Executive compensation, or what is effectively realizable pay, swings from as much as $1 billion to negative $644 million, proxies from early filers show. READ MORE
Supreme Court Clarifies a “Day-Rate” Does Not Meet the FLSA “Salary Basis” Test, Even for Highly Compensated Employees
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”) created the right to a minimum wage and overtime pay. The FLSA also provides exemptions to overtime pay requirements for certain employees. Under the “bona fide executive” exemption, “highly compensated employees” are exempt from overtime if performing at least one qualifying job duty. However, on February 22, 2023, the United States Supreme Court, in its 6-3 decision in Helix Energy Solution Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, clarified that highly compensated employees paid on a “day-rate” do not qualify for this exemption because a day-rate does not satisfy the salary basis test. READ MORE
SEC New Pay Versus Performance Disclosures – They Are Here!
On August 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules implementing the pay versus performance disclosure required by Section 935(a) of Dodd-Frank, effective for executive compensation disclosures for fiscal years ending on or after December 16, 2022 (PVP Disclosure Rules). READ MORE
Layoffs, Return-To-Office Mandates, Hiring Freezes And Reduced Compensation Will Be Results Of Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse
When there is uncertainty, business leaders will adjust to the new reality. Upon entering this new phase, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called for a “year of efficiency.” In addition to the 11,000 layoffs in November, Zuckerberg announced that 10,000 more people would be let go. Executives at other companies will follow Zuckerberg’s lead. They’ll tell their board of directors that the organization must enact fiscally responsible measures to get through a potentially turbulent time and likely recession. READ MORE
DOJ's Pilot Program Regarding Compensation Incentives And Clawbacks
On March 3, 2023, AAG Polite announced the launch of the Division’s Pilot Program on Compensation Incentives and Clawbacks.
The Pilot Program comes less than six months after Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa Monaco’s September 2022 announcement of changes strengthening DOJ’s corporate enforcement policy. As noted in our prior client alert on those policies, DOJ has stated that it wants to “empower” companies to “do the right thing” by rewarding companies that invest in compliance and that identify and voluntarily disclose misconduct in a timely manner. READ MORE
Silicon Valley Bank execs enjoyed generous compensation in recent years, with CEO and CFO packages up 30% from 2018
Total compensation for the CEO of SVB in 2022 was more than $9.9 million, including a $1.5 million cash bonus
The demise of Silicon Valley Bank amid a run on deposits has shined a light on stock sales carried out by officers at the bank's parent, SVB Financial Inc., days before the bank failed. READ MORE
These are the countries with the biggest gender wage gaps
The wage gap gets worse for women in their 30s and 40s
Women face a wage gap at every point in their careers, a gap that gets worse as they age and progress through their work lives.
In 2021, the most recent year for which federal data is available, women working full-time in the U.S. were paid 84 cents for every dollar paid to a man, the National Women’s Law Center reports. READ MORE
How Executive Pay Packages are Negotiated
As turbulent economic conditions persist and layoffs become more commonplace, some high-profile tech CEOs have elected to take large pay cuts to preserve cash flow. This has sparked a larger conversation about how, exactly, executives’ salaries are decided.
In February, Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, told his staff he would cut his pay by 98% and forgo his yearly bonus. Similarly, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, plans to cut his salary by 40% in 2023, bringing his annual target salary to $49 million. READ MORE
Almost half of all U.S. job postings include salary information now
After new pay transparency laws in California and New York City faced rocky starts, employer compliance is up not just in two of the biggest labor markets in the U.S., but across the country.
About three quarters of job listings in New York City and two thirds in California now include pay information, according to data compiled by Roger Lee, co-founder of Comprehensive.io, a pay data and analytics site. Nationally, salary ranges appear on 44% of posts on Indeed, up from 18% three years ago, data released Tuesday by the job search site shows. READ MORE
Salary transparency alone won’t close the pay gap
A growing number of US states and localities have laws mandating pay transparency, with requirements varying from state to state. Beginning in 2021, Colorado required all companies to include a salary range and benefits on their job listings. A law put on the books in New York City last fall is similar, adding a “good faith” range in pay on each posting. And states like California and Rhode Island make employers provide a salary range only to candidates that request it during the interview process. READ MORE
More Than Market Data To Be Ready For Pay Transparency
As of January 1, 2023, new pay transparency laws exposed just how fair and competitive your pay is. If you’ve been relying solely on market data to determine salary ranges, that approach isn’t effective anymore (and never really was). Instead, you need to establish salary ranges with data that’s more specific. READ MORE
3 Most Common Reasons Why Employees Don’t Negotiate Their Salaries
How often do you negotiate your salary? While some people may be well-versed in advocating for their financial worth, others will avoid a discussion about a possible salary boost as much as possible.
There are a lot of reasons to sidestep a salary negotiation, but hardly any of them are good or will help you in the long run. Here are some of the most common reasons why employees don’t negotiate their salaries and how to advocate for your earnings instead. READ MORE
DOJ Corporate Enforcement Policy Revisions Target Executive Compensation
On March 2, 2023 and March 3, 2023, in a pair of speeches by Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco and Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Kenneth Polite, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced revisions to its corporate enforcement policy. The changes tie corporate wrongdoing to executive compensation through a two-pronged approach: (1) mandating that companies that enter into agreements to resolve criminal allegations adopt prospective compliance-related criteria in their compensation and bonus structures and (2) offering fine reductions to companies that attempt to claw back compensation from individual wrongdoers. READ MORE
Tech titan to reportedly press pause on some bonuses
Certain corporate Apple employees will reportedly have their upcoming bonuses postponed until later in the year.
Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported Tuesday tech giant Apple will do so for workers in corporate divisions that usually get bonuses on a biannual basis. Those affected will go from having their bonuses split between the two months of April and October to receiving the payment in-full in the fall, according to the outlet. READ MORE
SEC’s Final Clawback Rules: What to Know
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) long intermission on clawbacks is over.
Act two began with the SEC’s adoption of the final clawback rules in October. Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) subsequently published their proposed listing standards for clawbacks on Feb. 22; both of which generally track SEC final regulations. READ MORE
Women still don't get the top jobs or pay even in industries they dominate
Women account for the majority of workers in a third of major U.S. industries. Yet, they are underrepresented among managers and executives in all but one of those, according to a data analysis by the Government Accountability Office for the House Oversight Committee. READ MORE
Today is Equal Pay Day. Here’s what that means
The gender pay gap is typically referred to in monetary terms, measuring how much women earn for every dollar a man earns.
But that gap is also indirectly a marker of time, since women on average earn less and therefore have to work longer just to break even with men. READ MORE
This Texas gas station went viral over job postings offering up to $225K a year (plus benefits and vacation).
A Texas gas station and convenience store chain, Buc-ee’s, received tons of attention earlier this year after a post stating employees could earn an annual salary of up to $225,000 there. The company also boasted a 401(k) match of up to 6%, along with three weeks paid vacation, health care and an additional $2 per hour for overnight services. READ MORE
SVB employees to receive 45 days of employment at 1.5 times pay
The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation offered Silicon Valley Bank employees 45 days of employment and 1.5 times their salary, reports say.
An FDIC official did not comment on the details to CNN, but said it is standard practice and one of the first steps the independent government agency takes after being named receiver. READ MORE