Split-dollar executive compensation plans: Doing it right

Companies without stock or other types of equity have a limited toolbox from which to create customized incentive/retention arrangements for top executives. Salary and bonuses are the first line of attack, but they are mostly short-term focused and involve a one-way outflow of funds. Unfunded “457(f)” deferred compensation plans can achieve incentive/retention goals, but are taxable to the executive (and potentially to the business), also involve a one-way outflow of funds and place the risk of underperformance of funding assets on the company rather than the executive. READ MORE

Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing.

In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.

Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row. READ MORE

American Airlines asking Dallas-based employees to volunteer to work without pay

American Airlines is gearing up for unprecedented summer travel demand by asking employees to volunteer to work outside of normal hours without additional pay. 

The Dallas-based airline is asking non-union employees to help staffers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, including helping travelers in international terminals, among other tasks, according to a company memo obtained by Dallas Morning News.  READ MORE

Striking the Right Balance for DEI Incentives in Exec Comp

While diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives gained esteem at companies in recent years, the social and racial unrest of 2020 brought a more significant development into the spotlight.

Research from Willis Towers Watson revealed that more than half (52%) of S&P 500 companies include at least one environmental, social and governance (ESG) metric in the design of executive incentive plans. When broken down into each ESG measures, social reigns supreme. Within the social component lies DEI metrics, which Willis Towers Watson found in 2020 about 20% of companies in the S&P use as a part of their executive incentive plans. The number is trending up to 23% based on initial 2021 data. READ MORE

Companies are turning to unusual perks

At a time when the war for talent is heating up and burnout is on the rise, some companies are turning to perks to show appreciation and help with engagement and retention. I talked to leaders at OneDay, Pacaso, Siemens Mobility, and Chipotle about unusual benefits they're rolling out to employees.

OneDay: A remote work destination

A change of scenery can make all the difference in supporting worker wellbeing, Deena Naccarella, CFO at OneDay, told me. The video technology company’s New Digs program reimburses employees for a stay at a destination away from home where they’ll work remotely.  READ MORE

Pay Governance Survey Indicates UK and EU Companies Overwhelmingly Lead US Companies in ESG Inclusion in Incentive Compensation Plans

According to a recent comprehensive survey by Pay Governance, a major board-level executive compensation advisory firm, nearly all U.K. and EU companies surveyed included environmental, social and corporate governance metrics in their incentive compensation plans, compared to less than one-fourth of U.S. companies surveyed. In addition, U.K. and EU companies had a much higher rate of ESG inclusion in long-term incentive plans.

Pay Governance’s study was developed to determine if companies are responding to the recent attention to ESG and, if so, whether it is resulting in a change in the design of incentive compensation plans. READ MORE

SEC chairman calls for new restrictions on executive stock-trading plans

The Securities and Exchange Commission is drafting a proposal that would restrict plans that corporate insiders use to avoid insider-trading claims when buying or selling their own company’s stock.

Speaking Monday at The Wall Street Journal’s CFO Network event, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said he is seeking to revise rules that govern the arrangements, known as 10b5-1 plans. Insiders set up plans ahead of time and use them to schedule future trades. The arrangement gives executives a defense against insider-trading claims that would stem from having undisclosed material nonpublic information at the time of a trade. READ MORE

Former McDonald's CEO warns $15 minimum wage directly contributing to fast-food industry's automation push

Former McDonald's CEO Ed Rensi is warning that the fight for a $15 minimum wage is directly contributing to the restaurant industry's push toward automation. 

Last month, McDonald's announced plans to raise the starting hourly wage range to $11-$17 per hour for crew and $15-$20 per hour for shift managers. The fast-food chain noted in its wage hike announcement that it planned to hire 10,000 new employees over the next three months. READ MORE

Companies you'd never expect are offering signing bonuses to new employees

America's stores are having trouble bringing on staff to meet growing demand from customers as the US economy regains steam. So they're turning to an incentive less commonly deployed in the retail industry: sign-on bonuses for new hires.

