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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – More teeth have been added to the ongoing global efforts to curb excessive executive compensation and bonuses. Amid plans by European Union regulators to curb bankers’ bonuses, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Tuesday new rules that grant stockholders a say on company officials’ salaries, bonuses and retirement packages.

On a 3-2 vote, SEC commissioners allowed shareholders of publicly traded firms to vote at least once a year on executive compensation. However, the vote is non-binding.

Republican commissioners Kathleen Casey and Troy Paredes cast the dissenting votes on the ground that the changes would be too costly for smaller firms.

The new rules, however, won’t be in effect until 2013. It will apply only to companies where stockholders hold less than $75 million of shares. SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said the two-year deferral is sufficient time to ensure the new rules would not unduly burden smaller companies.

The new rules are a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, the regulatory overhaul enacted in July as a response to the 2008 credit crisis. Fat paychecks and compensation packages were blamed for the risky trading that lead to the collapse of major American financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers Holdings and Bear Stearns.

Law experts said that although the shareholders’ vote is non-binding, rejection by investors of executive pay would be big news and be embarrassing to a company’s board, which could prompt the directors to respond to stockholders’ opinion.

The SEC vote came a week after Wall Street paid millions of bankers their 2010 bonuses, even as the rest of the nation copes with the harder times caused by the global financial crisis.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Wall Street bonuses can be a point of contention among not only the haves but the have-nots. Bonus levels for many dropped and only half report satisfaction with their amounts.

While many Americans consider bonuses a rare luxury and struggle to put food on the table and pay bills Wall Street mega earners some are reporting their bonuses dropped five percent each year the last two years. The still astronomical bonuses that can be he as high as $5 million dollars remain scrutinized by regulators, governments and banks across the globe.

For some switching employers had an either positive or negative reflection on their bonus amount. 15 percent of respondents claim switching caused their bonus to decrease while 12 percent found they took home more money. Another eight percent took home no bonus at all based on the eFinancialCareers.com survey.

The survey was sent to 1,009 people and respondents included financial firm employees who knew their bonus amount.

Despite the drop in cash individual bonuses still demonstrate Wall Street’s history of pay-for-performance remains intact.

The “average” bonus numbers on Wall Street for someone working at Goldman Sachs is reported to be around $430,000. Additionally first time bonuses also range in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The financial reports of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s reflect the investment banks spent an average of $330,212 on salaries, bonuses and benefits for each of their 124,556 workers in 2010.

A statement by eFinancialCareers state financial professionals specializing in investment banking, foreign exchange, derivatives, research and private equity are noted to reap the largest bonuses. Fund management, risk management and commodities bonuses were on average lower by comparison.

Across the globe the average bonuses for Asia-based financial markets professionals showed the largest gains marking an increase of 22 percent. Comparatively, average bonuses in the U.K. rose five percent.

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Pembroke Pines, FL, United States (AHN) – The United States Postal Service is set to reduce the number of its offices by 2,000 this year as the agency can no longer afford to operate them.

USPS spokeswoman Debbie Fetterly on Monday cited falling revenues as the reason for the planned closure of the 2,000 offices nationwide. She admitted that the postal service is losing out to the Internet as people prefer e-mail more than the traditional mail.

The USPS funds its operation through earnings from stamps sale and other postal services.

Most of the postal offices to be closed are in the rural areas and have low volumes of mails handled, according to Fetterly. However, she did not identify the sites saying these will have to be determined through 57 steps that will take from six months to a year to complete.

Factors to be considered in closing a post office include cost of operation, revenue and proximity to stores and gas stations that offer postal services.

The USPS initially planned to close 3,000 offices nationwide.

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Amman, Jordan (TML) – Jordanian authorities have put security forces and police on red alert during the past two weeks as concern that Tunisia’s unemployment revolt which toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali could ignite an already angry Jordanian public.

The army, gendarmerie and other police units have been banned from leaving their bases as concern grows that ripples of Tunisia’s political earthquake could reach the small kingdom.

