White House Seeks to Raise Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors

President Biden signed an executive order ("Minimum Wage EO" or "EO") seeking to raise the federal minimum wage for government contractor employees, beyond the statutory minimum wage provided by Congress, to $15 an hour. If fully implemented, the new minimum wage will eventually be required for certain types of solicitations, contracts, and "contract-like instruments" (including extensions, renewals, and options on existing contracts). READ MORE

These companies are hiking wages because they can't find workers

The race to find talent — and retain existing talent —has entered warp overdrive as the economy kicks into high gear amidst increased COVID-19 vaccinations and a labor shortage. 

Companies from McDonald's to Amazon are finding that in order to get the employees they need to service demand spikes, they will have to pay way more per hour. And in some cases, they will be forced to offer bonuses to attract workers with the skills needed.  READ MORE

$58,508: The Average Starting Salary for New Accounting Grads

Accounting students who are graduating in 2021 are the beneficiaries of an average starting salary that has increased by nearly 11% over last year, according to the most recent salary survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

The average starting salary for accounting undergrads this year is projected to be $58,508, up from $52,734 in 2020. That 10.9% increase is quite the jump over last year, when the average starting salary was expected to increase by only 0.4% for the class of 2020. READ MORE

Chipotle minimum wage hike to $15 deals 'psychological' blow to restaurant industry

Chipotle's minimum wage hike could spell profit doom for rivals that are forced to follow suit to retain workers, while also lacking the compelling menus to justify price increases on diners. 

The burrito and salad bowl giant said Monday it would lift the average hourly wage for its restaurant workers to $15. The company is also offering employee referral bonuses of $200 for restaurant workers and $750 for general managers. It touted the ability to be a manager of several Chipotle restaurants — a position it calls a restaurateur — within four years. The position pays more than $100,000 a year, Chipotle said. The burrito chain is looking to fill 20,000 restaurant positions. READ MORE

Equity Compensation Alternatives

For both established companies and new companies, it is often essential to allow key employees to participate in the company's future growth and profitability through equity ownership. This helps align the interests of ownership and key employees. Equity compensation can be more affordable from the employer's standpoint because the employee generally only benefits if there is future growth and profitability. From the employee's perspective, it is beneficial because it allows employees to reap the rewards of their efforts. Corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships can all issue equity compensation awards. READ MORE

Return of SALT deduction spicing up debate on Capitol Hill

A cherished tax deduction that hit high-income earners in New York, California and New Jersey and was eliminated by the Trump Administration may soon be making a comeback. 

Momentum is building for the reinstatement of the federal government's state and local tax deduction better known as the SALT deduction FOX Business has learned. The deduction was nearly eliminated as part of the former President Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Instead, the federal government instituted a $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction. Previously there was no cap.  READ MORE

Verizon retirees take aim at CEO Vestberg’s $40 million ‘golden parachute’

Jack Cohen retired from Verizon nearly 20 years ago. Since then he’s taken on a new role: Fighting on behalf of company retirees and ordinary stockholders, sometimes in open battle with the current board of directors.

He’s at it again.

Cohen, who leads the Association of BellTel Retirees, is fighting the board at this week’s annual stockholder meeting over fat cat pay, including the $40 million ‘golden parachute’ offered to current Chief Executive Hans Vestberg. READ MORE

I own a small business — this is what a $15 minimum wage means for me

After President Biden required federal contractors to pay a $15 minimum wage and Rhode Island inched closer to its own mandate, small-business owners held their breath. Congress is again likely to consider hiking the federal minimum wage, now $7.25, affecting the public and private sectors alike.

There is a popular mandate for a $15 federal minimum wage. Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the wage increase, include 40% who “strongly” back the proposal. In Florida, voters passed an amendment last November to raise the minimum wage, now $8.56, to $15 in 2026; it moves to $10 in September. READ MORE

Treasury and Finance Professionals Earned 2.9% Increase in Base Salaries in 2020; Lower Than Past Years

Treasury and finance professionals earned an average 2.9% base salary increase in 2020, a 0.8% decrease from the 3.7% gain in 2019, according to the 2021 Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) Compensation Survey. The base pay increase of 2.9% is the lowest salary increase reported in the past seven years, according to the new report.

