More Organizations Are Deploying Salary Structures to Tackle Compensation

As market and workforce pressures around compensation frameworks and decision making become more imperative, more organizations are developing salary structures to better position themselves.  

This was a main finding in WorldatWork and Deloitte Consulting LLP’s “2023 Compensation Structure Policies and Practices” survey, which found that 91% of the 1,007 responding organizations have a salary structure in place. This was an 8 percentage points increase from the 2019 survey, which had about a third of the response rate, indicating an increased interest in the use of salary structures at organizations.  READ MORE

You’d have to work five lifetimes to make what your boss makes in one year

The gulf between a CEO’s paycheck and their typical employee’s has always been vast. But the advent of AI is already threatening to exacerbate that gap, enriching the C-suite at the expense of their employees, according to a new report from the AFL-CIO.

The average CEO compensation among S&P 500 companies last year was $16.7 million — the second-highest level of executive pay ever, according to the group’s annual Executive Paywatch report. (2021 was the highest at $$18.3 million) READ MORE

Recruiter Asks Applicant for Lowest Salary They'd Accept

Let's face it — salary negotiations are difficult. It's incredibly intimidating, but we encourage you to stand your ground and know your value to the company, unlike this person in the "antiwork" subreddit who fell into a trap and essentially agreed to take a company's initial (and extremely low) offer.

The original poster, who goes by the handle u/DrillingShale, revealed he feels "low-balled" because, during a phone interview, a recruiter asked for the lowest salary they'd be willing to take for a job. READ MORE

Executives and Compliance Compensation Incentives

The lack of personal consequences for senior executives responsible for corporate malfeasance is explored in this podcast episode. Executives are incentivized to take excessive risks, knowing they won’t have to pay any fines, while shareholders bear the brunt of penalties. Proposed solutions include the concept of “skin in the game,” where executives contribute a portion of their compensation to a pool of money that can be used to pay penalties. Another suggestion involves forfeiting the performance bond of senior management in the case of large fines. A third approach suggests creating a contract that would enforce a reduction in pay for failures of corporate governance. These proposals aim to hold senior executives personally accountable for compliance failures and align executive compensation with compliance objectives. HR professionals play a crucial role in designing and implementing positive incentives to foster a culture of compliance and ethical conduct within organizations. READ MORE

Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000-a-year package with a mixture of anger and admiration

The average UPS driver could get six-figure pay under a new contract, and tech workers have mixed feelings about it.

During an earnings call on Tuesday, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said that by the end of its five-year contract with the Teamsters union, the average full-time UPS driver would make about $170,000 in annual pay and benefits, such as healthcare and pension benefits. The comments were made after UPS came to a tentative agreement to head off a potential strike in July with Teamsters, the union that represents about 340,000 UPS delivery drivers and package handlers. The agreement has yet to be officially approved by union members, but the results of a vote on the issue are set to be announced later this month. READ MORE

White House gender pay gap extends despite Biden pledge to address the issue

New analysis of the White House's annual pay report revealed the executive mansion has a gender pay gap of 20%, despite past remarks from President Biden, who vowed to work on the issue and has repeatedly demanded equal pay for women.

Despite Biden's own calls for other employers to address discrepancies in pay among genders, the annual pay report submitted to Congress disclosed the names, positions and varying salaries of the more than 440 White House staff members. READ MORE

House bill aims to reduce effects of pay compression for senior-level feds

New legislation in the House is trying, at least in part, to address a years-long issue impacting some of the senior-most leaders in the federal government.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced the Federal Employee Pay Compression Relief Act Tuesday, which aims to reduce the overall effects pay compression.

“This bill will allow many of the longest-serving federal public servants to receive the pay adjustments they are entitled to but for the pay cap,” Norton said in a press statement Tuesday. “This bill will help the federal government hire and retain the most qualified individuals for the job.” READ MORE

How Companies Can Steer Clear of Executive Pay ‘Landmines’

The indoor-farming company AppHarvest’s first two years as a public company have gone dismally, with losses totaling $375 million and the stock price falling to 35 cents.

So this might seem like an odd time for the board to vote to give itself a nice raise and to dole out nearly $2.5 million in special bonuses for four senior executives. The special-payout program unveiled in July by Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest isn’t unusual—companies on the ropes often do this, saying it prevents a hemorrhaging of talent—but the negative headlines it generated across that state should serve as cautionary tale for companies trying to navigate treacherous times with minimal reputational damage. READ MORE

Raising the Minimum Wage Isn’t Good for Anyone

There are multiple issues with raising the minimum wage. It reduces employment and makes services more expensive to name a couple.

We can add another issue of raising the minimum wage to the list. A recent study shows that the raising of wages decreases the number of students that enroll in community college.

Researchers found that after minimum wages were raised, enrollment in community colleges dropped by 2% in year one and the drop increased to 4% by year five. Enrollment in four-year colleges remained unchanged. READ MORE

Sanders unveils $17 federal minimum wage bill

Saying 28 million U.S. workers would get a pay raise, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., plus 29 other senators, introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour by 2028, and entirely eliminate the so-called “tipped minimum wage,” raising those workers to minimum-wage status over seven years.

The measure builds on the long “Fight for 15 and a union” campaign. But corporate greed and business hatred for paying workers, especially workers of color, decent wages have prevented a nationwide hike for years. The “15” is now outdated. READ MORE

Biden to update 'prevailing wage' rule and boost construction worker pay

Construction workers could see their wages increase under the Biden administration’s plan to update a federal labor rule.

Vice President Kamala Harris will announce at an event in Philadelphia on Tuesday that the Department of Labor is preparing to issue a final rule to update the Davis-Bacon Act. The federal law was created in 1931 and requires the payment of prevailing wage rates to all laborers and mechanics on federal or federally assisted construction contracts. READ MORE

When an Entry-Level Candidate Wants an Above-Market SalaryThey cited their experience ... but they don't have any!

I am hiring someone for an entry-level position. It is meant for someone straight out of college and new to the field who is interested in learning a lot, meeting loads of highly connected people, and launching a potentially awesome career. I've set the salary to be a little above what other orgs our size do for this position to make it more competitive and retain staff. This seems to have worked well over the years. READ MORE

Understanding And Implementing Salary Transparency And Pay Equity

It’s hard to believe that in 2023 we still need to talk about a lack of pay equity—the principle that everyone, regardless of race, gender and age should be paid equally for doing the same work—in the workplace. The reality is that, on average, American women working full-time are paid 83.7% of what men are paid. This inequity affects Black and Hispanic women even more, as they're also more likely to be paid less than their white counterparts. READ MORE

CEO pay is always under fire. Founder salaries? Not so much

Public company CEOs are richly compensated. The median 2022 pay package for CEOs in the S&P 500 was $14.5 million, down slightly from the previous year, but more than double the median comp for S&P 500 CEOs in 2012. (In the same period, the federal minimum wage has remained flat, while median weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers in the U.S. grew roughly 36%.)

Founders, on the other hand, may not be paying themselves enough, says Waseem Daher, cofounder and CEO of Pilot, an accounting firm that serves startups and small businesses. READ MORE