Secret Recording Shows NRA Treasurer Plotting to Conceal Extravagant Expenses

At a meeting in June 2009, the treasurer of the National Rifle Association worked out a plan to conceal luxury expenses involving its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Trace and ProPublica. The recording was unknown to New York’s attorney general, who is pursuing the NRA and LaPierre over a range of alleged financial misdeeds. It shows, in real time, the NRA’s treasurer enlisting the group’s longtime public relations firm to obfuscate the extravagant costs.

Captured on tape is talk of LaPierre’s desire to avoid public disclosure of his use of private jets as well as concern about persistent spending at the Beverly Hills Hotel by a PR executive and close LaPierre adviser. READ MORE

Progressive Caucus, think tank team up on CEO pay cut plan

Frustrated that few politicians pay attention to closing the pay chasm between CEOs and the rest of us. the Congressional Progressive Caucus and an outspoken progressive think tank, the Institute for Policy Studies, teamed up to craft a plan to do just that.

While the CPC did not issue a separate statement on the plan, crafted by IPS’s Inequality.org co-editor Sarah Anderson late last year, it backed the effort, and it’s also in line with the group’s agenda. READ MORE

Another Major Biglaw Firm Thinking About Ditching Lockstep Partner Compensation

Maybe this was inevitable. After Cravath — a firm once known for its lockstep partner compensation — ditched the model in favor of increased flexibility for its “partners,” perhaps the collegial, true partnership of Biglaw was doomed.

In any event, another major law firm is reportedly changing up what it means to be partner there. Rumors are swirling that Clifford Chance is thinking about changing up its lockstep partner compensation model to better attract the top rainmakers who can demand mega paydays at firms unencumbered by the lockstep method. READ MORE

Glass Lewis and ISS Announce Updates For 2024 Proxy Season

Glass Lewis (“GL”) recently released its annual Benchmark Policy Guidelines for 2024.  This update makes several changes to how the proxy advisory firm will evaluate company policies related to executive compensation.  Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) also released updates to its voting policies for 2024, including new and updated responses to its Compensation Policies FAQ. READ MORE

7 Trends to Watch in Benefits and Compensation in 2024

Amid record salary hikes, the explosion of GLP-1 drugs and the end of pandemic emergencies, 2023 was a big year in total rewards. But don’t expect things to slow down in the benefits and compensation world in 2024, industry experts said.

“It will absolutely be a big year,” said Kim Buckey, vice president of client services at Optavise, a Carmel, Ind.-based benefits administration firm. She added that it will be best practice for organizations to follow a detailed strategy to address total rewards this year. READ MORE

2024 Tax Brackets: Here's Why Your Paycheck May Be Bigger This Year

Last year, the IRS announced several key tax code changes, including a boost to income tax brackets. For some folks, these changes could impact how much tax is withheld from their paycheck. 

Both federal income tax brackets and the standard deduction have increased for 2024. This change is in response to sticky inflation, which has kept prices high all year. The higher amounts will apply to your 2024 taxes, which you'll file in 2025.  READ MORE

20 states with the highest individual income tax burden for residents

Taxpayers generally know which federal income tax bracket they fall into, but depending on where they live, their individual income tax burden — the percentage of personal income paid in state and local taxes — can vary significantly.

In the ranking below, the state that imposes the most on residents has an individual income tax burden of 4.72%. Scroll through to find out the individual income tax burden in the worst 20 states. READ MORE

Feeling the Pressure to Raise Salaries? You're Not Alone

It may not be the year of the big pay bump, but modest raises are part of many companies' plans in 2024. A recent survey of about 1,800 employers by consulting firm Willis Towers Watson suggests an average salary increase of 4 percent, down from the 4.4 percent average raise in 2023, but better than the prepandemic era's average 3 percent hike. 

The Wall Street Journal reported on the survey, which cited a slightly slowing job market and tapering inflation as factors moderating the average increase. There's a mix of trends at work, where white-collar, professional hiring is slowing, but other employers say they have to raise wages to hang on to workers. READ MORE

CEO pay and the great divide

New Year, new you? If that means donning a new pair of running shoes, signing up with a personal trainer, or joining a flashy fitness centre, you may have encountered this advice along the way: if you want quality results, you’re going to have to pay for it.

The corporate world is no stranger to the ‘get what you pay for’ mantra, at least where it comes to executive pay, though – like with your new fitness regime if you fail to stick with it – there’s no guarantee of success. READ MORE

Are CEOs overpaid?

CEO compensation has become increasingly controversial, including cases where executives have received particularly high amounts of performance compensation, exotic or unusual features such as loans from the firm (which are now banned), post-retirement benefits, perks, and guaranteed post-employment consulting contracts. As with all employees, economic theory holds that CEO pay should never exceed the CEO’s marginal revenue product (MRP), the incremental value the CEO provides for the firm. MRP, however, is difficult to measure. Furthermore, because executives supervise others, it can be problematic to apportion marginal revenue generated by the worker being supervised from that generated by the executive doing the supervising. READ MORE

Are there best practices for linking executive compensation to climate goals?

