New Laws Are Forcing Employers to Share Salary Details With Applicants

When looking for a job, it can take hours of interviews and days of preparation to get an answer to a very basic yet crucial question: How much does the gig pay?

Broach the salary question too soon, and an employer might view it negatively. Avoid the question or salary negotiations altogether, and you risk getting underpaid. It’s a delicate song and dance. But a new wave of laws, which are requiring private companies to fork over salary details, could end that rigamarole once and for all. READ MORE

Using a Non-Compete to Create a Substantial Risk of Forfeiture Under a Section 457(f) Plan: Limited (But Meaningful) Opportunities

The Treasury Department’s proposed regulations regarding the income tax treatment of “ineligible plans” of tax-exempt employers under Code Section 457(f), published in June 2016, were greeted with much fanfare. (Final regulations have not yet been published, but taxpayers may rely on the proposed regulations now.) Section 1.457(f)-12 of the proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) attempts to fill in the gaps, and iron out some of the inconsistencies, between the general rules governing deferred compensation plans under Code Section 409A and the special rules governing “ineligible plans” (“Section 457(f) plans”). READ MORE

Stock Options: To Qualify, or Not to Qualify? That is the Question.

Options to purchase stock of an employer continue to be a popular form of equity-based compensation, particularly among start-ups and other privately-held companies.

One perennial question companies face in designing stock option programs is the extent to which they should grant nonqualified stock options, known as “NQSOs,” or statutory stock options, known as “incentive stock options” or “ISOs.” READ MORE

Some firms thrived during Covid and then got their PPP Covid relief loans forgiven

In late June, Sharps Compliance, a Houston-based medical waste management company, reported spectacular financial results. The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines had increased demand for the company’s services, Sharps said, and its earnings had more than quadrupled. The company’s board granted Sharps’ top three executives twice the compensation they’d received a year earlier based on the performance; the trio shared almost $1 million more than they’d received in fiscal 2020, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show. READ MORE

Unions and Bargaining Over Pay: Two-Tier Wage Systems, Explained

Thousands of John Deere workers have been on strike for more than a month. Nearly 1,500 Kellogg’s workers likely will celebrate Thanksgiving on the picket line. More than 30,000 Kaiser Permanente workers narrowly avoided a strike this week through an 11th-hour deal with management.

The common thread? Tiered wage proposals that help companies cut costs but that unions say cheat new workers out of pay and retirement benefits. READ MORE

Salary Negotiations Are Up. Here's How to Pull Off Yours Successfully

Last year, it seemed like companies were shedding jobs left and right. This year, it seems like companies can't hire quickly enough.

Not surprisingly, that's led to an uptick in salary negotiations, reports Jobvite. In fact, 73% of the recruiters Jobvite recently surveyed say they've seen an increase in negotiating higher salaries among both job applicants and existing employees. And 56% of recruiters say average salaries in the industries they service have increased this year. READ MORE

How are new state salary transparency laws working in this economy?

According to The Conference Board, in the first half of 2021, wages and salaries rose at their fastest pace in more than 20 years. There are a number of things at play — not least the tight labor market, which is leaving some employers scrambling to hire good candidates.

Meanwhile, that trend is colliding with another big change in the workplace: the growing movement toward salary transparency. READ MORE

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