Financial Rewards: What Does Research Tell Us?

Financial rewards are a major component of virtually every employer’s value proposition. People establish their standard of living based on the size and the stability of their income stream. The disruption the pandemic has caused has interrupted that stream for people who have lost their employment or have been furloughed. Governmental support has temporarily addressed this loss to varying degrees. But the destabilizing impact of the pandemic has put a spotlight on financial rewards and highlighted the importance of their continuity. READ MORE

Kroger CEO: Why every company should incentivize employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine

This past year called for many of us to meet the greatest challenge of our lifetimes. Covid-19 changed how we live, when and how we see our friends and family, where we work and even how we shop.

At Kroger, it has changed how we approach nearly every aspect of our business. We had to reimagine selling groceries, because it wasn't just about the groceries anymore. It was about safeguarding our nearly half a million associates and 11 million daily customers; managing our ever-changing and often challenged supply chain; and accelerating our e-commerce services to provide fresh food through low-touch or no-touch shopping. READ MORE

A pay cut to work from home? Many employees would take it

Remote work is not going away any time soon — and many workers would be willing to take an average pay cut of 7% to work from home two or three days a week.

The in-depth look at remote work after the Covid-19 pandemic comes from the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics, which found about 21% of total work hours post-pandemic will be from home — a huge increase from 5% before the pandemic. READ MORE

Investors object to CEO pay in judgment on pandemic response

Rejections of executive pay packages in shareholder votes mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act more than a decade ago reached a record high this month as investors judge how CEOs handled the coronavirus pandemic.

Companies’ decisions to exclude COVID-19’s business impact when finalizing the size of bonuses and stock packages for their highest-paid executives are triggering more objections than ever, investor and pay consultants said. The widening divide between CEO and average worker earnings is also impacting how Wall Street views compensation. READ MORE

Retail investors are finally poised to take on stratospheric CEO pay

Wouldn’t it be great if you could say no to sky-high executive pay?

Turns out there’s an app for that. These days it’s as easy for retail shareholders to vote on CEO compensation as it is to order sushi on DoorDash. Just as brokerage apps have democratized investing, making stock and derivatives trading painlessly easy for everyday investors, so too has shareholder voting become almost effortless. READ MORE

The fastest way to fix a labor shortage: Pay more

For decades, worker compensation has been stagnant, while corporate profits make up an ever-increasing share of the economy.

The coronavirus pandemic has made the divide between employee and employer far more apparent. Covid disrupted the labor market in ways we have never seen: health worries, family obligations, hybrid-learning and child care shortages mean millions of workers remain on the sidelines. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a record 8.1 million job openings in March. READ MORE

What if the U.S. had a national maximum wage?

As employee pay remains stagnant in the U.S. and inequality worsens, lawmakers, activists and workers have been advocating for a higher minimum wage. The push gained momentum in recent years through movements like the Fight for $15, which backed this week’s McDonald’s strike. 

Congress last raised the federal minimum wage 14 years ago, the longest period on record without an increase. Some Democrats tried unsuccessfully to include a hike in Congress’ latest COVID-19 relief package, although President Joe Biden was able to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors through executive order. 

But what if we looked at the inverse of this, as Dennett asks, and put a cap on how much corporate executives make?  READ MORE

The hypocritical attack on CEO pay

Institutional investors are busy protesting against executive pay. In the US, pay packages at public companies have received their lowest approval levels since votes became mandatory 10 years ago. In the UK, the average proportion of No votes has reached its highest level in at least seven years. Pay revolts are very much in keeping with the ESG zeitgeist. And disinterested observers can be pleased there is resistance to chief executives earning massive multiples of average wages at a time of global suffering. READ MORE

Preparing for New Tax Laws

The winds of political change bring with them the potential for consequential revisions to the tax code. As anticipated, in late April President Joe Biden unveiled a number of significant proposed changes to the individual tax provisions. As with proposed revisions to the corporate code made several weeks earlier, these potential increases would fund an ambitious, multi-trillion dollar “Build Back Better” spending plan.

To be clear, the ultimate forms these proposals take and their political pathways remain uncertain. We do believe, however, it is likely some changes will be enacted. READ MORE

The battle for a $15 minimum wage is already won

Democrats in Congress will probably fail to pass a federal $15-an-hour minimum wage. Amazingly, this might end up not mattering that much. The drive for $15 has succeeded simply by resetting Americans' idea of what a reasonable wage should be.

