Salary Resources Blog

Say on Pay - ERI Economic Research Institute

2010-11-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Say on Pay - ERI Economic Research Institute...

On October 18th, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed rules
that would allow shareholders to cast advisory votes on executive compensation in public companies subject to the federal proxy rules. If the proposed rules are enacted, regulated companies will be required to provide shareholders with an advisory vote on executive compensation and compensation arrangements related to merger transactions (golden parachutes). Institutional investors would be required to report their votes on executive compensation and golden parachute arrangements
at least annually.

The proposed rules implement the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires that the advisory votes must take place at least once every three years beginning with the first annual shareholders’ meeting held after January 21, 2011. The companies would also be required to let shareholders cast a non-binding vote on whether the advisory votes would take place annually, every other year or every three years. The proposed rules also require additional disclosure of golden parachute arrangements with executive officers in connection with merger transactions, going-private transactions and third-party tender offers. Companies would be required to provide an advisory vote to approve some of these golden parachute arrangements.

Read FULL Story...

SalaryExpert.com - Salary and Cost of Living Syndication Center

2010-10-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert.com - Salary and Cost of Living Syndication Center...

If you're looking to generate more traffic for your site, increase brand visibility or communicate with your readers more effectively, adding SalaryExpert syndicated content can play a major role in growing and developing your online properties. We offer a variety of interactive content modules that can be easily tailored and added to your site.

Calculators
Allow your vistors to quickly perform a number of job, salary and cost of living related calculations without leaving your site.

Graphs & Charts

Embed customized graphs and charts based on job, salary, and cost of living research data directly into your website.

Learn more now!

Nonprofits Control Increases in Health Care Premiums with Cost Shifting to Employees

2010-07-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

While nonprofits overall held organization-paid health care premium increases to single digits at the beginning of 2010, their employees were paying more for their coverage, with higher premium requirements, higher annual deductibles, higher co-payments, and even less extensive coverage.

A new report by Abbott, Langer Association Surveys, Inc., entitled 2010 Benefits in Nonprofit Organizations, Tenth Edition, provides current data on health plan costs and benefit practices in nonprofit organizations that can be used to help evaluate benefit program design strategies. Released July 1, 2010, it covers specific types of benefits offered January 1, 2010, by a sample of 116 nonprofit organizations of varied sizes with a total of over 21,000 employees. Over half of the responding organizations had fewer than 50 employees; 17 percent had 50 to 99, and 22 percent had 100 to 499; the remaining 8 percent employed 500 or more. One hundred eighty-one medical plans covering over 15,000 nonprofit employees across the United States were reviewed, along with 115 dental plans.

Details on medical, vision, dental, disability, and life insurance, along with retirement plans, are presented, as well as information on paid leave and executive perquisites.

The 2010 findings include:

57% of respondents offering medical benefits have a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan as the primary medical plan.
- The average employee cost for employee-only coverage is $76 per month.
- The average employer cost for employee-only coverage is $418 per month – 85% of the total premium cost.
- Average cost of the premium went up 14% for employees and dropped by 2% for employers from 2009 to 2010.
Employers paid an average of 64% of the PPO premium for family coverage in 2010 – they paid 69% of the cost in 2009.
57% of respondents offered provisions to opt out of medical coverage and 35% provided some reimbursement for doing so;
While 96% offer a retirement plan, only 14% are defined benefit plans; the most common type is a 403(b) plan.
While 76% offer traditional leave plans typically consisting of sick days, vacation, bereavement leave, personal leave, and floating holidays, the remaining 24% combine all or part of paid leave into a pool (Paid Time Off or PTO plans), granting an average of nearly 23 days of paid leave after one year of employment; the average granted at 10 years of service is 30.6days.
87% offer dental plans, with Dental PPOs as the most common type of plan.
Basic life insurance is provided by 88% of respondents and 75% offer a long-term disability plan.

Copies of the report are available for $489 at www.abbott-langer.com.

