Minimum wage set to rise in 15 cities and states in July. Here's where.

Hundreds of thousands of workers across more than a dozen cities and states will soon receive higher pay, thanks to minimum wage hikes set to take effect July 1. 

More than 800,000 workers in two states —Alaska and Oregon — as well as Washington, D.C., will be impacted by higher minimum wages that go into effect July 1, according to the left-leaning economic think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Additionally, a dozen cities and counties are also set to boost their baseline pay rates next month.  READ MORE

Never assume you’re ‘entitled’ to a salary bump—‘it doesn’t work like that in the real world’

You could have the longest tenure on your team, do your work correctly and on time, and even be well connected at your company — and still be overlooked for a promotion.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, according to Klutch Sports Group founder and CEO Rich Paul. Too often, employees feel like they’re owed raises and promotions without putting in any extra work to get them, he says. READ MORE

Trends in relative total shareholder return plan design

When it comes to long-term incentive (LTI) vehicles, relative total shareholder return (TSR) remains the most popular performance metric. In fact, TSR was used in more than 50% of performance awards either as a single metric or one of multiple metrics, according to WTW’s 2024 Long-Term Incentives Policies and Practices Report.

Given this prevalence, companies need to stay informed about TSR plan design practices and trends. Considering that design features can affect the associated expense, administrative burden and ultimate value delivered, we surveyed our clients to identify significant TSR award features. READ MORE

U.S. Chamber Comments on SEC Request for Information on Executive Compensation

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) submits these comments for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) roundtable regarding public company executive compensation disclosure. The Chamber commends the SEC for holding this roundtable on a timely issue and frequent topic of discussion within the SEC’s corporate disclosure framework. We appreciate the Chairman’s initiative to review disclosures with respect to the public company model to evaluate whether certain disclosures serve as impediments to companies accessing and remaining in the public markets. READ MORE

Donald Trump Weighs In on Plan To Increase Minimum Wage

President Donald Trump expressed uncertainty over whether he would support a Republican-led proposal to raise the federal minimum wage, when asked about the measure at the White House on Wednesday.

The bill, introduced by Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri last week, seeks to double the current federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. In response to a reporter's question on the plan, Trump replied: "I haven't seen it. I'd have to speak to Josh. He's a very good friend of mine." READ MORE

CNN cracks down on outrageous employee perk as pampered staff face salary cuts

CNN is set to unleash a flurry of cost-cutting measures while enforcing new rules to curb staffers' lavish spending.

Starting July 1, employees will need to submit receipts with their expense reports, a standard accounting practice not previously required of them, Status reported. READ MORE

CEO Pay Trends: A Post Proxy Season Recap

The 2025 proxy season has officially concluded, and companies have finished submitting their proxy statements (DEF 14A) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These filings provide comprehensive insights into executive compensation practices and corporate governance structures. The following analysis examines fiscal 2024 proxy statements submitted by Equilar 500 companies—the largest U.S. public companies by revenue—and highlights key trends in executive compensation.

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing inflationary pressures and political crosswinds have all contributed to an increasingly competitive market for high-level leadership. In response, companies have continued to increase pay packages to attract and retain top talent, especially as the role of the CEO becomes more complex and demanding. This analysis follows compensation trends from 2020-2024, offering a comprehensive view of how executive pay has changed over the years in comparison to median employee compensation, as well as a look into gender pay equity. READ MORE

Forget ‘no tax on tips’—increasing the minimum wage would deliver dramatically larger raises for millions more workers

At President Trump’s direction, Congress is considering proposals to exempt tips from taxable income. After Trump floated this gimmick on the campaign trail, Republican and Democratic elected officials alike have embraced the idea. The House Republican budget bill (H.R. 1) includes a “no tax on tips” provision that gives the illusion of helping lower-income workers—while the rest of the legislation hands huge giveaways to the rich at the expense of the working class. The Senate recently passed a standalone version of no tax on tips that similarly provides the false impression of aiding workers while giving employers excuses to incentivize tipped work and keep base wages low.

If the Trump administration and its allies in Congress genuinely wanted to help tipped and lower-paid workers, there are far better options they could pursue, like raising the federal minimum wage. To illustrate this, we compare the estimated impact of no tax on tips with the Raise the Wage Act of 2025, a bill that would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 an hour by 2030 and gradually phase out the tipped minimum wage. Here is an overview of how the two plans compare. READ MORE

Bill could make federal minimum wage $15: The states paying less than that

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour as early as next year, replacing the current rate of $7.25 an hour. For the states that already have minimum wage rates at or above $15 an hour, the change likely won’t be as significant.

In 2025 alone, more than 20 states saw an increase in their minimum wage. READ MORE

Here's the salary needed to live comfortably in every US state

The cost of living is rising in the United States and many people are finding that maintaining a comfortable lifestyle takes significantly more income than it did in the past. 

To put a number on how much it costs Americans to live comfortably, SmartAsset analyzed how much individuals and families need to earn using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule. This popular financial framework recommends allocating 50% of income to necessities, 30% to discretionary spending and 20% to savings or debt repayment. READ MORE

Tariff-hit firms should review bonuses or risk backlash, US lawyers warn

Businesses hit by tariffs should start reviewing their bonus policies and how deeply they may need to cut executive payouts if they hope to avoid a public backlash, lawyers have said.