In an age of grassroots political campaigns, the Fight for $15 has been startlingly effective. It succeeded in getting a $15 minimum wage passed in Seattle, in California, and in a variety of other cities and states. Its message was simple, focused and — at least in the places where it has prevailed — reasonable. READ MORE

Where U.S. Tech Salaries Are Growing Fastest

Dice has released its latest Tech Salary Report which is based on a survey of 9,000 employed technologists across the United States. It notes that despite the significant changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional principles driving salary growth have remained firmly in place. This was demonstrated by the fact that the average U.S. tech worker salary climbed 3.6% between 2019 and 2020 to reach $97,859, even though organizations tightened their budgets. The skills and services offered by technologists have been in high demand throughout the pandemic with companies requiring everything from digital transformation to heightened vigilance against an increasing number of cyber-attacks. READ MORE

A squandered chance to reform executive pay

Many of us would like to forget the painful months of the pandemic: we are still living with the consequences. Some company bosses, though, are rejoicing. Thanks to his overgenerous board, the chief executive of Chipotle Mexican Grill will be paid as though March, April, and May of 2020 never happened. The US fast-food chain is recommending shareholders vote next week for Brian Niccol and his senior team to benefit from an incentive plan that excludes the Covid-19 hit to sales and ignores certain increased costs. If Chipotle’s shareholders protest, the group will join a number of US companies that have suffered shareholder revolts over pay in this annual meeting season. General Electric, AT&T, IBM and Starbucks are among those that have failed to win majority support in “say on pay” votes. READ MORE

The Best Place To Live on a $100,000 Salary in Every State

America is nothing if not diverse. There are plenty of cities where you can afford to live comfortably, or even be "rich," for less than $100,000. Which location draws your interest could depend on a number of factors, ranging from those that are up-and-coming cities to those that are the best cities to raise a family. Overall, the best cities to live in generally have high livability scores and affordable costs so that you can take home more of your salary.

GOBankingRates analyzed data from a number of sources, ranging from AreaVibes to Sperling's Best Places and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to compile this list of the best places to live on a $100,000 salary in each state. READ MORE

Will the trend of wage acceleration continue?

Inflation has picked up materially in recent months, with the core CPI rising 3.0% in April, the highest year-over-year rate in 25 years.

As measured by the Employment Cost Index (ECI), growth in wages and salaries among private-sector workers has also picked up. Further acceleration in wages and salaries, should it occur, could push rates of consumer price inflation even higher and keep the current burst of inflation from subsiding as the FOMC presently expects. READ MORE

New Tax on "Excessive" Compensation of Tax-Exempt Executives Imposed at Not-So-Excessive Levels

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 added Code Section 4960 to the Internal Revenue Code, which is intended to tax excessive compensation of executives providing services to tax-exempt entities. The limitations apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. The Treasury Department previously published proposed regulations and issued interim guidance in the form of an IRS notice (IRS Notice 2019-60). Final regulations were published on January 19, 2021. The final regulations are effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. In the interim, taxpayers can rely on guidance set forth in the proposed regulations and interim guidance. This update summarizes the statute and final regulations, which represent the first time that the IRS has attempted to assess penalty taxes on excessive compensation of tax-exempt executives. READ MORE

Average police officer salaries across US range from $19K to $131K, depending on location, statistics show

American police or sheriff’s patrol officers make anywhere from just under $19,000 up to $131,000, with salaries varying significantly by region and the department level, statistics analyzed by Fox news show. 

A police or sheriff’s patrol officer makes a mean hourly wage of $33.66 and an average yearly salary of $70,000, but their annual pay varies significantly by region and jurisdiction, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) most recent data for May 2020 shows.  READ MORE

U.S. Labor Secretary Says Gig-Worker Mislabeling Is Major Issue

The misclassification of employment as “gig work” is a major economic issue that the U.S. Labor Department is working to address, according to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.

“Misclassified employees often are denied access to critical benefits and protections like overtime, minimum wage, paid leave, unemployment insurance,” Walsh said at an online business-journalism conference Monday, calling it one of the “most serious issues” in the jobs market. “It undermines our economy. We have some work to do in this space.” READ MORE