A companion Abbott, Langer Association Surveys, Inc., report, the 2010 Health Care Benefits Benchmarking Survey, compares health care plans, medical insurance, dental insurance, and vision insurance offered by nonprofit organizations, government entities, privately owned for-profit, and publicly owned for-profit organizations. Published in April 2010, it is also available for purchase at www.abbott-langer.com.

About Abbott, Langer Association Surveys:

Since 1967, Abbott, Langer has provided a wide variety of compensation and benefit survey reports, with a particular focus on the nonprofit and manufacturing sectors. Now operating under license with ERI Economic Research Institute (www.erieri.com), Abbott, Langer uses ERI's patented online survey capabilities to produce reports used by thousands of customers for salary and benefit planning and other HR management decision-making. Users are diverse organizations that vary in size from extremely small to over $4 billion in annual sales volume, and include firms that operate locally, regionally, nationally, and even internationally. Please call 877-210-6563 or visit www.abbott-langer.com for more information and a complete list of available surveys.

Executive Pay at Lowest Levels since 2005, According to ERI Economic Research Institute

2010-02-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

As Seen on PRLog.org...

A new study by the Economic Research Institute shows that the average total compensation of the highest-paid executives in U.S. publicly help companies dropped by 11.8 percent from February 2009 to February 2010 — the lowest point since the end of 2005.

ERI said the drop in its Total Compensation Index was driven by a 25.8 percent decrease in cash bonus and non-equity incentives — typically based on meeting performance goals — and a 12.8 percent drop in restricted stock awards.

Among ERI’s findings:

Executive salaries dropped 2.9 percent, from $1.25 million in February 2009 to $1.22 million in 2010.
Bonus and non-equity incentives fell 25.8 percent, from $4.28 million in 2009 to $3.18 million in 2010.
Restricted stock awards fell 12.8 percent, from $5.02 million in February 2009 to $4.37 million in February 2010.
Stock options fell 1.2 percent, from $4.38 million in 2009 to $4.33 million in 2010.
All other compensation fell 35 percent, from $1.15 million in 2009 to $753,142 in 2010.

Redmond, Wash.-based Economic Research Institute provides salary survey and cost-of-living research reports and software to more than15,000 organizations worldwide.

Learn More: http://www.erieri.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Home.demo

ERI Economic Research Institute was founded in 1987 to provide compensation, benefits, and Human Resource research for private and public organizations in the form of published reports and software database products.

Number of Jobs in U.S. Projected to Grow, but Where Is Yours? - ERI Economic Research Institute

2009-12-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

Number of Jobs in U.S. Projected to Grow, but Where Is Yours?

Redmond, WA – The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported last week that total employment is projected to increase by 10 percent from 2008 to 2018. Even though the Baby Boomers are working longer and delaying retirement, they can’t hold off forever – jobs created when current incumbents need to be replaced are projected to be more than double the number of openings due to economic growth in this 10-year period.

Jobs continue to shift from the goods-producing sector of the economy to services, the source of 96 percent of the increase in total employment. The two industries expected to have the largest employment growth are professional and business services (4.2 million) and health care and social assistance (4.0 million).

While construction employment is projected to increase slightly, manufacturing and mining jobs will drop. At the end of the ten years, the goods-producing sector is expected to account for only about 13 percent of jobs.

However, if you are one of the well over 15 million Americans out of work or one of the additional 9 million involuntarily working part time, you may be looking for some guidance on where to find employment right now.

The top ten occupational groups with the largest number of job openings include cashiers, retail salespersons, restaurant wait staff, customer service representatives, registered nurses, food preparation workers, general office clerks, laborers, elementary school teachers, and stock clerks. View BLS’ entire list of 30 at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t07.htm.

But the key to finding employment is matching your skills to a specific job in your geographic area. ERI Economic Research Institute is offering some free help, giving job-seekers access to a software program often used by Human Resources professionals to match job applicant abilities and interests to the requirements for actual jobs. You can create a list of organizations that employ people in the jobs you select, along with links to online job postings, all within your commuting range.