In this new paper, Feet to the Fire: How Should Companies Tie Executive Compensation to Climate Targets?, from the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford, the authors looked at how some companies bolstered their commitments to climate action—the authors refer to it as “institutionalizing” their climate goals and commitments—by including climate-related metrics in executive compensation plans and agreements.  The authors observed that, increasingly, even in the absence of regulation, companies have made voluntary pledges to reduce their carbon emissions. Citing MSCI, the authors report that about “half of large, publicly traded companies have established carbon emissions targets, and a third have pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2030 or 2050.” But is there anything to these promises? Have any of these carbon reduction objectives been fully integrated into the company’s strategy, operations or corporate culture? One way that some companies have sought to realize their climate goals is by tethering them to a measure of compensation. These climate metrics can function as both a signal of seriousness to the public and a mechanism for bringing accountability. In employing climate metrics as performance conditions in compensation programs, are there best practices to effectively achieve the kind of “institutionalization” that the authors advance? READ MORE

The rise of the ‘total rewards professional’: 2024’s highest-impact job trend?

It’s the start of a new year, and I am mentally preparing myself for the influx of Hot Jobs of 2024 articles predicting the most sought-after roles. They will likely point to increasing demand for AI prompt engineers and drone managers. I wouldn’t be surprised if robot liaisons become the next trend.

Predictions aside, many job titles of tomorrow will remain the same as today’s—and this is not indicative of stagnation; it’s an acknowledgment that the most crucial organizational functions will remain essential even as technology evolves.

In that spirit, I’d like to submit my own candidate for job of the future: the total rewards professional. READ MORE

6 mistakes organizations make addressing pay inequities

Pay equity continues to be top of mind for organizations. As the year begins, this is a good time to reflect on how organizations might refine their pay equity processes. The benefits of effective pay equity practices are numerous, including compliance with regulations, reduced risk of discrimination lawsuits, enhancement of the organization’s brand, improved attraction and retention of top talent, and higher rates of employee engagement.

However, organizations make various mistakes that limit the impact of their efforts. To improve results and drive efficiencies, here are six common mistakes we have seen, as well as guidance on how organizations can do better. READ MORE

The New Year’s Eve Ball Is Dropping and New York’s Salary Thresholds Are Rising

On December 27, 2023, and just in time for the 2024 ball to drop, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) finalized the salary thresholds for exempt employees that were proposed as a part of Minimum Wage Order Updates in October 2023. Similarly, New York passed Senate Bill S5572 in September 2023, increasing the salary thresholds for exempt employees under Article 6 of the New York Labor Law.

As a reminder, the classification of exempt or non-exempt is particularly important for determining which employees are (1) exempt from the overtime laws, meaning that such employees are not eligible to receive overtime pay, and (2) exempt from certain wage payment laws under New York Labor Law Article 6. READ MORE

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay Keeps Her Ungodly Salary

Harvard’s former president, Claudine Gay, is set to keep her nearly $900,000 annual salary despite resigning as president, the New York Post reported. Gay resigned after she said it may not violate Harvard’s rules to call for the genocide of Jews. 

I thought that when Gay resigned in disgrace she was going to be ousted from Harvard altogether, but no! She still works at the school.  READ MORE

Climate Metrics Surge in Executive Compensation Plans--From 25% to 54% in Just Two Years

The share of S&P 500 companies integrating climate-related metrics into their executives' compensation plans more than doubled over the past two years, according to a new report from The Conference Board based on disclosure data from ESGAUGE.

Executive compensation was tied to climate-related metrics by about 25% of S&P 500 firms in 2021 but rose to 54% in 2023. The percentage also doubled in the Russell 3000 index, going from 16% to 32%.

Moreover, as the rate of adoption of climate and other ESG performance metrics increases, companies have also started using them in long-term incentive (LTI) plans: The share of S&P 500 companies that use ESG metrics in both annual and long-term incentive plans grew from 7% in 2021 to 12% in 2023. READ MORE

Employers Must Beware Of Year-End Wage Hour Issues/Landmines!

I read an interesting post by Sara Zorich of Amundsen Davis concerning the year-end wage hour issues that employers must deal with, and I agree with the concepts set forth in that article.  There are a number of implications for these year-end issues which may inadvertently expose employers to liability if they do not take heed.

As the post notes, there is a concern with the giving of bonuses to non-exempt workers.  Unless this is a true Christmas bonus or a bonus given in a totally discretionary (i.e., subjective) manner, that bonus must be included in the regular rate of employees if they work overtime.  If the bonus is part of an incentive program or a production bonus or promised in any way to workers, it is includible.  If it is a year-end bonus, then it must be allocated over fifty-two weeks, an equal portion thrown into each week and then overtime must be calculated or re-calculated. READ MORE

Warren Buffett has earned a $100,000 salary for over 40 years. Here's a look at the billionaire investor's unique compensation.

Warren Buffett is a legendary investor, the boss of a $800 billion company, and one of the richest people on the planet. Yet he's earned a modest annual salary of $100,000 for over 40 years, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show.

As Berkshire Hathaway's CEO and chairman, Buffett recommends to his board of directors how much he should be paid, and decides the rest of the executives' compensation. The 93-year-old has received $100,000 a year since 1980 — a fraction of the $18 million average pay of S&P 500 CEOs in 2021. READ MORE