ISS and Glass Lewis Announce Policy Updates Ahead of the 2023 Proxy Season

Proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) and Glass Lewis (“GL”) each published their annual policy updates for 2023, which updates made certain changes relating to executive compensation.[1]  As a general matter, the changes are incremental to the existing policies and do not significantly change the rubric by which ISS and GL review compensation programs READ MORE

'Unjustifiable': Bowl game executive pay went up or stayed mostly the same amid pandemic

The college football season of 2020 might go down in history as the worst to ever hit the postseason bowl game business. 

Nineteen of those 44 games got canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the rest saw their revenues plummet from the year before as attendance was restricted to 25% of capacity or less while public health restrictions choked the flow of tourism. Many nonprofit bowl game organizations even turned to the federal government for relief, taking in more than $3.7 million in combined Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds in 2020, government records show. READ MORE

Toward Fairer Data-Driven Performance Management

Meritocracy matters. A company that rewards talent, effort, and achievement can be expected to outperform those where nepotism, systemic biases, toxic politics, and sheer incompetence are prevalent; it’s just a matter of time. The rise of people analytics, innovations in the field of HR technologies, as well as the inevitable integration of AI and machine learning algorithms into talent management practices, are all signals of the same underlying phenomenon: a relentless quest for a more rational, fair, and evidence-based approach to managing workers, and unlocking human potential at work. READ MORE

Preparing for pay transparency regulations: Communicate salary ranges across your organization

As of January 1, 2023, pay transparency laws will be in effect in New York City, California and Washington, covering virtually 1/5 of the country’s workforce. The new pieces of legislation expand upon others like those in Colorado in requiring salary ranges to be published as part of every job posting and require pay reporting to help close pay gaps across marginalized communities. READ MORE

Prepare for End-of-Year Pay Conversations with Eager Employees

As organizations rapidly approach the 2022 finish line, much of the meticulous planning for a potential economic downturn in 2023 has been factored into budgeting decisions and financial forecasting.  

Yet, a prevalent sentiment among the employee population is 2022 wages have not kept up with inflation, thus compensation experts are anticipating a potential windfall of salary increase requests in the waning weeks of the year. A strategy being deployed by some employees is actively seeking outside offers to leverage into raises with their existing employer. READ MORE

Salary transparency laws create unexpected challenges for small businesses

For the most part, salary transparency laws have become a beacon of hope for pay equity. But for small businesses, it's a double-edged sword that may stunt the retention and recruitment of talented workers.

There are currently 17 states in the U.S. that have laws around pay transparency, according to compensation management platform Pequity. And although more visibility around wages was and continues to be a much needed change, 16% of small businesses are already being impacted by the new legislation, according to recent findings from executive coaching organization Vistage, and it's presenting a challenge. READ MORE

Managing stock-based compensation in private companies

If you are an employee of a private company, part of your compensation may be paid in stock, restricted stock units, stock options, or other company securities. Since your company is private there often is no good way to convert that stock or option into cash until there is a liquidity event (usually a recapitalization, a sale of the company, or going public). 

However, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing you can do to maximize the value of your stock-based compensation. No matter what strategy you consider, it is important to make sure to be compliant with SEC rules and your company’s policies. READ MORE

Implications of the SEC’s Final Executive Compensation Recovery Rule

Whereas companies were able to implement other Dodd-Frank compensation-related rules without fundamentally changing their pay plans (such as the CEO pay ratio disclosure requirements), the clawback rule requires the NYSE and NASDAQ to update their listing standards and issuers to adopt a specific policy that affects the amount of compensation executives will ultimately take home. The rule was published in the Federal Register on November 28, 20221, and exchanges have 90 days to publish their revised listing standards to – be effective no later than November 28, 2023. READ MORE

A roundup on the state of compensation strategy

A whirlwind couple of years — from steep COVID-19 layoffs to a hiring frenzy to a recession on the horizon — may have left both employers and workers dizzy in trying to interpret compensation trends. But while hiring freezes and a rash of layoffs across tech and a few other industries may have employees nervous, research by groups like WTW and Salary.com suggest pay will keep going up — and at record levels. READ MORE