ERI’s founding director Dr. David Thomsen says, “Job search is all about minimizing rejection. ERI's software identifies jobs that fit and local employers posting openings for these jobs, while providing contact names, emails, addresses, and phone numbers. Because we want to increase the odds of a successful job search in these tough times, ERI is making this program available at no cost.”

Download the free Job Search version of ERI’s Occupational Assessor at:
http://www.erieri.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=LG.SingleDemo&ID=eDOT&source=salarySurveys to assist you in these tasks:

Identify your education, achievements, skills, address, and any physical and/or mental limitations;
Review the jobs found nationally or locally for which you qualify;
Generate a list of employers within commuting radius that are most likely to have the positions that match your qualifications; and
Review a list of job board postings by matched employer, area, and/or industry to see if any of these employers have a job available now.

Enhanced versions of the software for consultants and vocational experts are also available for purchase at: http://www.erieri.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=EDOT.Main.

About ERI Economic Research Institute:
ERI Economic Research Institute, Inc. is a leader in compensation and job content information. With data gathered from online surveys and an extensive survey library, ERI’s staff of 60 researchers provides subscribers with assessments of salaries, relocation cost, cost-of-living comparisons, and executive compensation. ERI’s compensation databases contain 20 years of collected data, covering the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries throughout Europe. ERI subscribers include the American Red Cross, Alaska Airlines, Monster Worldwide, Aon Consulting, Honda, Amtrak, Adidas America, Inc., IRS, CIA, and United Nations. ERI’s products include the Salary Assessor®, Geographic Assessor®, Relocation Assessor®, Executive Compensation Assessor®, Nonprofit Comparables Assessor™, and Occupational Assessor™ (eDOT®) software. For more information about ERI and its products, visit http://www.erieri.com.

Five Myths about Charitable Giving to Know before You Give! - ERI Economic Research Institute

2009-12-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

Five Myths about Charitable Giving to Know before You Give from ERI Economic Research Institute...

#1 – Most charitable donations go to help the poor.

In 2008, total charitable giving in the US was estimated at about $308 billion, actually down almost 6% from 2007, according to Giving USA. Of this total, only 9% went to Human Services charities. These are the charities that have been the first to report increasing needs for services and a slower growth in contributions in hard economic times.

The biggest proportion of 2008 contributions – 35% -- went to religious organizations. The second highest sector to receive contributions was education, at 13% of the total.

So the organizations that you most likely think of as charities are really getting only a small portion of charitable donations.

#2 – Most charities get grants from foundations.

Individuals contributed 75% of the US total giving in 2008. Most charities receive none or only a small proportion of their revenues from foundation and corporations. Looking at the national total of charitable giving, foundations gave 13% and corporations only 5%. Donations from individuals are the major source of revenue for most charities.

#3 – When tax time comes, I can deduct my donations.

Maybe. First, the contribution must be to an organization that has been given tax exempt status under Internal Revenue Code 501 (C )(3). Before taking that deduction, the IRS wants you to verify that status. ERI Economic Research Institute makes the basic information on IRS status and also copies of the Form 990, the information form filed annually by larger nonprofits, available at www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com.

Additionally, you have to itemize your deductions, rather than take the standard deduction on your return. Only about 30% of US taxpayers decide to itemize their deductions. There are different rules if you are donating something other than cash as well as limits on how much of your income you can donate and take a deduction. Plus you may be required to keep records. Check out everything you need to know in IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, available at www.irs.gov.

#4 – I should only give to charities that say all my money will be used for programs and services.

Think about it -- how will the charity locate the people it is trying to serve? Does the organization have an office, staff, managers, computers, telephones, etc.? Every organization has overhead and requires some general support to be able to operate. When a charity guarantees that all money will go to the needy recipients, the next question should be who is paying for necessary overhead? Obviously, you may not want to support huge executive salaries and plush offices, but some expenditures are clearly needed. Again, check out what the organization reported in various expense categories and for its programs and services on its Form 990, available at www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com.

