Fitness teachers, plumbers among highest-paying jobs with no work history

Looking for a new job during the pandemic? Although plenty of careers require their workers to have a college degree or years of special training, that’s not the case for every line of work. A new study finds Americans can actually apply for many high-paying jobs which require little to no work experience at the start.

A report by The Interview Guys finds recreation and fitness studies teachers and plumbers are among the best-paying careers where you don’t need anything on your resume to get the job. Pipefitters, steamfitters, and insurance sales agents also need little to no experience, yet pay very well. READ MORE

Biden backs tax on billionaires' unrealized investment gains

President Biden said Friday he supports a Democratic proposal to tax billionaires annually on their unrealized investment gains.

Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has pushed for years to enact the proposal, which is one of several under consideration as part of Democratic efforts to cover the costs of Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.

"Yes, I do," Biden said during a press conference. "Look, I support a lot of these proposals. We don’t need all the things I support to pay for this, but I do support that." READ MORE

DOL expands fines for employers that keep workers' tips

Thursday’s announcement represents the latest in a series of changes to regulations affecting worker gratuities.

Under the Obama administration, DOL shifted tip rules to favor employees. The agency then changed course under the Trump administration, addressing tip pools, the 80/20 rule and civil penalties, as described above. The Biden administration is now working to reverse some — although not all — of those updates. READ MORE

Why raising minimum wage is no longer enough to draw in retail workers

It's no secret that U.S. retailers have struggled immensely to fill employment gaps and maintain staffing levels as store traffic has returned in recent months. According to recent U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, after significant growth in June — up by 67,000 — retail hiring flattened, then decreased in July (down 6,000) and August (down 29,000). READ MORE

Taxable wage base projected to increase for 2022

You can expect to pay more Social Security tax in 2022. Same goes for employees on your payroll. That’s because the federal taxable wage base is going up.

The 2022 Social Security taxable wage base estimate is $146,700, an increase from the number in use this year: $142,800. That’s $3,900 more of each employee’s wages that’ll be subject to the tax, based on the projections. READ MORE

The Average Starting Salaries for 10 Popular College Degrees

The most popular majors aren’t always the most lucrative. This doesn’t mean they’re not worth pursuing, but it might be a surprise to some how much the starting salaries are for the fields students are most likely to choose.

Here are the most popular bachelor’s degrees, according to Niche, and how much someone just starting out can expect to bring home on average. READ MORE

America's billionaires pay an average income tax rate of just 8.2%, Biden administration says

The wealthiest 400 families in the United States are paying an average income tax rate of just 8.2%, according to a new analysis from the Biden administration. President Joe Biden and Democrats are pushing to raise taxes on the richest Americans as they look for ways to pay for their ambitious agenda, making its way through Congress as a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package.  READ MORE

Wall Street Pay Clawback Rule to Get New Push at SEC

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said he is keen to finish a long-stalled requirement to clamp down on Wall Street bonuses when companies report incorrect financial information.

Gensler said he’s asked SEC staff to provide recommendations on a rule for clawing back executive pay and other parts of never-finished regulations that were mandatory under the Dodd-Frank Act. Specifically, Gensler said he wants to make sure that executives return any funds they are overpaid when a company publishes incorrect information in its financial statements. READ MORE

The future of salary transparency has arrived

Most of us would argue that negotiating your salary is one of the most nerve-wracking parts of the hiring process. You Google salary ranges, dig through Glassdoor for even more intel, and finally throw out a number…all to later worry that your coworkers are being paid more than you.

Aki Ito, a senior correspondent at Insider, admitted in a recent piece that the negotiation process for her current gig was tricky. READ MORE

How Much It Takes to Be in the Top 1% in Income

Democrats are in the middle of a major effort to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans to help offset the cost of their proposed expansion of the social safety net. “How is it possible for millionaires and billionaires that can pay a lower rate of tax than teachers, firefighters, or law enforcement officers?” President Joe Biden asked during remarks on the economy delivered at the White House last week. “Big corporations and the super wealthy have to start paying their fair share of taxes. It’s long overdue,” he added. READ MORE

IRS Updates Nonqualified Plan Audit Technique Guide—Is A New Enforcement Initiative On The Horizon?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently updated its Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Audit Techniques Guide (NQDC). It released Publication 5528 (NQDC guide) on June 1, 2021. The IRS last updated the NQDC Guide in 2015. Interestingly, the 2015 NQDC Guide was published shortly after the IRS sent information document requests to publicly traded companies to determine how well companies were complying with Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 409A. This latest update to the NQDC guide contains much more detailed guidance than the prior version. That is noteworthy because President Joe Biden and many members of Congress have been proposing to increase the IRS's budget in order to provide more resources for audit initiatives. Could a new executive compensation enforcement initiative be on its way?

If so, employers need to be prepared with the following steps: READ MORE