Early wage payments draw scrutiny

At a congressional hearing Tuesday, industry organizations offered testimony before the House Financial Services Committee's Task Force on Financial Technology regarding the benefits and potential detriments of earned wage access and other new fintech consumer services, such as buy now-pay later installment payment options. House members of the task force questioned the witnesses and offered dueling interpretations of EWA and BNPL offerings. READ MORE

How ‘Boomerang Employees’ are getting heftier salaries

It’s one of the biggest hiring trends happening right now: employers welcoming back employees who up and left during the pandemic.

They’re called, ‘Boomerang Employees’ and their return to the office can actually benefit both parties.

‘Boomerang Employees’ are workers who decided to leave their employers for a new gig, only to return to their former employer several months or years later. READ MORE

These top 10 tech jobs have the fastest growing salaries

IT managers, system architects, cloud engineers and cybersecurity engineers took home the biggest salaries last year, according to the latest Tech Salary Report from jobs website Dice, with Texas and other emerging hubs taking big leaps forward.

Overall, the salaries of US tech professionals grew 3.6% between 2019 and 2020, reaching an average of $97,859. This was despite many businesses tightening budgets in response to the financial pressures caused by the pandemic. READ MORE

GE’s CEO could make a fortune when the company splits into 3

GE plans to split the conglomerate into three companies focused on aviation, healthcare and energy. We can’t know the ultimate outcome of such a split, but there is one absolute certainty: CEO Larry Culp will have extraordinary financial gains.

We know this is a certainty because Culp has an employment contract that guarantees it. It fits with how GE has behaved for decades: executives have accumulated wealth regardless of how shareholders fared. READ MORE

A new recruitment tool for employers — paying workers every day

Struggling to attract workers as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, major companies are dangling an uncommon benefit to lure job candidates: a chance to get paid every day.

Dozens of employers — including fast-food chains Arby's, Wendy's, Jimmy John's and Taco Bell as well as retailers Big Lots, Dollar Tree and Kroger— are now giving employees the option to withdraw money from their paychecks moments after finishing their shift by using smartphone apps like Branch or DailyPay.  READ MORE

Workers take a pay cut as inflation erodes wage gains

Surging inflation resulted in an effective pay cut for American workers during the month of October, despite an increase in wages, according to monthly figures released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Real average hourly wages, a measure of income adjusted for the cost of goods and services, declined 0.5% for all employees from September to October, according to the bureau. Real wages are down 2.2% since January and have declined in eight of the last 10 months. READ MORE

The 5 states where salaries have risen the most over the past decade

Salaries have steadily increased across the United States over the past decade, but workers in some states are growing their pay at a faster rate than others, according to a new report from Approve.com. 

The spending management software firm looked at salary information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and compared the average wage in 2010 for each state with the average wage in 2020. Researchers found that some places saw a nearly 50% jump in their workers’ salaries while others saw only a 25% increase.  READ MORE

Run naked or reveal salary: Why is pay transparency scarier than streaking?

Many Americans would prefer to bare their bodies instead of their paychecks in the workplace. Twenty-eight million employees said they would rather run naked through the office for all their colleagues to see than reveal their salary earnings, according to a survey by Trusaic, a regulatory compliance software company.

The survey found that pay transparency remains a taboo subject for many workers. The question “Would you like information on everyone’s income to be made publicly available online?” revealed the general attitude of employees: READ MORE

Are teachers overpaid or underpaid?

Whether public employees are overpaid or underpaid relative to their private sector counterparts is a source of lively debate. 

Much of the research on the relative compensation of public and private workers has focused on teachers, the largest segment of the public workforce. Moreover, the issue of teacher compensation has gained currency since the Great Recession, as states and school districts have frequently faced tough budget decisions to cut benefits or halt pay raises. And teacher compensation has important implications for hiring and retaining high-quality teachers and, consequently, for student academic performance.  READ MORE

SEC Votes to Revive Clawback Rule Stripping Executives Of Their Paychecks

The executive compensation clawback rule mandated by Congress in Section 954 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), is back. In the event of corporate misconduct, it will enable the SEC to recoup executive compensation (i.e., bonuses or other incentive-based pay), regardless of whether the executive was directly involved in or accused of any wrongdoing. READ MORE

Tying exec pay to diversity goals isn’t so straightforward

Video game-maker Activision Blizzard will report its quarterly earnings after the markets close today. The company is facing a lawsuit brought by the state of California, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination and an investigation by the SEC over how it handled complaints.

Last week the CEO said he’d ask the board to drastically cut his salary to $62,500 until the company shows progress meeting gender and diversity goals. It’s a pretty dramatic cut for a guy who made about $150 million last year. But, it fits into a growing trend of tying executive pay to diversity measures. READ MORE