New Survey Reveals Average MBA Starting Salary And Highest Paying Masters Degrees

Landing a place at business school could see you earn more than $70,000 straight after graduation, according to a new survey from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). 

Several Masters degree types help students earn significantly more than that, while if you’re a more experienced candidate and choose to enroll in an MBA you could earn six figures in your first role post-graduation, the study also revealed. READ MORE

Understanding the IRS Tax on Excessive Executive Compensation for Nonprofits

Nonprofit organizations with highly compensated employees or executives about to retire and collect a large payout may be subject to tax on what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calls “excess executive compensation.” If subject to this tax, the organization will need to comply with additional requirements to report and pay the amount due.

In general, the excess executive compensation tax applies to domestic organizations exempt from income taxes under IRC Section 501(a) (Form 990 filers), farmers’ cooperatives, public utility companies, states, municipalities, and political organizations. These are referred to as Applicable Tax-Exempt Organizations or ATEOs. READ MORE

Who won the CEO pay race in 2023?

CEOs of smaller tech and financial firms are surprisingly outperforming their counterparts at industry giants in terms of compensation, according to a new study by C-Suite Comp, a leading data analytics firm specialising in executive pay.

This finding, based on an analysis of nearly 4,000 publicly traded US companies, challenges the traditional notion that leadership at the helm of the largest corporations translates to the highest compensation packages. READ MORE

DEI Metrics in Executive Compensation

The Supreme Court’s decision to side with Students for Fair Admission in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, [1] which struck down the use of “affirmative action” in college admissions, caused concern among compensation committee members, compensation consultants and the executives and managers incentivized to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) at their employers about the risk of litigation and activism associated with corporate DE&I programs and metrics.

While the decision only relates to the educational sector, corporate DE&I programs could be affected in several ways. READ MORE

Redbox's parent company stopped paying employees for over a week before finally filing for bankruptcy

Redbox's parent company hasn't paid its employees in over a week amid financial woes that ultimately resulted in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, and Redbox Entertainment filed the following day, according to online records. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment completed a $370 million deal to acquire Redbox Entertainment in 2022. READ MORE

CEO compensation reviews need to be harder on mediocre execs

I have long taught my students that corporate governance worldwide is a joke. There are no term limits for directors. Their selection reinforces an old boys’ club. CEOs shouldn’t sit on boards (they’re just hired hands). Directors are free to serve on far too many boards for anyone’s good. And of course there are the excesses of executive compensation.

In their fiduciary duty to shareholders, directors’ main responsibilities are: risk management, selecting the CEO, getting CEO incentives right and monitoring CEO performance, including implementation of the company’s strategy. READ MORE

Increases to The Kroger Co.'s CEO Compensation Might Cool off for now

The share price of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has increased significantly over the past few years. However, the earnings growth has not kept up with the share price momentum, suggesting that some other factors may be driving the price direction. These concerns will be at the front of shareholders' minds as they go into the AGM coming up on 27th of June. It would also be an opportunity for them to influence management through exercising their voting power on company resolutions, including CEO and executive remuneration, which could impact on firm performance in the future. From what we gathered, we think shareholders should be wary of raising CEO compensation until the company shows some marked improvement. READ MORE

US Supreme Court will review test for applying wage law exemptions

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide how difficult it should be for employers to prove in court that their workers qualify for exemptions from overtime pay and other legal protections granted by U.S. wage laws.

The justices granted a petition by grocery distributor EMD Sales Inc, opens new tab for review of a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that imposed a higher bar on the company to show that sales representatives were exempt from overtime pay than any other appeals court has in a similar case. READ MORE

Companies Downplaying DEI Executive Pay Goals

A growing number of America’s biggest companies are revising diversity metrics for executive pay, a possible sign that conservative-led attacks on DEI are weighing more heavily on corporate culture.

A review of about 1,200 companies found that the proportion of corporations using a diversity, equity and inclusion metric to set compensation has dropped to 28% from closer to 33% in 2023, according to an analysis of regulatory filings by Farient Advisors. So far this year, 56 companies, including Best Buy Co., Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, removed or de-emphasized DEI when setting executive pay, the consulting firm said. READ MORE

Small-Business Compensation Plans Fall to Lowest Level Since 2021

According to the monthly jobs report recently released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a net 18% (seasonally adjusted) of small-business owners plan to raise compensation in the next three months by August, down three points from April and the lowest reading since March 2021. 

Seasonally adjusted, a net 37% of owners reported raising compensation, down one point from April but historically high. READ MORE

Morgan Stanley beats ex-Fla. advisors’ claims to deferred compensation

Just weeks after losing a $1.1 million arbitration award to former advisors in a fight over deferred compensation, Morgan Stanley on Monday defeated a similar lawsuit from eight former brokers who sued the wirehouse in 2022 seeking $855,000 in deferred compensation they had claimed should be handed to them because it was retirement money protected by ERISA – the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

A panel of three arbitrators under the aegis of Finra Dispute Resolution Services decided against the eight former Morgan Stanley advisors, who are scattered across Florida and have jumped in the past few years to a variety of Morgan Stanley competitors, including Wells Fargo Advisors, Raymond James & Associates Inc. and Ameriprise Financial Services. READ MORE

An Inside Look at Pay vs. Performance Year 2 Disclosure Trends

In August 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules implementing the pay vs. performance (PVP) requirement in the Dodd-Frank ActOpen in a new tab. These rules require registrants to disclose, in both tabular and narrative format, how their executive compensation is paid in relation to their financial performance.

WTW is among the organizations that have kept a close eye on PVP disclosure trends, providing insight on early trends as well as broad consensus on disclosure practices among first-year filersOpen in a new tab. In addition, WTW tracks the SEC’s Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&DIs) that accompanied the final rules, most recently in November 2023 (see SEC issues November 2023 guidance on pay versus performanceOpen in a new tab). READ MORE

Fifth Circuit Reminds Employers To Follow Salary Basis Test or Lose FLSA Overtime Exemptions

On May 24, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, recently upheld a district court’s decision that two highly compensated IT engineers were not properly paid on a salary basis and, therefore, not exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime requirements. The Fifth Circuit’s opinion reiterates that no matter how much money an employee earns, a guaranteed weekly salary must be paid in accordance with the FLSA’s specific rules and regulations in order to maintain most exemptions from the overtime pay requirements. READ MORE

Top Lessons From Tesla On Doing Executive Pay Right

The Tesla shareholder meeting has prompted plenty of headlines and broader discussions about CEO pay. Shareholders voted to reinstall CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package, which had been approved by them in 2018 and then voided by a Delaware Chancery judge after a shareholder lawsuit.

The actual Delaware ruling was not based on whether or not the payment amount was excessive or unfair. It stemmed from the judge’s view that the process for obtaining the original board and shareholder approval was “inadequate.” READ MORE

Vermont Becomes Latest State to Enact Pay Transparency Law

Vermont has joined the growing list of jurisdictions with pay transparency laws.

On June 4, 2024, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed “An Act Relating to Disclosure of Compensation in Job Advertisements” (the “Act”). Pursuant to the Act, which will take effect on July 1, 2025, many employers will soon be required to ensure that any advertisement of a Vermont job opening includes a disclosure regarding the compensation, or range of compensation, available for the job opening. Proponents of the bill cite advancement of pay equity and reduction of gender and racial pay gaps as among the expected outcomes of implementation.  READ MORE