses last year after it lost $636 million in 2019 because of the grounding of the 737 MAX by the Federal Aviation Administration, The Seattle Times reported. READ MORE

Final Regulations on Executive Compensation Excise Tax (Section 4960) Carries Forward Most Concepts from Proposal

On January 19, 2021 the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published in the Federal Register Final Regulations (the “Final Regulations”) interpreting the excise tax under Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code on certain executive compensation paid by tax-exempt organizations. The Final Regulations maintain most of the concepts from the interim guidance (Notice 2019-09 (the “Notice”), discussed here and here, and Proposed Regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”), discussed here), with a few changes. READ MORE

Staffing Firms Gain Extra FLSA Overtime Protection

Temporary staffing firms may qualify as “retail or service establishments” and therefore may be able to apply the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) “retail sales” overtime exemption to some of their employees, according to a recent opinion letter from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

The new opinion could provide significant benefits to staffing companies with an inside sales force or commissioned recruiters in their business operations. READ MORE

Tax-Exempt Executive Compensation Excise Tax Regulations (Section 4960) Finalized

On January 19, 2021 the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published in the Federal Register Final Regulations (the “Final Regulations”) interpreting the excise tax under Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code on certain executive compensation paid by tax-exempt organizations. The Final Regulations maintain most of the concepts from the interim guidance (Notice 2019-09 (the “Notice”), discussed here and here, and Proposed Regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”), discussed here), with a few changes. READ MORE

What minimum-wage increases did to McDonald’s restaurants — and their employees

President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers are making a push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour from the current $7.25. Some lawmakers and business owners who are against the idea say it would create harmful effects, including business closures, job loss and an acceleration of the shift toward automation.

But those effects didn’t materialize in a five-year analysis of the impacts of minimum-wage increases at state and local levels as evidenced at more than 10,000 McDonald’s locations in the U.S. READ MORE

Biden, Democrats hit gas on push for $15 minimum wage

The Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour has emerged as an early flashpoint in the fight for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, testing President Joe Biden's ability to bridge Washington's partisan divides as he pursues his first major legislative victory.

Biden called for a $15 hourly minimum wage during his campaign and has followed through by hitching it to a measure that, among other things, calls for $1,400 stimulus checks and $130 billion to help schools reopen. Biden argues that anyone who holds a full-time job shouldn't live in poverty, echoing progressives in the Democratic Party who are fully on board with the effort. READ MORE