Amazon (AMZN), Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI), Tops Markets supermarket chain, Sheetz convenience stores and many smaller stores are offering such one-time payments to sweeten job offers to new workers. Sign-on bonuses can be more attractive for some employers than raising wages because bonuses are not permanent and ultimately cheaper, said Andrew Challenger, vice president at executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. READ MORE

The Other Side of the May Jobs Report: Higher Wages

Friday’s employment report for May confirmed that the economy is continuing its recovery from the shock of the pandemic. Although the headline figure of five hundred and fifty-nine thousand jobs gained fell a bit short of Wall Street projections, it was more than double the Labor Department’s previous report for job growth in April—two hundred and sixty-six thousand—a number so low that it shocked many economists when it was announced, this time last month. The official unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a point in May, to 5.8 per cent. That’s the lowest level since March, 2020, when the coronavirus shutdowns were just beginning. READ MORE

Biden’s proposed 39.6% top tax rate would apply at these income levels

President Joe Biden wants to raise the top income tax rate for wealthy households to 39.6%, from the current 37%, to help finance his legislative agenda.

That top rate would apply to single individuals with taxable income of more than $452,700 and married couples filing a joint tax return with income over $509,300, according to a budget proposal issued Friday by the Treasury Department. READ MORE

3 Traits of Top-Performing Commission Sales Professionals

I have a tremendous amount of respect for 100% commission industry sales professionals. With no guarantee of a salary or benefits, you’re faced with the cold reality that if you do not sell you do not get paid. As a result, historically there is a high failure rate amongst industry sales professionals, as it takes time to build up a business.

However, the beauty for those who are successful is that there’s no ceiling to an individual’s income—the more you sell, the more you make. During my 20-plus years in this industry, both on the distributor and supplier side, I have worked with thousands of straight commission sales professionals. I have found that the few who are writing millions of dollars in revenue a year exemplify traits that take their game to a different level. These professionals do the following: READ MORE

Wage Growth Is Holding Up in Aftermath of the Economic Crash

When millions of workers were getting layoff notices last spring, Sharon McCown got something different: a raise.

Target, where Ms. McCown was earning $13 an hour stocking shelves and helping customers, gave frontline workers an extra $2 an hour in hazard pay in the early months of the pandemic. The company later raised starting pay permanently to $15 an hour, and paid out a series of bonuses to hourly employees. READ MORE

Executive Pay Growth During the Pandemic Faces Scrutiny

The 2021 corporate shareholder proxy-voting season, in which shareholders vote on proxy reports looking back at 2020, is providing a window into executive pay in the U.S. and how that pay is viewed by shareholders and other stakeholders—which ultimately reflects on a company's brand and reputation.

So far, the data suggest that companies need to be as clear and explicit as possible when communicating about executive compensation. READ MORE

Worker pay went up just 1.8% in 2020. CEO pay increased nearly 16%

At the start of the pandemic, some CEOs announced, to much fanfare, that they’d give up their salaries in order to protect their companies from layoffs or closures. But those gestures did little to curb the trend of soaring CEO earnings (because salary is often just one component of CEO compensation). In 2020, what CEOs took home rose nearly 16%, according to preliminary data, while the average worker’s compensation rose just 1.8%. READ MORE

High Daily Pay Rates Can Satisfy FLSA’s Salary Exemption

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado decided that a sufficiently high day rate, although not a “salary” per se, was sufficient to satisfy the “salary basis” requirement for the FLSA’s white collar exemptions. Scott v. Antero Resources Corp., Case 1:17-cv-00693-WJM-SKC. The decision addressed a pay practice common in certain industries but questionable as applied to the white-collar exemptions.

Plaintiffs worked for Antero as drilling consultants and were classified as independent contractors. Plaintiffs alleged that they were improperly classified as independent contractors and were thus employees who were owed overtime compensation. READ MORE

Median Household Income In April 2021

Political Calculations' initial estimate of median household income in April 2021 is $67,788, an increase of $1,542 (or 2.3%) from the initial estimate of $66,248 for March 2021.

The latest update to the chart tracking Median Household Income in the 21st Century shows the nominal (red) and inflation-adjusted (blue) trends for median household income in the United States from January 2000 through April 2021. The inflation-adjusted figures are presented in terms of constant April 2021 U.S. dollars. READ MORE