#5 – There are so many good causes that I should give donations to as many as possible, even though the amounts will be small.

There are over a million charities in the US and the number grows every year. It is also hard to distinguish which ones are the best, based on their names, professionally-designed mailers, attention-grabbing pictures, and aggressive phone solicitors. Before you give your credit card number to a telemarketer or put a check in the mail in response to a letter, check the Form 990 for the most accurate portrait of the organization.

Making a small donation means that the organization will be spending a large proportion of it processing the gift. A more effective use of your money is to carefully select five to ten charities and make larger contributions. Then you will be able to have a bigger impact on the organization and also keep track of its progress and accomplishments. This approach should also cut down on the additional solicitations you will receive during the year!

Then Choose the Right Charities

You work hard for your money – before making charitable donations, make sure the money you donate to charities is also working hard. Here are some tips to help you make the right choice on the charities to support:

• Have a personal connection. Give to an organization that you know and trust, or where someone you trust works or volunteers or has used a service or participated in an activity.

• Review the Form 990. Larger charities have to file an annual information return called IRS Form 990. You can find all the forms filed since 2000 at www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com. Although the form looks daunting (It is a tax form!), you can easily review the lines that report total revenue (How big is the organization?), net assets (Is there money in the bank?), money spent on fundraising (Is it a high proportion of the money from direct public support?), description of activities, and compensation of the top-paid people.

• Check the charity’s website. The address for the website can be found on the first page of Form 990 and most charities have them these days. Does the information on the website match the information on the Form 990? Does it match the information that you have been told by the fundraiser that called or the letter you received?

• Visit the charity watchdog groups. There are several groups that rate charities – see Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator,org), the BBB Alliance for Wiser Giving (www.give.org) or the American Institute of Philanthropy (www.charitywatch.org). Not all charities are rated and the watchdogs use different criteria, but what they say may help you interpret the Form 990 and inform your giving decisions.

About ERI
ERI Economic Research Institute is a leader in compensation and performance metric information. Based in Redmond, Washington, ERI provides salary survey and cost-of-living research reports and software to over 10,000 worldwide organizations. With information gathered from online surveys and an extensive survey library, ERI provides subscribers with assessments on salary, relocation, the cost of living, and executive compensation. ERI's data covers the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and numerous countries in the European Union.. Its industry-leading Executive Compensation Assessor® software reports executive cash compensation based on information from private executive pay surveys, as well as publicly reported information for 6,500 US, 1,150 Canadian, and 2,300 UK and EU publicly traded organizations. For analysis of tax-exempt organizations' executive pay, see ERI's Nonprofit Comparables Assessor™ software representing 19,000,000 measures derived from over 800,000 organizations.

Visit www.erieri.com to learn more about ERI and to review its other talent management and compensation indices.

Ailing States Retirees May Want to Avoid - As Seen in U.S. News

2009-11-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

By Philip Moeller, As Seen in U.S. News...

If you're nearing retirement or are considering relocating to a different state any time in the next several years, you need to do some careful thinking about how the recession and housing downturn have affected the finances

of different states. The National Governors Association says it will take a decade for states to recover. Many states have had little choice but to raise taxes and fees in the teeth of the recession, and further increases are likely. Even so, public services will decrease, especially after one-time funds from the federal stimulus program stop flowing to the states.

These financial dilemmas will affect the quality of residents' lives, and could change your thinking about the place you'd like to spend your retirement years.

The Pew Center for the States recently released a study listing what it judged to be the country's 10 most imperiled states:

California
Arizona
Rhode Island
Michigan
Oregon
Nevada
Florida
New Jersey
Illinois
Wisconsin

California is the unfortunate poster child for states that have been effectively bankrupted during the past few years. Pew ranked all 50 states using six factors that it said had played major roles in California's spiraling financial decline: 1) high mortgage foreclosure rates; 2) worsening unemployment; 3) loss of state revenues; 4) the percentage size of the state's budget shortfall; 5) a legislative supermajority requirement that makes it hard to enact tax and budget cuts, and 6) a Pew ranking of how poorly each state managed its money. California had the high score of 30—a bad thing in this ranking—and scores in the other nine states ranged from 28 in Arizona down to 22 in Wisconsin. Pew noted, however, that many other states also were hurting and, in fact, the national average state score was 17.