The 2021 AFP® Compensation Survey reveals base-salary raises for executive-tier positions at 2.6%, which is 0.7% less than reported a year ago, while there was a 0.5% decrease in salaries for staff-tier positions. At the management-tier level, the average 3.1% increase in base salaries during the calendar year 2020 is 1.2% less than the base salary increase reported in last year's survey. READ MORE

UBS dangles $40,000 bonuses to slow exodus of overworked junior bankers

Swiss bank UBS will offer its junior banking analysts a $40,000 bonus when they are promoted to the associate level — the latest bid by financial giants to retain younger workers amid an explosion in dealmaking.

The payout is roughly double what competitors like Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo are reportedly offering to keep rookie employees amid increasingly grueling routines, and amounts to roughly 30 percent of the annual base salary of a new associate, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news on Monday. READ MORE

Income equality is the wrong goal

Many Americans, especially progressives, believe that the income gap between the haves and the have nots is too large.

Progressives see income inequality as a flaw in capitalism and a reason to transform the economy to socialism. In the name of “equity,” the Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress are seeking to increase taxes on those who are wealthy and add to government entitlements for those who are not. READ MORE

States With No Income Tax

The federal deficit hit an all time high of over $28 trillion in March 2021. Unlike the federal government, however, nearly all states are constitutionally required to have a balanced budget and depend on multiple sources of tax revenue to fund operations. No two state tax structures are exactly alike, and in some parts of the country, Americans pay fewer taxes than in others. 

One of the primary revenue sources for most states is income tax. Depending on the state, personal income tax can account for over one-third of overall tax revenue — a tax burden shouldered exclusively by workers and investors. There are, however, eight states that do not levy any personal income taxes, and one additional state that only taxes income from interest and dividends.  READ MORE

Income influenced where Americans moved in 2020

Researchers at Vanderbilt University recently studied patterns of people moving from place to place during the pandemic. They found a significant percentage of people moved from larger cities to smaller cities, but the reasons for relocating were different depending on their earnings.

When the pandemic hit last year, Mack McKelvey was renting a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. She runs a marketing firm, and before COVID-19, it made sense for her to be in New York. But working remotely, her location didn’t matter. So in September, she looked for a place in Vermont. READ MORE

Worst-paying blue chip employers bolstered CEO pay in pandemic, report says

More than half of 100 companies with the lowest median employee wages in the S&P 500 Index boosted CEO pay by changing the rules for assessing executive performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by a left-leaning policy group published on Tuesday.

The report from the Institute for Policy Studies found that 51 of these 100 companies, including beverage and snack maker Coca-Cola Co, cruise ship operator Carnival Corp and fast food corporation Yum Brands Inc, reduced median worker pay by 2% to $28,187 on average in 2020 compared to 2019, even as the median compensation for their CEOs rose 29% to $15.3 million. READ MORE

DOL Withdraws Trump-Era Independent Contractor Rule

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced on Wednesday that it is withdrawing the independent contractor rule that passed under the Trump administration.

The rule was slated to take effect on March 8. However, the Biden administration asked federal agencies to freeze pending regulations to give new leaders time to review them. The final rule, which was considered a more employer-friendly interpretation of employee status under the Fair Labor Standards Act than what was applied during the Obama administration, adopted an “economic reality” test for determining which workers qualify as independent contractors or employees. The rule primarily considered two “core factors” and three “guidepost factors” for determining if the worker is economically dependent.  READ MORE

MSNBC's Ruhle ripped for scolding businesses to raise wages after poor jobs report: 'Never run a business'

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle was slammed Monday for her take on how government unemployment benefits are affecting the U.S. labor force, arguing that the real question is why aren't employers offering workers higher wages.

In response to an underwhelming April jobs report, some liberals are pushing back against the notion that unemployment benefits are discouraging a return to the workforce.

"Why is it - that the unemployment benefits are too generous rather than the pay offered by employers too low?" Ruhle asked Sunday. "Pay more $ = find more workers [sic] If margins are so thin, that you cannot increase pay without passing it through/losing customers = your biz model doesn’t work." READ MORE