The salary negotiation trick that works ‘time and time again,’ according to an ex-Goldman Sachs recruiter

It’s never been easier to see how much a job will pay before you go into an interview.

More than a dozen states, cities, counties and Washington, D.C. have passed pay disclosure laws, where employers of a certain size are required to list the salary range of an open job. And more than 1 in 4 workers in the U.S. now lives in a place where they’re entitled to see pay ranges on job ads.

But once you have that information, how can you actually leverage pay ranges to negotiate a job offer? READ MORE

Is There a New Focus for Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plans?

An industry-leading benchmark study of non-qualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans finds that, while recruitment and retention continue to be the top goal for offering NQDC plans, other reasons for doing so are rising quickly in the ranks.

Though these plans are still primarily used to differentiate the compensation package for top talent, plan sponsors are showing an increased focus on education and retirement readiness, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America’s (PSCA) 2023 NQDC Plan Survey.  READ MORE

The ruling against Musk’s $55 billion compensation sets a bad precedent

Should a Delaware judge’s decision to deny Tesla CEO Elon Musk a $55 billion compensation package stand, it could establish a troubling precedent. The potential fallout might compromise the efficacy of performance pay plans, which are integral for aligning employees’ incentives with organizational goals.

A cornerstone of any performance pay plan is trust, specifically the assurance that conditions and expectations won’t change after the fact. But Delaware Chancery Court Chief Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick appears to challenge this principle in her 200-page ruling. Musk has a 30-day window to appeal. READ MORE

CEO, CFO compensation clawback helps tech firm skirt SEC fine

Throughout the relevant period, Cloopen didn’t have adequate internal accounting controls and company policies and procedures in place to ensure that revenues from sales transactions were accurately recorded and reported in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, the SEC found.

The company was charged with violating antifraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as well as reporting, recordkeeping, and internal controls provisions of federal securities laws, according to the order. READ MORE

Musk Case Lays Blueprint for Companies to Safeguard Executive Pay

The blockbuster decision rescinding Elon Musk’s nearly $56 billion compensation plan at Tesla Inc. relates to an extraordinary amount of consideration paid to a superstar, billionaire CEO. But the case also offers important lessons for boards and compensation committees beyond the specific context.

In Tornetta v. Musk, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision Jan. 30 ruling that the directors of Tesla breached their fiduciary duties when, in 2018, they adopted a $55.8 billion 10-year equity-based compensation plan for Musk, Tesla’s CEO. The plan was 250 times larger than the contemporaneous median peer compensation plan and over 33 times larger than the plan’s closest comparison (Musk’s prior compensation plan). READ MORE

Out of Control! What the Elon Musk Compensation Case Reminds Us about Transactions with Controlling Stockholders

Process still matters.  That’s the main takeaway from the Delaware Court of Chancery’s 200-page opinion striking down Tesla’s 2018 incentive package awarded to Elon Musk.  The court rescinded the incentive package mainly because Musk was found to control Tesla and the process, the directors authorizing the package were not independent and the stockholder vote approving it was not properly informed.  The ruling is a stark reminder of the importance of both director independence and an informed stockholder vote when transacting with a control stockholder. READ MORE

Why did Tim Cook’s pay package hold up in court while Elon’s failed?

Just a week after Elon Musk’s $55 billion Tesla payday was struck down by a Delaware judge, a New York court dismissed a challenge to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s compensation package, which clocked in at under $100 million. Some coincidence.

At face value, the two cases seem to have a lot in common. Both were shareholder suits waged against some of the highest-paid superstar tech CEOs in the world. And both were filed amid a backdrop of increased public scrutiny over executive compensation in recent years, which is near all-time highs across S&P 500 companies. READ MORE

14 Technology Jobs That Pay the Most

Which tech roles pay the most? Dice’s latest edition of the Tech Salary Report breaks down which types of engineers, managers, and other specialists earn more than the average tech professional.

