Compensation & Benefits

In the wake of the financial meltdown, performance-related bonuses are hardly flavour of the month in Main Street America. But now they have been found to be gender and racially biased, too.

Despite the widespread anger about Wall Street's failures, stamping down hard on executive pay may be exactly the opposite of what the U.S economy needs right now.

Amid the chaos on the financial markets, here's a real surprise. AIG's just-departed Chief Executive Robert Willumstad, who was replaced as part of the rescue of the insurance giant, has rejected a $22 million severance payment.

Peter Cappelli director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School of Business, argues that rewards for individual performance are no substitute for good employee management.

The global economic slowdown may be putting the brakes on executive pay, but there is still a huge gap between the super-wealthy boardroom elite and the rest.

Downturn or not, the maxim for an increasing number of companies when it comes to attracting and retaining their top executives is, if you're good, you're worth it.

New British research has questioned the assumption that if you want a high-performing leader for your high-performing organisation, you'll need to pay for it.

You'd be hard pressed today to find a boardroom that does not spin a good line on gender equality. It's just a shame words aren't matched by deeds.

Amid the daily deluge of economic gloom and doom, here's a spark of good news for U.S workers. Pay raises and bonuses look set to be held steady next year.

In a downturn cutting back on benefits may seem like a win/win decision. But according U.S business school Wharton, firms that take an axe to their perks may soon live to regret it as it.

If the credit crunch has caught up with you and the cost of living is getting too much, Asunción in Paraguay might be the place to head to for a few years. But whatever you so, stay away from Moscow, Tokyo or London.

There are a lot of commonly held beliefs in life, and that extends into the working world. While some beliefs have a kernel of truth in them, many of them are nothing more than myths.

Granted, it's never an easy conversation to have, yet one in six workers say they would never dream of asking for a pay rise.

American firms spent much of last year showering their top talent with money to stop them from leaving. In the process, they have sharply widened the pay gap between managers and workers.

Interesting and challenging work is what drives most managers to go the extra mile, not performance-related pay, cash bonuses or a stake in the business.

If you're looking for a big piece of cheese no matter the quality of your performance, here's a hot tip: become a CEO.

Next to wanting respect from their bosses, it seems most employees want to earn a decent wag and too many don't think they are.

The global financial pinch means that middle managers and professionals are being forced to cut back on spending and even take second jobs to make ends meet.

A growing number of U.S workers are now working from home or telecommuting, but employers are still way too laid back about the possible security risks this entails.

Open and honest communication is far more valuable than cash when it comes to keeping staff happy.

Job-hopping may boost your salary in the short term, but too much career chopping and changing can eventually harm a worker's financial prospects.

Corporate America may be trying to get its house in order over executive pay, but the damage from successive "fat cat" scandals has already been done.

In a move that would make most American or HR personnel fall out of their chairs laughing, an unnamed Japanese cosmetics company is actually giving employees one to three work days off for "heartbreak leave".

As Indian workers are toasting record pay rises, their counterparts in America are bracing themselves for a wave of job cuts.

More evidence has emerged to suggest that the highest performing companies are generally led by the best paid and most financially motivated CEOs.

Bibles, visits to strip clubs, haircuts, even betting slips – there is no end to what employees will try to claim as genuine work expenses.

A single large U.S. employer dropping healthcare benefits for its employees could create a domino effect that brings the entire system to its knees.

It's often assumed that the attitude towards CEO pay in most U.S. boardrooms is "the more, the merrier". But in fact one in three directors think CEO pay is out of control.

Employees in booming Asian economies are demanding more money and better jobs - and they're happy to move and move again if they don't get what they want.

It may be popular with employers, but individual pay for performance can undermine organisational effectiveness. Because if everyone is out to "do their own thing", the consequences for effective teamwork can be damaging - and sometimes even fatal.

French chief executives have overtaken their British counterparts as the best paid in Europe. But their rewards are still dwarfed by the sums earned by bosses in the U.S.