A demonstration last Friday organized by the opposition to call for economic and political reform was the latest in a spate of protests around the cash-strapped kingdom.

Nearly 4,000 people showed up in an event dubbed “The Day of Rage” to vent their anger at Prime Minister Samir Refai, whom many accuse of being out of touch and imposing economic policies that impose intolerable burdens on ordinary people.

A key U.S. ally in the heart of the Middle East, Jordan is more strategically situated than Tunisia since the kingdom borders Israel, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. But in many other respects, the Jordan and Tunisia have much in common. Both have sought to build progressive and stable societies based on the rule of law, secularism, women’s’ rights and rising standards of living.

But neither has ever developed a full-fledged democracy, nor have they been able to cope with joblessness, poverty and inequality – all factors that brought down Ben Ali earlier this month. Joblessness in Tunisia is about 13% and the rate among young people is considerably higher.

“The economy in Jordan has certain contradictions. It suffers from unemployment of 14% — 150,000 who are people looking for jobs,” Jawwad Anani, an economist who served as royal court chief and finance minister for the late King Hussein, told The Media Line. “We need a strategy, a well-thought-out strategy that everybody believes in and can take this society to a higher level.”

Even before the situation in Tunisia exploded five weeks ago, Jordan was experiencing a wave of unrest amid growing tension between the country’s Bedouin tribes and its urban Palestinian population. But economic problems are looming as an increasingly important factor as global food prices rise.

Under guidance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jordan’s government two years ago lifted subsidies on fuel and raised taxes to generate badly needed income that could help trim a yawning budget deficit of $2 billion. Economists estimate the government generates nearly 600 million Jordanian dinars ($900 million) in profits annually from selling fuel to its own citizens.

Meanwhile, many of the jobs that the economy is creating are going to expatriate guest workers. Anani estimated that about 750,000 jobs are filled by non-Jordanians, including a half million Egyptians and smaller numbers from Syria and Iraq.

For now, the situation in the conservative kingdom remains under control. There have been no violent confrontations between police and protestors. The government has embarked on a flurry of activities aimed at absorbing the anger of the public and the opposition.

The government last week approved a $225 million package to contain rising commodity prices and lower some fuel prices, including $28 million to subsidize prices of basic food items sold in state-run supermarkets. The government also promised to create jobs in the army and security forces to appease disenchanted Bedouin tribes, which make up the majority of the army and security forces and are the firmest backers of the royal family.

Some of the government’s most experienced politicians, including Interior Minister Saad Hayel Srour, Parliamentary Speaker Faisal Fayez and government spokesman Ayman Safadi, have opened up communications channels to opposition leaders to calm the atmosphere. But opposition leaders have greeted the campaign with skepticism.

“They have been a great many meetings with the minister of interior and the speaker of parliament, but what we want is ongoing dialogue and a genuine desire of change,” MP Ablah Abu Elbeh, who is also secretary-general of the leftist Hashed Party, told The Media Line.

The Day of Rage protestors called for the prime minister to step down. Hamzeh Mansour, secretary-general of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, called on Abdullah to dismiss the government and dissolve what he called an inept parliament.

Even in parliament, which recently gave the government a confidence vote of 111 out of 120, lawmakers last week lashed out at the government for its fuel-pricing policies. But lawmaker Jameel Nemri told The Media Line that changing the government wouldn’t solve the problem.

“It’s meaningless to call on the government to be dismissed. This will just lead to musical chairs game among influential parties in the kingdom. The core issue of helping the poor stand on their feet is what should be addressed, not who is a prime minister,” said Nemri.

Anani, the economist, warned that the kingdom could be facing uncertain future if the government continues to resort to temporary measures, like the make-work schemes it announced for Bedouin tribesmen.

“If we continue to allow the status quo to prevail, we will lose our ability to even develop crash programs to take care of emergency in difficult situations,” he said. “Putting small fires is not going to work very well.”