[See Best Places to Retire.]

While Pew focused on the more troubled states, it's worth noting the 10 states that had the lowest, or best, scores on its ranking system:

Wyoming (6)
Iowa (7)
Nebraska (7)
Montana (9)
North Dakota (9)
Texas (9)
Pennsylvania (11)
Utah (11)
South Dakota (12)
West Virginia (12)

Of these states, Wyoming, Texas, and South Dakota have no state income tax. RetirementLiving.com has a detailed look at the various taxes levied by each state. To help provide a rough guide of how far your dollars will go in other places, SalaryExpert.com has a free set of city cost-of-living reports that include comparisons with other cities.

There are, of course, many other reasons why a location might or might not be attractive. But it can't hurt to see which places might be most friendly to your finances.

Analyzing and Using Salary Survey Data Webinar - ERI Distance Learning Center

2009-11-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

ERI Distance Learning Center Presents...

Analyzing and Using Salary Survey Data Webinar
Nov 17, 2009, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM (Pacific)

This introductory webinar will discuss practical guidelines that may be used for identifying, selecting, analyzing, and using market data to complete essential tasks in determining external competitiveness and establishing an effective market-based pay program. The importance of communicating the compensation program effectively will also be discussed, and practical tips will be provided to assist you in "getting the message" to your employees so that they may understand and, ultimately, buy into the program. Full description

Click Here to Sign Up

Learning Objectives:

• Define your organization's compensation philosophy and market pricing objectives

• Identify and select salary survey sources

• Understand the importance of matching benchmark jobs

• Interpret salary survey data

• Determine market rates and the competitiveness of current pay

• Develop salary ranges

• Adjust or update a pay structure

• Communicate the compensation plan

Attendees Receive:

Salary Assessor® Compensation Software: You will receive a free demo edition of ERI's Salary Assessor software, which provides the most extensive analysis of competitive rates in existence.

Webinar PowerPoint Presentation: Interested attendees may save the PowerPoint presentation from this webinar for use in staff training.

CBP/CCP/GRP/WLCP: This webinar qualifies for recertification credit for the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP®), Certified Benefits Professional ® (CBP) and Global Remuneration Professional (GRP®) and Work-Life Certified Professional (WLCP®) designations granted by WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals. For more information on recertification, visit the WorldatWork Society website at www.worldatworksociety.org.

JCA: Earn 1.5 hours of JCA credit toward your Job and Compensation Analyst credential.

Presenter:

Debbie Lambert, CCP, CBP, GRP

Debbie is Managing Director for ERI Salary Surveys and Abbott, Langer Association Surveys. With more than 25 years of experience in compensation and benefits consulting, she has designed and implemented a wide range of compensation programs in industries including transportation, energy, managed care services, health care, and the public sector. Debbie pioneered the field of compensation by being the first compensation professional at organizations such as FedEx, Electronic Data Systems, and Kemper National Services. Experienced in all aspects of compensation and benefits design, Ms. Lambert holds the WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals' Certified Compensation Professional, Certified Benefits Professional, and Global Remuneration Professional credentials. Prior to joining ERI, Debbie was an independent compensation and benefits consultant and was previously employed as the Senior Compensation Consultant/Manager for Harrah's Entertainment. She has been a member of the SHRM Consultants Forum and has served on the boards of the South Florida Compensation & Benefits Association and the Mid-South Compensation Association. Ms. Lambert holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Memphis.

Click Here to Sign Up

To contact the ERI Distance Learning Center, please email contact.dlc@erieri.com or call 800-627-3697.

The ERI Distance Learning Center is the online training website for ERI Economic Research Institute. Since 1987, ERI has provided salary survey and cost-of-living information to thousands of compensation professionals worldwide.