I've had the privilege of working in both Europe and in the United States, but clearly my horizons aren't amply expanded because I've yet to come across this during my work experiences.

You might think that offering an array of benefits to staff would make you an employer of choice. But many organizations offer perks that people simply don't want.

Amid all the predictions of economic doom and gloom for 2008, you might have thought that American workers would want to be seen spending time in the office. But not a bit of it.

What do you do when a dollar means nothing? That's the dilemma facing U.S. expats based in Europe whose pensions or incomes are paid in increasingly devalued dollars.

To what extend should incentives be used as a business strategy? Does motivation naturally follow incentives? Why are gross errors made and how can you protect against them? And how exactly can you use error as a foundation for excellence?

It's controversial, but performance-related pay for top executives does appear to work. In fact there is a clear correlation between highly paid executives and high-performing companies.

With bonuses becoming as rare as a turkey at New Year and increasing numbers of workers raiding their pension pots to make ends meet, this Christmas is unlikely to be very merry.

It's the end of the year and you can almost feel the employees at your company biting at your heels, looking for their holiday bonuses. Do you give out gift certificates? Do you hand out turkeys? What about cash?

Public companies are increasingly looking at non-financial measures when it comes to setting levels of executive pay and bonuses.

Most American employers remain committed to paying for healthcare. But there is growing concern that it may not be long before this no longer makes financial sense.

Virginia is once again showing why it's such a great state in which to live. Besides the proximity to the nation's capital, the historical importance of Jamestown and Williamsburg and the beauty of its rural areas, its social policies are a notch above for all of us who aren't business owners.

Pity the average Norwegian manager. Not only is freezing cold and dark half the year, but when it comes to spending power, they are the least well off managers in the world.

The online magazine Slate.com asked America last year for stories about "Corporate Scrooges" in order to create a list of the worst office parties, worst gifts, and worst bonuses the working world had ever seen.

You might think the benefits of getting and staying healthy are self-evident. But more American companies are finding they are having to pay workers to get the message.

Graduates and board directors may be at opposite ends of the career spectrum but one thing unites them – the gender pay gap.

Susan loves her job as a teacher, but the pay just isn't enough to ensure financial stability. But with a baby on the way, should she look for a job with better prospects or keep her peace of mind but continue to live paycheck to paycheck?

Britain's top executives have seen their earnings double in the past five years, with the average chief executive now taking home more than £3 million a year.

Two thirds of U.S workers who call in sick at the last minute are not ill at all, costing businesses more than three quarters of a million dollars a year.

Now, it's not that I don't like what we fondly refer to in America as "big box" stores, but I don't like to see the people who makes the least amount of money get screwed out of their already meager earnings.

The resolution of the GM labor dispute was a success in that both parties walked away feeling that they won something - and that's the way it should be.

If you have ambitions to sit on the board of one of Britain's blue-chip corporations, you may want to think again. Because the number of top jobs is declining rapidly.

America's demanding compliance climate means senior lawyers are increasingly commanding top-dollar salaries and bonuses.

The granting of stock remains one of corporate America's most powerful financial thank-yous, with some executive teams now owning as much as eight per cent of the company.

The days of being grateful for what you are offered by an employer are long gone. Today, talented workers are prepared to ask for big bucks to take up a job offer.

The number of high-flying British female managers stepping off the corporate treadmill or simply looking for a change of direction is at its highest level for half a decade.

The typical CEO of a top U.S. corporation earns more in a single workday than the average American takes home in an entire year. And there's no sign that the gap is getting narrower.

Bosses at Britain's biggest companies saw their pay rise by more than a third last year, with the average total package for a chief executive now nudging the £3m mark.

American workers have a very simple wish-list. They want to be paid more, they want better healthcare coverage and, above all, they want greater respect from their managers.

What's an employee worth? Should we measure it? Can we measure it? The answer is an emphatic 'yes' – and a rigorous analysis of what employees cost and the value they bring reveals huge financial losses or gains depending on how well they perform.