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Americans are continuing to pile on debt at record levels — but for many households, those IOUs are completely manageable, according to new data released Wednesday.
US household debt (not adjusted for inflation) moved up to a fresh record total of $17.94 trillion as of September 30, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. READ MORE
Wall Street firms are expected to pay out higher bonuses this year in what would be the first increase since 2021, according to a report by compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates.
Bonuses are expected to rise after recent months saw an uptick in deal-making, the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates and the stock market surging to record highs. READ MORE
Many companies are still hesitant to post salaries in job postings. According to a study of more than 4,000 live LinkedIn job listings in the US, over a third (36%) didn't include salary details, even in states that have passed salary transparency laws.
People Managing People analyzed active job postings across every U.S. state over a range of seniority levels including associate and junior roles, as well as senior positions, across 22 different sectors. READ MORE
U.S. lawmakers have come a long way since making $6 a day in 1789, but their six-figure annual salary has remained frozen in time since 2009.
The current annual salary for a U.S. senator — as well as members of the U.S. House of Representatives — is $174,000. The government-paid salary, set in 2009, reflects a $4,700 pay bump from 2008, but has not been raised since. READ MORE
In October, Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) released an off-cycle update to its Executive Compensation Policies Frequently Asked Questions (the “FAQs”), which are available at this link: US-Compensation-Policies-FAQ.pdf (the new questions are highlighted in yellow). As described in more detail below, the updates to the FAQs address ISS’s criteria for recognizing “robust” clawback policies and realizable pay methodology. The FAQs are typically updated in November or December of each year, making this off-cycle update noteworthy. ISS indicated in its release that a subsequent update to the FAQs is expected in December 2024. READ MORE
Everything old is new again. That’s more than some cliche thrown at you by an aging millennial lamenting the return of low rise jeans. It’s also descriptive of Biglaw’s stance on lateral partner compensation. Law.com has an article explaining that multiyear guarantees — whether in guaranteed points, shares, or specific amounts — are back again for partners they’re hoping to lure to the firm. READ MORE
This is the first time in more than 20 years the pay gap increased between women and men, according to new census data. While many factors lead to inequitable pay between the genders, looking at invisible work and emotional labor is the one aspect that can be addressed at home and in the workplace.
The gender wage gap isn’t just about salary. Society places too high of expectations and too low of value on the contributions of women. As a result, we have more than just a wage gap. Women feel burnt out and overwhelmed while being unfairly compensated for their work. READ MORE
Choosing the right candidate to fill the corner office comes with a unique set of challenges. Putting aside the search for expertise and business acumen, leadership style, cultural fit, and a host of other considerations, one consistent — and expensive — factor is, of course, compensation for newly appointed chief executive officers (CEOs).
WTW’s Global Executive Compensation Analytics Team (GECAT) explored promotions among S&P 100 companies since 2020 to identify typical practices followed when promoting a new CEO from within the existing executive team. This analysis, different from the GECAT’s recent analysis of pay for interim CEOs, revealed the circumstances for each company and the different approaches taken. Here’s what the team found, by the numbers. READ MORE
The new pay vs. performance (PVP) disclosure requirement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not made a big splash yet, but it still has the potential to reshape the executive pay landscape as time goes on. Investors and proxy advisors are still in “wait and see” mode around whether the disclosure is useful. The missing link to make sense of the requirement is time. The disclosure is, for the most part, meaningless until investors can look at the trajectory of pay over a CEO’s entire tenure. As time passes and more data is disclosed, that will be possible. READ MORE
When I became Disabled in my late teens and started searching for work, I was confronted with barriers including disability discrimination, inaccessible environments, and attitudinal biases. I lost a job simply because a no-cost adaptation was rejected. My story isn’t unique. And it’s just one example of how systemic barriers prevent Disabled people from accessing meaningful employment.
Another huge one: a nearly 90-year-old federal law from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that allows employers to pay Disabled people less than the minimum wage, sometimes just cents on the dollar. At last, Congress is seriously considering legislation that would end this relic of the New Deal, better known as Section 14(c), which confines Disabled people to a lifetime of poverty and segregation. READ MORE
The federal minimum wage for tipped workers has stood at US$2.13 an hour since 1991. Back then, it amounted to half the $4.25 regular minimum wage. But Congress has failed to increase the tipped minimum while periodically raising the regular wage floor. Today, the tipped rate is less than one-third of the $7.25 federal full minimum wage.
As of October 2024, 30 states and Washington, D.C., had instituted their own, higher, regular minimum wages. The number of states taking this step keeps rising in part because Congress hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage since 2009. Over the years, many states have also adopted higher wages for tipped workers. Seven states have no tipped minimum wage at all, which means that employers must pay at least the state-mandated minimum wage to all workers, including those who earn tips. READ MORE
The United States of America is about to vote for its new president, with millions heading to the polls to vote either for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris to succeed Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
And while either Harris or Trump will be the metaphorical leader of the free world, they will also be - on a very basic level - an employee of the US federal government.
It is a job that is very much one that comes from a point of passion - but there's still a salary to be paid for doing what they do. READ MORE
Voters in states across the U.S. will weigh in on a handful of consequential, and in some cases unprecedented, ballot proposals on labor and employment issues in the Nov. 5 election. READ MORE
Increased regulatory requirements have consistently been identified as a top driver for organizations to increase communication about their pay programs, according to participants in WTW’s 2024 Pay Transparency Survey. Unfortunately, several factors related to sharing pay information (beyond what employees get in their paychecks) are tormenting most compensation departments.
But there is a path to tranquility. READ MORE
The secret to a successful salary negotiation isn’t what you ask for, but how you do it.
Whether you want 10%, 20% or 50% more than what was offered, you need to make a compelling case for why you’re worth it. READ MORE
Salary transparency in job postings is becoming more common, but at a slower rate, potentially affected by economic factors, according to new data from Indeed.
Zoom in. Salary transparency has been on the rise since 2019 when fewer than 25% of job postings on Indeed included any compensation information. In September, 57.8% of US job postings on the site “contained some salary information,” a 5.6% increase from 2023, but a slowdown from 2022, when there was a 15.7% rise. The slower growth could be a result of the sluggish labor market. READ MORE
The pay gap between American men and women widened in a “statistically significant” way for the first time in two decades, according to a report released Sept. 10 by the U.S. Census BureauOpen in a new tab, but experts urge against viewing that finding in a vacuum.
Census Bureau data — which compared income from 2022 and 2023 for full-time, year-round U.S. workers — showed real median earnings increased by 3%Open in a new tab to $66,790 for men and 1.5% to $55,240 for women. That dropped the women-to-men earnings ratio from 84% in 2022 to 82.7% in 2023. The last time the gap increased to that degree was 2003. READ MORE
The WTW report identified six core objectives related to pay program effectiveness: driving employee attraction, upping employee retention, promoting fair compensation internally, providing competitive compensation, aligning with business strategy and rewarding employees for performance.
As economic conditions have improved and labor market pressures have lessened, companies should make changes to address the factors that play into pay program effectiveness, Wisper said. READ MORE
Just how much of a setback was the COVID-19 pandemic for U.S. working women?
Although women who lost or left their jobs at the height of the crisis have largely returned to the workforce, a recent finding points to the price many paid for stepping back: In 2023, the gender wage gap between men and women working full-time widened year over year for the first time in 20 years, according to an annual report from the U.S. Census Bureau. READ MORE
Salary transparency is increasingly becoming a common feature in job postings, especially as more states pass legislation requiring it. But despite continued growth in salary transparency overall, some sectors and states remain more opaque than others when it comes to disclosing pay information. READ MORE
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