Online HR Courses
Need more recertification credits?

55 online courses available.

ERI Distance Learning Center

8575 164th Ave NE, Suite 100

Redmond, WA 98052

USA

Salary Increases and Employing Staff in 2010 from ERI Economic Research Institute

2009-09-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

Salary Increases in 2010
Association and consulting firms have released their 2010 salary increase surveys. To summarize, they forecasted 3.75% in 2009,believe 1.85% occurred, and now knowledgeably forecast 2.65% for 2010! ERI, in contrast, has suspended its Salary Increase Survey for 2010, substituting 128 industry specific blog-like websites, plus 128unique ERI Salary Surveys mirroring that number. Our mid-year 2009survey input found over one-half of our subscribers not yet planning for 2010 or, better put, not considering competitive pressures to be the criteria for 2010 decisions; rather, they are finding the unique economic circumstances of their own entities to be determinative.

Employing Staff in 2010
Employers and the media are beginning to talk about an increase in staffing, including new comp analysts. Many professionals can duplicate ERI’s research efforts – required for a Daubert Challenge – given enough time, effort, and expense. But that’s the point! We save you time, effort, and expense. Also, if you bring on new analysts, don’t forget ERI’s Distance Learning Center at www.eridlc.com; it was designed to train new comp staff.

Learn more at: ERI Economic Research Institute

Economic Outlook for 2010 from ERI Economic Research Institute

2009-09-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

ERI’s (Economic Research Institute) view is that the US is at the bottom of an L-shaped recovery and, when job losses stop, a sustainable, not “dig a hole, fill a hole,” slow economic recovery will occur under a heavy social burden.

SSA DI (early retirement) rolls are above 10% of the working age populace (only 12,000/year return to work); unemployment is also above 10%; welfare payment values (including health care coverage) are higher than competitive unskilled wages (discouraging the pursuit of employment); minimum wage rates are rising
substantially (without inflation, there are only so many employer dollars for payrolls); health care costs rise unabated; and neighboring countries’ workers are flooding into America’s lower paid jobs.

Contrarily, ERI has received few bankruptcy notices from subscribers. Most organizations have cut staff, reduced payrolls, and managed revenue downturns in very prudent manners. The results are slimmed down and potentially more profitable entities poised for an economic turnaround.

For more info from ERI visit: http://www.erieri.com

Three (3) Salary Resource Websites for Personal or Business

2009-09-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are 3 Highly Recommended Salary and Cost of Living Resources for Personal or Business Use...

1.) SalaryExpert.com: Providing HR professionals and employees with choices for finding the most accurate and up-to-date compensation information, SalaryExpert has a range of salary tools, salary surveys and products to fit your specific needs.

2.) ERIERI.com: Salary Survey Data with Sources. ERI Economic Research Institute compiles the most robust job competency, cost-of-living, executive compensation and salary surveys (over 565,000 organizations' data) available.

3.) CostofLiving.net: Provides easy to use cost of living comparisons for over 4,500 cities. View Cost of Living and Salary Data in the Most-Requested Cities, providing Local Cost of Living Comparisons and Salaries by City and State.

Get an Extra Bonus... Free Salary Tools:
Salary Tools/Calculators to Help you Research and Maximize your Pay.

Distance Learning Center Online HR Courses from ERI Economic Research Institute

2009-08-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

The ERI Distance Learning Center (DLC)...

Train yourself and your staff online at www.eridlc.com. ERI provides over 50 HR courses devoted to compensation and benefits education. Online courses provide you more in-depth training on Assessor Series software features. The Distance Learning Center offers recertification credits for maintaining your PHR/GPHR/SPHR certification from SHRM, your CBP certification, CCP certification, or GRP certification from WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals, or your CPA license through NASBA-approved accounting courses. College students, job analysts, and compensation specialists can receive an advanced certification by earning ERI's Job and Compensation An alyst credential.

