How to link ESG goals to executive pay

Unilever hit the headlines in 2014 when it paid its then CEO, Paul Polman, a £432,000 bonus for his work on the company’s sustainability reforms. While this case drew criticism from those who saw it as a fat cat profiting from addressing global problems that his firm may have been part of, it fuelled the theory that the best way to persuade business leaders to manage their assets for the public good is to pay them to do so. 

The movement to tie bosses’ rewards to their companies’ environmental, social and governance performance has since gathered momentum. By 2022, more than 90 of the FTSE 100 were incorporating ESG measures into their executive incentive plans, according to a Deloitte study. READ MORE

The highest-paying trade jobs — no college degree required

While four-year colleges and universities have long been seen as the path to a successful life, many are finding similar financial and professional benefits in trade jobs.

“As a society, we’ve been doing a better job of promoting potential careers in the trades and working with your hands,” Michael Krupnicki, president of the American Welding Society, said in a recent interview with NewsNation. READ MORE

McDonald's $25 'deal' goes viral; users blame California's minimum-wage increase: 'Your new normal'

A viral social media video about a $25 McDonald's "deal" recently sparked an online debate about California's minimum-wage increase.

A TikTok user who posts videos under the username @shannon_montipaya shared the video on March 27. She was in the drive-thru of a Southern California McDonald's location when she saw a sign for a 40-piece Chicken McNugget meal deal, which also included two large orders of fries. READ MORE

In-N-Out burger heiress fought 'toe-to-toe' to keep costs down amid minimum wage hike

The owner of the famed In-N-Out burger chain says she fought to keep costs down in California as legislation bumping up the minimum wage took effect. 

"I was sitting in VP meetings going toe-to-toe saying, ‘We can’t raise the prices that much, we can’t,'" In-N-Out President Lynsi Snyder said in a Wednesday interview with "Today," adding that she felt "an obligation to look out for our customer." READ MORE

Why the Gender Pay Gap Persists in American Businesses

Women have progressed a lot in terms of workplace gender equity since the days of Rosie the Riveter, but elements of inequity remain stubbornly in place. In 2024, for example, women still earn around 84 cents for every dollar a man earns for the same job on average in the US – almost the same as it was twenty years ago.

The Darden Report recently caught up with Professor Allison Elias, author of “The Rise of Corporate Feminism,” to explore the history of this continuing gender pay gap, where things stand today and new research on this dynamic. READ MORE

Liberals in la-la land: High wages, 32-hour workweeks sound great, but there's a steep price

I recently had a layover at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport on my way to visit my parents in Oregon, so I stopped at McDonald’s for a quick bite. Rather than being greeted by a human cashier, I was met with a hall of self-serve kiosks, where I placed my order and paid for it.

Expect to see a lot more machines and far fewer human workers in states and cities that are artificially driving up the cost of employees through higher minimum wages. READ MORE

5 Industries With The Most Job Openings, Least Competition And Six-Figure Salaries

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6.5 million people in the U.S. are currently unemployed. But the good news is there are literally millions of competitors with openings for job seekers on the hunt for a new position. Let’s face it, job hunting is stressful. Sometimes the anxiety is so great that the stress of job seeking can lead to an array of mental health issues for applicants. READ MORE

Starbucks investors vote to remove diversity and sustainability references from executive pay package

Earlier this week, after Starbucks’ annual shareholders’ meeting, company investors voted on several initiatives, including a new executive compensation package that would omit diversity and sustainability goals from bonus considerations for top leadership at the company. Shareholders voted overwhelmingly (90% yes votes) to approve the new compensation packages, though the vote is technically nonbinding to company policy.

This bonus initiative was first introduced in 2020 as a company-wide effort to support diversity, equity, and inclusion at Starbucks and was quickly emulated by other major foodservice chains nationally, including Chipotle, which increased the percentage of its executive bonus ties to company ESG goals from 10% to 15% in 2022. READ MORE

How companies will claw back executive incentive compensation

While some organizations may be planning to rely on the compensation committee to deem executive incentive recoupment costs as “impracticable” so they can avoid enforcing now mandatory clawback regulations, this is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Companies must disclose why recoupment is impracticable, including details about how they calculated the amounts to be recouped. There is an overarching concern that shareholders, proxy advisors and the media will question the calculation that supports not seeking recoupment. We also anticipate that these same audiences will ask why the company did not have a mechanism in place to help ensure that officer-earned compensation is within reach. 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%. READ MORE

Doubly-Binding Director Say-on-Pay

The TSLA board comp case was vastly interesting and even some fun. I learned a lot about Delaware Chancery Court, figured out how to navigate the befuddling File-and-Serve system, and visited Wilmington to argue our objection to the proposed settlement. I had a terrific time talking with Ron Orol at The Deal about the experience.

You’ll recall the proposed settlement provided for TSLA shareholders to vote on director pay. We objected because it arguably did not require directors to abide by the vote result. READ MORE

Proposed Rule by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council Would Ban the Use of Salary History Data by Federal Contractors and Require Disclosure of Salary Ranges in Job Postings

On 29 January 2024, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that would prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from seeking and considering information about applicants’ compensation history when hiring or setting pay for individuals working on or in connection with a government contract. On the same day, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) issued Frequently Asked Questions expressing its view that salary history is not a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for pay disparities.

These actions echo actions by states including California, New York, and Washington that have banned employers from considering salary history when making employment decisions and enacted pay transparency laws requiring inclusion of salary ranges in job postings. READ MORE

Amazon's senior employees may not get a cash pay raise this year

Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday its senior employees, whose compensation includes more stock-related awards than cash, may not receive a cash pay raise this year.

"For this year's compensation cycle, we are prioritizing cash base pay increases for employees whose compensation is weighted more heavily in base pay as opposed to stock," an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement. READ MORE

Boeing CEO could walk away with $24m compensation after quitting amid safety scandals

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun could walk away with a $24m compensation package after quitting following a string of incidents that have sparked major safety concerns.

Mr Calhoun announced on Tuesday he would be resigning from his role as CEO at the end of the year following what he described as a “watershed moment” for Boeing after a panel on the side of an Alaska Airlines plane blew out mid-flight. READ MORE

Companies plan 4.5% pay raises this year, outpacing inflation

Employers last month added 275,000 jobs, a higher-than-expected increase that veiled a cooling in wage gains and the overall labor market. Average hourly earnings last month increased only 0.1% compared with a 0.5% monthly gain in January.

Also, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% and the Labor Department revised down the number of payroll gains in January to 229,000 from the earlier reported figure of 353,000. READ MORE

Employees Seek More Personalized Total Rewards Packages

In an increasingly competitive hiring environment, employers are learning that recruiting and retaining talent doesn't simply come down to the benefits they offer — it's also about how much employees are able to personalize their total rewards. 

The top request from employees related to improving compensation is having more types of rewards and the opportunity to personalize their rewards packages, according to Mercer's 2024 Global Talent Trends study. READ MORE