Soaring Stock Price Tightens Golden Handcuffs at Morgan Stanley

The recently elevated stock prices of some wirehouses’ parent banks has, in turn, hiked up the ticket price for recruiting many advisors.

Typically, wirehouses pay a portion of advisors’ deferred compensation in stock shares of the parent bank. As those banks’ stock prices have climbed—Morgan Stanley’s has almost tripled in five years and Merrill Lynch parent Bank of America’s has more than doubled—the value of their advisors’ deferred compensation has grown in tandem. READ MORE

Pre-Bankruptcy Executive Pay a New Target for Fairness Advocates

Large companies’ awards of millions in executive bonuses on the eve of bankruptcy are drawing renewed congressional focus.

Bankrupt companies need court approval to award executive bonuses. But there isn’t a similar restriction on pre-bankruptcy bonuses, a loophole that’s been increasingly used by some big-name companies, such as Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. READ MORE

EPLI Often Excludes Wage and Hour Claims

Historically, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) hasn't covered Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar state law claims, so employers shouldn't mistakenly assume they'll be reimbursed by EPLI for their wage and hour claims. Nonetheless, employers may be able to recoup their attorney fees and defense costs, even for wage and hour claims, and perhaps more, depending on the terms of their EPLI policies. READ MORE

S Corporations May Face Tougher Tax Scrutiny

Tax authorities seem to have taken the first steps toward closing a reporting loophole for S corporations.

According to a government report, the Internal Revenue Service is selecting a tiny number of S corporations for examination to make sure they are complying with the payment of employment taxes. When the IRS does examine an S corp, many revenue agents don’t look closely enough at executive compensation, according to the agency that produced the report, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which provides independent oversight of IRS activities. READ MORE

Employer's bonus structure didn't bar use of fluctuating workweek pay method

The 11th Circuit began its analysis by reviewing the fluctuating workweek method. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay nonexempt employees time and a half their regular rate for all hours worked beyond 40. But some workers are paid a fixed salary — as opposed to an hourly rate — and work fluctuating hours. In this circumstance, employers can use the fluctuating workweek method to calculate overtime pay. READ MORE

Are CEOs Overpaid?

The issue of whether or not CEOs are overpaid has been debated for many years. The professionals in the CEO role are among the most prominent and influential people in any company. They have a huge responsibility, which is to manage and lead their employees to success. But should they be paid so much more than an average employee? The answer depends on who you ask!

Many people argue that CEOs deserve every penny of their salary because of the amount of work and time they put into their position. But, on the other hand, there’s also a large population that believes CEOs get paid far too much money for what they do, especially when compared to how much lower-level employees make. In this blog, we’ll walk through some interesting facts surrounding how we got here. Let’s begin! READ MORE

2022 Proxy Season: A Look Ahead to Executive Compensation Issues

Autumn’s chill has settled in, which means the 2022 proxy season is just around the corner. Given (1) the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related supply chain issues and (2) the unprecedented interest in issues surrounding executive compensation, it is important to prepare early to avoid any unanticipated hitches and take advantage of opportunities to proactively address compensation matters through effective proxy disclosures, well-executed shareholder engagement, and informed compensation committee actions. READ MORE

Proposed Minimum Tax on Book Income Would Hit Stock-Based Compensation

One way employees can be compensated for their work, in addition to wages, salaries, and benefits, is through awards of company stock. The tax treatment of stock-based compensation has received attention for contributing to the gap between corporate taxable income and book income reported on financial statements, which President Biden has proposed targeting with a new minimum tax. It also adds to concerns over executive pay and income inequality.

Critics of stock compensation, however, neglect how it helps align incentives between employees and employers and the underlying rationale for how it is taxed. READ MORE

Oracle opposes Glass Lewis proposals on board, compensation

Oracle Corp. said it strongly disagreed with Glass Lewis & Co.’s proposals to vote against the election of Chief Executive Safra Catz, Board Director Vishal Sikka and members of the compensation committee at its annual shareholder meeting on Nov. 10, as well as the proxy adviser’s rejection of advisory approval of the company’s executive compensation plan.

Oracle said that it disagreed with the proxy adviser’s recommendation to withhold votes for Catz, stating that she is helpful in bringing knowledge of the company’s strategic vision, management and operations to the board. READ MORE

Do we even want to go back to pre-pandemic work conditions?

Not since 1942, when women flooded into the workplace in support of the war effort, have we seen a worker revolution such as we are experiencing now. A just-released Duke Fuqua School of Business global survey of Chief Financial Officers reports job openings are at a 20-year high. Total employment today is 5 million below the pre-pandemic peak. How can this be explained in a growing economy?

Some voices say workers are just lazy and don’t want to work, reasoning that many are still living off the overly generous unemployment benefits they received. Others believe the continued fear of the pandemic is keeping some from returning to work. Both are wrong! READ MORE

6 myths women are told about the gender pay gap

It’s not the kind of date of festive holiday celebrations, but October 21 is momentous nonetheless. It’s the last Equal Pay Day of the year, this time dedicated to the additional 293 days the average Latina had to work in 2021 to earn the same pay a white, non-Hispanic man earned last year.

Unfortunately, we’ll be celebrating Equal Pay Days for at least another century, when Black and Hispanic women are estimated to finally catch up and close the gap — although the general estimate for all women is 2059. READ MORE

Does Raising the Minimum Wage Kill Jobs?

For decades it was conventional wisdom in the field of economics that a higher minimum wage results in fewer jobs.

In part, that’s because it’s based on the law of supply and demand, one of the most well-known ideas in economics. Despite it being called a “law,” it’s actually two theories that suggest if the price of something goes up – wages, for example—demand will fall—in this case, for workers. Meanwhile, their supply will rise. Thus an introduction of a high minimum wage would cause the supply of labor to exceed demand, resulting in unemployment. READ MORE

As Minimum Wages Rise, Prepare for Pay Compression Issues

ressure to increase wages for the lowest-paid employees, driven by the need to attract workers and to stay ahead of rising local, state and federal minimum wage mandates, is "a red-hot compensation topic right now," according to a panel of pay authorities who spoke at WorldatWork's 2021 Total Rewards Conference, held virtually in October.

Raising minimum pay levels can require revisiting pay ranges throughout the compensation structure, the panelists noted. As a related issue, many benefits costs, such as 401(k) matching contributions and incentive bonuses, are linked to employees' base pay and will become more expensive as wage rates trend higher. READ MORE

Five Themes Likely to Impact Executive Compensation in 2022

Executive compensation has become increasingly sensitive and is under heightened scrutiny. During the past two years the environment in which businesses operate has changed dramatically. The COVID-19 pandemic, rise of stakeholder capitalism, intensified talent mobility, regulatory changes and other external factors will continue to impact the governance of executive pay and performance programs.

So what should boards, remuneration/compensation committees and senior executives be thinking about to address these complexities? Willis Towers Watson’s research and consulting experience working with leading clients globally points to five themes that will likely impact executive compensation programs in 2022 and beyond. READ MORE