Partners at the Silicon Valley law firm Cooley said that while pay was probably the last thing on bosses’ minds as they scramble to adapt to Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff policies, pay committees should start assessing their options soon. READ MORE

Board stewardship, executive compensation, people and sustainability governance

At a time when businesses must navigate complex stakeholders’ interests and operate in uncertain geopolitical conditions, stewardship has evolved beyond its traditional paradigm.

As stewards of their companies’ assets (both tangible and intangible), boards face the challenges of navigating a landscape that demands a more comprehensive approach — one that integrates risk and sustainability principles into the core fabric of business strategy. READ MORE

12 Years of CEO Pay Long-term Trends in S&P 500 Executive Compensation

Long-term incentive (LTI) designs have become strongly aligned with institutional investor and proxy advisor preferences through increased performance stock and restricted stock units and reduced stock options. The increase in restricted stock is notable because it is the least intuitively linked to performance of the three vehicles.

We believe the current state reflects the evolution of equity compensation strategies towards a balance of active performance management and risk mitigation.

95% of S&P 500 companies currently use PSUs, up from 76% in 2012 (PSUs represent an average of 60% of CEO LTI mix). READ MORE

Why non-US directors can rarely exempt US-source compensation from US income tax

Non–U.S. directors who attend board meetings in the United States may discover that their temporary presence can create unexpected U.S. tax implications — both for themselves and for the company. The IRS considers directors’ fees to be self–employment income and, when paid to a nonresident alien, such fees will generally be subject to 30% withholding at the source and require the filing of tax reporting forms.

Nonresident aliens have few opportunities under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to exempt U.S.-source compensation from U.S. income tax. Only one provision, the de minimis exception of Sec. 861(a)(3), would generally apply to nonresident alien directors. Given this provision’s history and limitations, however, these directors will often need to rely on an income tax treaty between the United States and their home country for potential relief. READ MORE

Majority of Companies Report Errors in Commission Payouts

A recent report from CaptivateIQ uncover key areas for improvement in how to use incentives to drive organizational growth.

In its annual State of Incentive Compensation Management Report, based on a survey of more than 200 U.S.-based B2B incentive compensation leaders, CaptivateIQ officials found 59% of companies rely on incentive compensation to fuel growth, outdated processes— manual workflows create costly errors, inefficiencies— that are holding many of these programs back from driving the growth they seek and impacting program return on investment. A combined 66% of companies have overpaid and/or underpaid commissions in the past year alone. READ MORE

How Will Federal Bills Eliminating Tax on Tips and Overtime Impact Employers?

Tax breaks on overtime pay and tipped earnings passed the House on May 22, 2025, as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1). The tax deductions provided under the sprawling reconciliation bill would be temporary, however, making these earnings deductible only for tax years 2025 through 2028.

H.R. 1 is part of the broader reconciliation package being hammered out in Congress. The legislation still needs to be approved by the Senate, which recently passed its own standalone bill providing a permanent tax deduction on tipped earnings. The Senate bill does not include tax relief on overtime pay (although several other Senate bills to provide a tax break on overtime are pending). READ MORE

CEO pay rose nearly 10% in 2024 as stock prices and profits soared

The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 10% in 2024 as the stock market enjoyed another banner year and corporate profits rose sharply.

Many companies have heeded calls from shareholders to tie CEO compensation more closely to performance. As a result, a large proportion of pay packages consist of stock awards, which the CEO often can’t cash in for years, if at all, unless the company meets certain targets, typically a higher stock price or market value or improved operating profits. READ MORE

How CEO Pay Trends Reflect a Changing Performance Landscape

As organizations enter the second half of the decade, executive compensation appears to be settling into a new equilibrium — one shaped by years of pandemic-era disruption, evolving investor expectations, and a shifting macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape.

The WTW Global Executive Compensation Analytics Team (GECAT) analyzed CEO pay trends across the S&P 1500. The findings suggest that, while target total direct compensation (TTDC) growth has slowed, the design and delivery of incentive pay are becoming more nuanced — and, in some cases, more complex — in response to continued volatility and companies seeking to attract, retain and incentivize top-tier talent. READ MORE

The Rise of Skills-Based Rewards, and What You Must Do About It

Recent reports show that half of HR leaders see skills shortages as a top corporate threatOpen in a new tab in the coming year, and experts predict 70% of the skills used in most jobs will changeOpen in a new tab by 2030. Will organizations be ready to address any potential skills gaps? A survey of 1,100 talent, rewards and HR global leaders generally reflects optimism toward accomplishing this. READ MORE

Cost-Benefit Analysis May Help You Maximize Your Offering Spend

Employers collectively pour $3 trillionOpen in a new tab each year into benefits programs for their workers — but due to a lack of employee understanding or utilization and outdated or clunky program design, those organizations are finding that the benefits investment often isn’t generating expected returns.

Only 26% of employeesOpen in a new tab are “very satisfied” with their benefits, according to recent research from benefits technology company Nayya — leading to 37% higher absenteeism, 18% lower productivity, 15% lower profitability and significantly increased likelihood of attrition. READ MORE