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Daily Archives: March 14, 2015

Private industry employers spend $31.32 per hr for employee compensation in December 2014

BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, March 11, 2015: “Private industry employers spent an average of $31.32 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries
averaged $21.72 per hour worked and accounted for 69.4 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.60 and accounted for the remaining 30.6 percent. Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $43.95 per hour worked in December 2014. Total employer  compensation costs for civilian workers, which include private industry and state and local government  workers, averaged $33.13 per hour worked in December 2014. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey,  measures employer costs for wages, salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and state and  local government workers. Private industry employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $2.16 per hour worked in December  2014.  Private industry costs for paid leave include vacation leave which averaged $1.13 per hour  worked, holiday leave which averaged 66 cents, sick leave which averaged 26 cents, and personal leave which averaged 12 cents in December 2014.  Paid leave benefit costs are often directly linked to wages;  therefore, higher paid occupations or industries will typically show higher estimates for this  compensation component. Private industry paid leave benefit costs were highest for management, professional, and related  occupations at $4.67 per hour worked, or 8.4 percent of total compensation, in December 2014. Costs were lowest among service occupations at 56 cents, or 3.9 percent of total compensation. (See table 5.)  Included in this amount were employer costs for vacations, holidays, sick leave, and personal leave.”

Strategic Management Guidance and Insider Trading Activities

Billings, Bruce K. and Buslepp, William L., Strategic Management Guidance and Insider Trading Activities (March 12, 2015). Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2577600 “We assess whether managers engage in ex ante strategic behavior when issuing earnings forecasts in a novel context. We posit that some managers provide inaccurate… Continue Reading

Senate Committee Approves Cyber Surveillance Bill

EPIC – “In a closed-door meeting, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence approved the Cyber Information Sharing Act of 2015. The bill would allow the government to obtain user information from private companies without judicial oversight. Companies would receive immunity for their disregard of existing privacy law. Senator Wyden, who opposed the measure, stated, “If… Continue Reading

Total energy subsidies decline since 2010, with changes in support across fuel types

“EIA has updated a report on federal subsidies to the energy industry, covering the 2013 fiscal year (FY). The most recent prior report reviewed subsidies in FY 2010, at or near the height of spending related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (more commonly known as the Recovery Act). Between FY 2010… Continue Reading

Guide to Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships

News release: “The global law firm Jones Day has launched a new website that comprehensively surveys and tracks changes in laws governing the legal recognition of same-sex relationships around the world. The site is available for use without charge. The site summarizes the status of legal recognition of same-sex relationships in all U.N. recognized countries… Continue Reading