'Clawing back' executive compensation: companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ have until December 1 to adopt a compensation recovery policy

Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) have until December 1 to adopt compliant clawback policies now that the SEC has approved listing standards the exchanges proposed. The SEC adopted clawback rules last year instructing securities exchanges to propose the standards. The standards require exchange-listed companies to develop and implement policies to recover erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation received by executive officers. READ MORE

How HR can make the most of working with a compensation consultant

Among the many tasks CHROs often face, helping the company’s board of directors shine before shareholders can be one challenging area, especially as it relates to your investors’ “say on pay” vote for executive compensation packages. Because, ultimately, if shareholders don’t approve the compensation strategy, it can give the board, and HR, a black eye. 

Take Netflix, for example. Its board of directors encountered an embarrassing situation as shareholders withheld their support during the “say on pay” vote at the company’s annual shareholders meeting last week. Fortunately for Netflix and other public companies, such a vote is advisory only and not binding. READ MORE

ChatGPT is not ready to take on employee salary benchmarking

ChatGPT, the AI technology that's set off an artificial intelligence gold rush, is not yet ready to determine that companies are extending the right salaries to attract and retain talent. 

We know this because we tested it. When asked "What salary should I offer a software engineer in the U.S. with five years experience?" ChatGPT came back with $100,000 to $120,000 a year, and maybe more than $150,000 a year in high-cost cities such as San Francisco, New York, and Seattle.  READ MORE

Planned Parenthood execs among highest-earning in nonprofit sector pay, new report finds

Planned Parenthood executives are among the highest-paid in the U.S. in the not-for-profit sector, surpassing the average salary for nonprofit CEOs, according to a new report.

American Life League's STOPP International, an organization dedicated to serving as a watchdog on Planned Parenthood, recently released a report titled "The STOPP International 2023 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation," which offers analysis of how much money executives affiliated with the nonprofit are raking in. READ MORE

The Ultimate Guide to Equity Compensation

What drives companies to offer equity compensation? We've heard the speech ... it fosters employee motivation and performance, it helps with employee retention, it's an alignment of interests, it increases employee loyalty, etc. While all these are true, one big reason that gets less coverage is taxes. Equity compensation has a direct effect on employees' financial planning, which is why it's important that employees understand not only the tax implications but also how to exercise their stock and how to evaluate their options before accepting. READ MORE

Reasonable Compensation Under ERISA: Thoughts on Two Recent Cases

Two recent court decisions bring into focus two seldom-asked questions about the reasonable compensation requirement under ERISA. When must an ERISA plan’s service provider compensation be reasonable? And why shouldn’t a plan fiduciary be able to receive reasonable compensation from the plan even if the fiduciary had a hand in determining the amount of that compensation? The reasoning and holdings in these cases, if followed by other courts, could fundamentally alter the familiar rules on reasonable compensation. READ MORE

70% of Employees Have Discussed Personal Salary With Co-Workers

Salary transparency, an issue that has taken political and legal strides in the workplace, is now making its way into conversations between co-workers. The frequency of these conversations has risen alongside the increase in negotiations in the hiring process, and laws mandating companies provide salary ranges in new job ads. 

The efficacy of these salary transparency conversations is up for debate, but according to a survey from invoicing solutions provider Skynova of just over 1,000 full-time employees, these interactions are taking place at a presumably unprecedented pace. Seventy percent of surveyed employees said they have taken part in conversations in which they shared how much money they made with their co-workers.  READ MORE

Pay transparency cuts turnover risk — except for Gen Z

The study results come as new laws requiring companies to disclose salaries when hiring job candidates have been enacted across many states. As of Jan. 1, California and Washington became the latest to require pay ranges to be disclosed with job postings, CFO Dive previously reported. The new regulations and the resulting corporate policies are part of a broader push for pay equity and it is also shifting the balance of power in salary negotiations. READ MORE

5 negotiation tips to maximize your salary (even when hiring managers want to pay less)

When applying for a job, there are lots of variables that impact your decision-making: the location, flexible working, and day-to-day responsibilities. But ultimately, salary is always one of the biggest deciding factors.

Too often, employers will dictate lower salaries in a bid to save money. This is one likely reason why employee turnover is so high today. According to Pew, 63% of workers who quit their jobs do so because of low pay. READ MORE

Pay transparency has left middle managers unprepared to defend salary discrepancies

As more cities and states implement salary transparency laws, it's falling on managers to deal with a barrage of questions, concerns and frustrations this new knowledge can reveal. 

Currently, seven states as well as individual cities across the U.S. have salary transparency laws in place that require an organization to include the minimum and maximum pay ranges in job postings. But while 92% of employees are in favor of transparency laws, 63% say these policies will cause problems among coworkers, and 5% would quit if they found out a coworker made more than them, according to data from Resume Builder.  READ MORE

Bill seeks recouping executive pay following bank failure

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) has joined a group of colleagues to introduce legislation that would authorize efforts to recoup executive pay when a bank failure occurs.

Bill proponents noted the Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would, among other provisions, require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to regain up to three years of compensation received by bank executives, board members, controlling shareholders and other key decision makers. READ MORE

Tying executive compensation to ESG metrics is pointless and ridiculous

As virtue signals go, environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives are a popular and noisy bandwagon that companies are jumping aboard to show how much their brands care about things that often have little or nothing to do with their bottom-line business success.

An increasing number of companies are even taking the window dressing of doing good to an absurd and sometimes reckless level by tying executive compensation to leadership’s performance on these feel-good metrics. More than 70 per cent of Fortune 500 companies now have baked – or are considering baking – some ESG elements into their executive-compensation formulas. READ MORE