Elizabeth Warren to unveil wealth tax on Americans worth over $50M

Sen. Elizabeth Warren plans to unveil legislation on Monday that would tax the net worth of the wealthiest Americans, a proposal aimed at reducing income inequality in the U.S.

The measure would impose a 2% annual tax on the net worth of U.S. households above $50 million and would add an additional 1% levy on households worth more than $1 billion. It's nearly identical to the wealth tax that Warren introduced during her failed 2020 presidential campaign. READ MORE

Democrats scrap plan to penalize corporations over $15 minimum wage

Senate Democrats are dropping a plan to raise the federal minimum wage through a corporate tax penalty amid concerns that its inclusion in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package could delay the bill's passage, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The plan, introduced last week by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden and Senate Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders, included tax penalties on large corporations that fail to pay $15 an hour and incentives for the "smallest of small businesses" to encourage them to raise their wages. READ MORE

Costco raises its minimum wage above rivals like Amazon, Target and Best Buy

Costco will raise its starting rate for hourly store workers in the United States to $16 an hour, putting its starting wage above rivals such as Amazon, Target and Best Buy.

Costco has around 180,000 US employees, and 90% of them work hourly. It will hike its minimum wage to $16 beginning next week, chief executive Craig Jelinek said Thursday at a US Senate Budget Committee hearing chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders on worker pay at large companies. READ MORE

Don’t Forget! Refresher on Glass Lewis COVID-19-Related Guidance and ISS Compensation

For companies knee deep in proxy statement drafting and 2021 executive compensation decisions, we recommend a quick refresher on Glass Lewis’ December 2020 Approach to Executive Compensation in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic and ISS’ October 2020 COVID-19-related compensation FAQs, as well as ISS’ more general December 2020 compensation-related FAQs and equity plan-related FAQs. READ MORE

Focus on fate of $15 minimum wage in Senate as House prepares to take up Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief bill

Lawmakers were awaiting a key ruling from Senate officials Wednesday on whether President Biden’s proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage can remain in his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

Top Senate aides from both parties huddled with the Senate parliamentarian Wednesday morning to advance arguments about whether the minimum wage increase would be allowable under the complex Senate rules that will govern consideration of the legislation. READ MORE

Most Employers Open to Negotiating Salary, Not Benefits

The majority of employers are open to negotiating salary for some or all positions once a job offer has been made, but that openness does not extend to bonuses and benefits, according to a new survey.

Nearly 90 percent of the 324 organizations that responded to XpertHR's Recruiting and Hiring Survey 2021 said they are flexible about negotiating salary with job candidates—at least for certain positions—but only 42 percent are open to negotiating bonuses, and just 32 percent are willing to negotiate benefits. READ MORE

Setting 2021’s Compensation Goals in the Wake of COVID

Setting goals for incentive compensation has long been one of the compensation committee’s biggest responsibilities. This task is especially difficult with the continuing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and corporate commitments to serving all stakeholders, not just shareholders. To add to the complexity, some business sectors are thriving while others face a very uncertain recovery. READ MORE

This Is America's Highest Paid CEO at $280 Million

Chief executive officers are the highest-ranking corporate executives, and their compensation often reflects as much. Across the 350 largest companies in the United States, the average CEO made $14.5 million in 2019. All things being equal, it would take the typical American about 400 years to earn that much.

Not all CEOs are compensated equally, however. At some of America’s largest companies, chief executives make well more than double the amount the typical CEO earns, or hundreds of times more than most of the people who work for them. READ MORE

Vaccine Volunteers: Is “Thank You” Sufficient Compensation?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay nonexempt employees at least minimum wage for all hours worked up to 40 hours in a workweek and time and one-half for all hours worked over 40 hours in the same workweek. An exception to this rule exists for volunteers, who are not categorized as “employees” under the statute. Typically, volunteers are individuals who donate their time to non-profit, civic, religious, and other charitable organizations. READ MORE

CFO aligns incentives using profits interest ownership structure

When Goodroot's leadership team sought to link the fortunes of its affiliate companies together, CFO Jim Harper took several days off to consider the challenge.

Goodroot operates like a private equity firm, incubator, and back-office support provider for companies that try to reduce healthcare costs, whether by correcting improper medical billing, aligning incentives between pharmaceutical companies and payers, or by some other means.  READ MORE

Pay Freezes Were Common in 2020; Employers Stay Cautious with 2021 Budgets

nly 64 percent of U.S. organizations gave base pay increases in 2020, down from 82 percent that raised salaries in 2019, new research shows.

The results were reported in February by compensation data and software firm PayScale in its 2021 Compensation Best Practices Report, and are based on more than 5,000 responses from compensation managers at U.S. and Canadian companies surveyed from November 2020 to January 2021. READ MORE