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Friday was heading to Schenectady, NY, to visit General Electric’s downtown plant where he was expected to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO and chairman of GE, as chair of the new President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

The council is set to replace the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, or PERAB, whose mandate expires Feb. 6, after its navigator, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, recently announced his decision to step down.

Air Force One carrying Obama and his entourage is scheduled to land at 12:10 p.m. and Obama is expected to speak at the GE plant shortly after 1 p.m. The presidential team leaves around 2 p.m.

With a brief plant tour at GE, Obama would complete his second visit to the Capital Region since his 2008 election. Obama had spoken about technology during a 2009 visit to Hudson Valley Community College.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – First time jobless claims fell by a modest 37,000 to 404,000 for the week ending Jan. 15, according figures released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

That drop in initial claims for unemployment compensation payments was slightly better than analysts expected and continues a trend downward in new unemployment claims.

However, not every worker who loses a job is covered by jobless benefits. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained at 3.1 percent for the week ending Jan. 8, the latest week such data is available, according to the DOL.

Observers say that the number of new jobless claims must fall below 400,000 and stay there before there will be much improvement in the jobs picture. Unemployment remains at 9.8 percent.

The economy is still not creating enough jobs to provide employment for the 120,000 to 200,000 new workers who enter the U.S. labor force every month. Officials say that it could take 10 years to create enough jobs to absorb the people who have lost their job since the beginning of the recession.

Here are some other unemployment facts from the DOL for the latest weeks available:

• The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Jan. 8 were in New York (+24,363), California (+17,536), North Carolina (+16,873), Texas (+13,828), and Illinois (+11,211), while the largest decreases were in Oregon (-9,579), Iowa (-3,122), Michigan (-3,101), Wisconsin (-2,029) and Kentucky (-1,006).
• The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Jan. 1 were in Alaska (7.2 percent), Puerto Rico (6.1 percent), Idaho (5.6 percent), Oregon (5.6 percent), Wisconsin (5.6 percent), Pennsylvania (5.4 percent), Montana (5.1 percent), Connecticut (5.0 percent), Rhode Island (4.9 percent), Illinois (4.7 percent) and New Jersey (4.7 percent).
• Extended unemployment compensation benefits for the week ending Jan. 1 were still available in 35 states and the District of Columbia, which was unchanged from the week before. Those states were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Chicago, IL, United States (AHN) – A new CareerBuilder survey finds that nearly three-quarters of workers–72 percent–typically go to work when they are sick. Workplace pressures and fears of not being present could be the main culprit in causing sick employees to show up to work.

More than half, or 55 percent, of survey respondents said they feel guilty if they call in sick.

With so many workers heading to work ill, they are likely passing their germs on to others. Some 53 percent of workers said they have gotten sick from a co-worker who came to the office sick, while 12 percent said they picked up a bug from someone who was sick on public transportation going to or from work.

Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, said, “Even if workers feel pressure to be at the office, they should talk to their managers about staying home if they are sick, or ask about other options such as working remotely. Most employers are flexible and understand that employees are more productive if they are feeling their best.”

When workers were asked how they attempt to avoid germs, they said:

• I wash my hands often – 78 percent

• I carry hand sanitizer with me and use it often – 32 percent

• I regularly clean my keyboard, phone, desk, etc. – 30 percent

• I avoid shaking hands with people – 15 percent

• I skip meetings where I know people are sick – 3 percent

Workers who feel they absolutely must come into the office sick may want to work in a conference room or away from others so they don’t spread their sickness.

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Brussels, Belgium (AHN) – The European Union’s bank oversight official appealed Tuesday for banks to show restraint on pay and empathize with the rest of the global community, which is tightening its belt.

Commissioner Michel Barnier said at the close of the two-day EU finance ministers’ meeting that many people are having a difficult time because of austerity measures put in place by different governments. He advised the ministers to remind banks that they are part of the society and the economy.