As with past years, the top tech occupations by salary had one big thing in common: they were either leadership positions (CEO, CIO, CTO) or tasked with guiding companies through big projects and digital transformation (solutions architect, principal software engineer, program analyst). In other words, companies are still willing to pay top dollar to tech professionals who can use their combination of technical and soft skills to guide teams in driving significant change. Here’s the breakdown from the Report: READ MORE

The Rise of the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (NQDC) Plan

Nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) retirement plans are becoming more popular than ever in response to ongoing labor challenges.

Many companies offer NQDC plans as a retirement benefit for executive-level employees because IRS contribution limits make 401(k) plans inadequate on their own for many high earners. NQDC plans allow these high-earning employees to set aside more of their income to receive at a later date while also deferring the income tax on those earnings. READ MORE

How To Build Your First Compensation Strategy: 5 Straightforward Steps

Without an overarching strategy, early-stage companies tend to make decisions around salaries and job titles as and when they’re needed. Just like many early-stage decisions, this makes sense short term, but builds up a level of “compensation debt” that will eventually need to be unwound—and that’s harder to do later down the line.

Below is a straightforward process for building a simple, consistent, equitable compensation strategy that even relatively early-stage companies can adopt. READ MORE

Here's the average salary each generation says they need to feel 'financially healthy

Almost 4 in 10 Americans say they feel “financially unhealthy,” as prices remain high after a year of record-breaking inflation. However, how much you think you need to get financially well may depend more on what year you were born than how much is sitting in your bank account.

Gen Z says they require an average salary of $171,633 to feel financially healthy — the highest income compared to older generations, like baby boomers at $78,317 — according to a survey from personal finance company Personal Capital and retirement plan provider Empower, conducted by The Harris Poll. READ MORE

Are Tech Pros Happy with Pay?

Tech salaries have leveled off—and tech professionals aren’t happy about it, according to Dice’s latest Tech Salary Report. In 2022, 30 percent of tech professionals reported that they were either very dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with their salaries; in 2023, that percentage increased to 35 percent.

Some reasons for that unhappiness are obvious. Although certain specialized skills saw a notable increase in average compensation last year (especially skills related to cloud and data infrastructure/analytics), significantly more tech professionals (12 percent) reported that their salaries have gone down over the past 12 months; In 2022, only 6 percent reported a decreased salary. READ MORE

CPA Salary Guide: How Much Do CPAs Make?

Becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is not just a career choice; it’s a pathway to a wide range of financial and professional benefits. With a salary spectrum that spans from $45,000 to $300,750, as highlighted by Robert Half, the CPA credential is a significant lever for accountants with a CPA license. Opportunities for CPAs are available across various sectors and positions, including private corporations, public accounting firms, and government agencies. With experience and expertise, a CPA can progress to high-ranking positions like a Chief Financial Officer or a top-tier tax consultant. READ MORE

What living on 6 figures looks like in 4 different cities across the United States

The dollar is not equal in all cities. In Morristown, Tennessee, $100 is worth $118. In San Francisco, it’s $83.

To understand what life looks like for people with the same salaries who live in different parts of the country, Fast Company spoke with four women in four very different regions to ask about how they’re doing financially. For context, we pulled cost-of-living numbers from GOBankingRates, circa June 2023. READ MORE

How long will it take Purdy to earn Mahomes' salary? The massive Super Bowl pay gap

As Super Bowl LVIII looms on the horizon, the financial disparity between its two starting quarterbacks couldn't be more pronounced. Brock Purdy, the San Francisco 49ers' signal-caller, will face off against Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 11. The contrast in their earnings is a stark reminder of the NFL's salary spectrum-from the league's Cinderella story to its highest echelons of quarterback compensation. READ MORE

OPM offers guidance for agencies implementing salary history ban

The Office of Personnel Management on Friday set a deadline of October for agencies to comply with new federal regulations barring the federal government from using a job applicant’s salary history when setting their pay.

Earlier this week, OPM finalized regulations barring agencies from soliciting or otherwise relying on past compensation during the hiring and pay-setting process in most cases. The Biden administration also proposed similar rules this week that would ban the practice for federal contractors and subcontractors, though those would not take effect until at least April. READ MORE