The Culpepper eBulletin
2008 Articles & Surveys
December
2008
November 2008
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Strategies to Control
Compensation Costs in 2009
Results from an October 2008 Culpepper Pay Practices &
Policies Survey highlight strategies companies plan to use over the
next year to control the costs of base salaries, short-term incentives,
and long-term incentives. We also report hiring strategies companies
will use to manage compensation costs in 2009.
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Board of Directors
Pay Practices
A recent
Culpepper Pay Practices &
Policies Surveys provides data
on compensation practices for outside, non-employee directors. The
analysis contains data on board size and structure, cash compensation,
meeting fees, retainers, equity awards, stock ownership guidelines, and
benefits and perquisites for outside directors.
October 2008
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Salary Range Structure Practices
and Increase Budgets for 2008 and 2009
Results from Culpepper’s annual
survey of salary structure increase budgets reveals that
salary range structure increases are projected to increase
slightly in 2009. This year’s report also includes data on
salary structure design approaches, including how often
ranges are reviewed, number of salary structures companies
utilize, types of structures used, salary range spreads, and
midpoint-to-midpoint differentials.
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Enhance Your Total Rewards Plan with Voluntary Benefits
Voluntary benefit programs are a cost-effective way for
companies to enhance their total rewards plan and improve
their ability to attract and retain employees. Results from
a recent Culpepper Benefits Survey highlight a
variety of different voluntary benefits offered to
employees, including typical reasons why companies choose to
offer voluntary benefits.
September 2008
August 2008
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Salary Increase Budgets
for 2008 and 2009
Results from
Culpepper’s annual survey of base salary increases reveal that most
organizations plan to increase base salaries at a slightly lower rate in
2009. Despite high oil costs and inflation, few companies are
adjusting 2009 salary increase budgets higher to account for increases
in the costs of living. Most executives maintain an optimistic outlook
for 2009, with only two percent of companies planning to freeze salaries
for all employees.
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Long-Term Incentive and Equity-Based Compensation
Plans: Trend Continues Towards LTI Diversification
Stock options, once the king of long-term incentives, are
gradually losing their status as the predominant form of equity-based
compensation. Results from a recent
Culpepper Pay Practices &
Policies Surveys reveal that long-term incentive (LTI) plans for U.S. employees in
technology and life science companies continue to shift away from plans
using only stock options towards plans using a mix of multiple types of long-term
incentives.
June/July 2008
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Paid Time-Off Benefits
When designing a competitive and
comprehensive total rewards plan, it is important to consider
the value of paid time-off benefits to employees and the cost to
your organization. Results from a recent
Culpepper Benefits Survey show that an increasing number of U.S. and Canadian
employers are improving their PTO benefit programs by making
them more flexible and generous. Data is provided on types of
paid time-off models offered, new hire eligibility, and number of days
provided.
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Shift Differential Pay Practices
Organizations with continuous, 24/7/365 operations face the challenge of
recruiting and staffing employees to work beyond standard day shifts.
An effective practice used by many employers is paying employees a
premium to work undesirable shifts. Results from a recent
Culpepper Pay Practices & Policies
Survey highlight shift differential
practices including eligibility and amounts paid.
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Expatriate Compensation Practices
Organizations expanding their operations globally often send
employees on temporary assignments to other countries to form strategic
alliances, market products and services, and start new ventures. A
variety of factors can impact the total cost of supporting international
assignees and how their pay plans are designed. Results from a recent
Culpepper Pay Practices & Policies
Survey highlight allowances,
special reimbursements, and premiums used to compensate expatriate
employees for leaving their local country to work abroad.
April 2008
March 2008
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Enhance Your Total Rewards Plan with
Non-Cash Awards
Cash is
king for most compensation plans. However, many organizations
use non-cash awards, incentives, and recognition programs to
supplement cash compensation and improve their total rewards
programs. Results from
a recent
Culpepper Pay Practices & Policies
Survey
highlight a variety of
different non-cash awards used by
technology and life science companies
to recognize and reward employees for service, achievements, and
performance.
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Executive Perks and Fringe Benefits
Special perks and fringe benefits have
long been used to attract, reward, and improve the productivity of
executives.
Results from a recent
Culpepper Pay Practices & Policies
Survey
highlights
perquisites
technology and life science companies provide to their executives.
February 2008
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HR Pay Varies by
Specialization and Job Level
Technology and life science organizations are increasingly recognizing
the value of human resources and its strategic role in helping recruit,
develop, and reward talent. In turn, salaries and the opportunity to
earn incentives have increased for HR professionals. Cash compensation
for human resource positions varies considerably by specialization and
job level.
January 2008
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On-Call Pay Premiums and Expenses for Technical Employees
According to a Culpepper Pay Practices & Policies
Survey,
seventy percent of
IT, technology, and life science organizations provide additional
compensation to technical
employees who remain on-call. This report includes details on pay premiums
and practices for providing mobile devices and wireless telecom service
plans to technical staff on-call.
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Telecommuting and Flexible Work Arrangements
Telecommuting and flexible work arrangements are increasingly being used
by
IT, technology, and life science organizations
to attract and retain employees.
This report provides results from a
Culpepper Benefits Survey on
practices and policies for telecommuting and flexible work programs.
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Benefits for Part-Time Employees
We report results from a
Culpepper Benefits Survey
on
benefits offered to part-time employees. Eighty-three percent of U.S.
technology and life science companies provide benefits to part-time
employees. Paid holidays and retirement plans top the list.
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