The minister did not specifically tackle bank pay and bonuses, which are hot topics in many European countries because a number of banks paying the bonuses were bailed out by taxpayers’ money.

Barnier also sought a more stringent bank stress test, but supported calls for liquidity measures to be made as a parallel exercise, not part of the mainstream test. However, the proposal may mean that the results of the more stringent bank stress test would not be made public.

The finance ministers, however, were divided on the issue of a larger bailout fund for debt-challenged eurozone nations. While many supported the idea, Germany said the matter should not be rushed and pushed for waiting until March to go ahead with a wider package of changes.

The European Financial Stability Facility was set up in 2010 after Greece was bailed out last year. Eurozone members could borrow up to $591.4 billion (EUR 440 billion), but to maintain good credit rating, financially challenged members must limit their borrowing to $336 billion (EUR 250 billion).

The pressure to increase the size of the EPSF, however, has somewhat eased after Spain, Portugal and Italy held successful bond auctions last week. European Central Bank Chief Jean-Claude Trichet and Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders supported hiking the size of the fund.

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Orlando, FL, United States (AHN) – Two Hard Rock employees who worked in the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios in Orlando have filed a class action lawsuit for the company’s alleged failure to pay minimum wages that were required under Florida law.

The Orlando Hard Rock Cafe is the largest Hard Rock Cafe in the world.

The complaint alleges that Hard Rock’s servers and bartenders were paid less than minimum wage during the period Jan. 14, 2006, until approximately July 2009. The complaint charges that Hard Rock attempted to pay the servers and bartenders less than minimum wages while taking a tip credit that is allowable under Florida and federal law only when the servers and bartenders are allowed to retain all of their tips or where a legal tip pooling arrangement is instituted among employees “who customarily and regularly receive tips.”

The complaint alleges that servers and bartenders improperly shared their tips with individuals who were employed as expediters. Expediters at the Orlando Hard Rock Cafe are not customarily and regularly tipped employees; instead, they are kitchen employees who are responsible for ensuring food is prepared and garnished properly.

According to lawyers for the employees, Hard Rock was not entitled to the tip credit because servers and bartenders did not retain all their tips and paid a portion of their tips to expediters.

Hillary Schwab, Lichten & Liss-Riordan, P.C., Boston, Massachusetts, the firm handling the suit, said, “In this economy, servers and bartenders need all the tips they can get. Hard Rock should have known that a tip sharing arrangement that included kitchen staff violated Florida and federal law.”

The Florida Constitution states “[a]ll working Floridians are entitled to be paid a minimum wage that is sufficient to provide a decent and healthy life for them and their families.”

Florida’s minimum wage provision has garnered headlines recently because the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation was sued for allegedly improperly calculating the minimum wage under Florida law.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Research by Statistics Canada found that university-educated immigrants in the U.S. earn more than their counterparts in Canada.

New and university degree holder Canadian immigrants earned 50 percent less than native-born Canadians, while the pay gap between U.S. born worker and the educated migrant was only 30 percent.

The study examined migrants who arrived between 1980 to 2005. Prior to the research period covered, the pay gap of the university-educated migrants in both North American countries against native-born workers was more or less the same.

StatsCan, however, could not pinpoint the reason behind the growing gap. Among the theories is that an oversupply of university degree holders among Canadian migrants. In 1980, only 20 percent of new arrivals have degrees, while by 2005, the figure had risen to 55 percent.

Another reason posited is that the new Canadian migrants were mostly Asians, instead of Europeans, so 80 percent of them did not speak English or French at home, as opposed to 50 percent only in the 1970s.

One more worrying finding is that after more than a decade of working in Canada, the migrants’ wage gap with native-born workers persisted and even worsened to 30 percent in the 1990s from 10 percent in the 1960s. In comparison, the wage gap in the U.S. remained at 12 percent.

But despite the wage advantage among U.S. immigrants, majority of them are still considered lower-paid workers who like the average American struggle to pay their bills and provide for even basic necessities.

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