Check out the ERI Distance Learning Center's Free Resources:

Course Catalog

Would you like a free copy of the ERI Distance Learning Center online course catalog to be sent to you through the mail? This free catalog contains descriptions for all Distance Learning Center online courses (including those still under development). This resource is designed to help you plan your HR staff training, continuing education, and career development. You can also print out your own copy, using this link to our Course Catalog PDF. Click here to order a hardcopy to be sent to you through the mail.

DLC Wizard HR Software

The DLC Wizard^® is a free HR software program that provides an unparalleled interactive e-learning experience. It automatically downloads 6 free HR software DLC Wizard is also fast! It frees you from browser and system problems by loading all online course materials automatically. You can download this software for free from the instructions page of the courses that use it. If your company has firewalls or you have a slow Internet connection, please send an email to: info.eri@erieri.com and request that a free DLC Wizard CD-ROM be mailed to you.

Business Dictionary

Find business definitions to over 2,000 compensation and benefits terms in the Distance Learning Center online business glossary. You can quickly find an HR term by using the Search field, or by selecting the letter with which the term begins. This free online business dictionary lets you search for a business term within all the online dictionary term names and definitions. In addition, each Distance Learning Center online business course provides a course index that lists HR terms used throughout the course. This index will link you to the business glossary for definitions, as well as show you where the HR term appears in other DLC e-learning material.

Employment Law

Read United States and Canadian employer laws that apply to compensation and benefits administration in the U.S. and Canada. These HR regulations deal with equal pay, affirmative action, prevailing wages, immigrant employees, retirement funds, cafeteria plans, and more. This resource of HR codes and employment regulations supplements ERI Distance Learning Center online courses. This page also provides a link to useful international employment references, including: country profiles, cost-of-living data, language data, weather and climate information, exchange rates, capital cities, hardship and danger allowance pay, and international schools.

Job Description Software

This job analysis software provides 9,000+ position descriptions for 20,000+ position titles. Using the same construct as the Department of Labor's Dictionary of Occupational Titles (now out of print), this job description software has added new job titles, updated job descriptions, and 99 worker characteristics (including physical, cognitive, temperaments, and more). This job analysis software also includes filters to help you find alternate positions for individuals based on their interests, skills, and physical or mental abilities. Based on your inputs, the Occupational Assessor (eDOT^®) will provide an alternate jobs list that includes job availability statistics for positions in selected geographic areas. That way you'll know if viable employment actually exists for the individual. If so, the Occupational Assessor will provide you with a list of potential employers, including contact names, addresses, and telephone numbers. This makes this job analysis software an unparalleled aid for those involved in career development, Human Resources planning, outplacement, disability case administration, or vocational rehabilitation. To download a free demo of this compensation software, click here.

Crosswalk to ERI Software and DLC Courses

Find out which ERI Distance Learning Center online courses teach about the ERI Assessor Series^®compensation software to which you subscribe using the our Software/Course Crosswalk. Interactive Exercises found in many DLC online courses provide e-learning tutorials on beginning to advanced ERI Assessor Series research techniques.

Learn more at the: ERI Distance Learning Center

View Salaries by City, State, Job Titles and Positions at SalaryExpert.com

2009-08-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert's Free Salary Information...

PAQ gathers job data (jobs of interest), an indication of whether a respondent is an incumbent (asking for years in job), earnings, and then 3 of the 99 work measures found in eDOT. This site and collection construct exists to assist those disabled to identify jobs that they might satisfactorily perform with existing mental or physical residual capacities. This is the only such effort ongoing in America where worker characteristics for specific jobs are captured...

Salaries by City and State
List of salaries, the 100 most-requested cities on SalaryExpert's free Salary Calculator. This list is updated daily!

Salary Survey Data by Job Title
List of the 50 most-requested job titles on SalaryExpert's free Salary Calculator in the last 30 days. This list is updated daily!

Job Position Titles/Salaries
193 popular job titles for which SalaryExpert has salary survey data. Salaries are reported at the National level for all industries.

> Learn more at SalaryExpert.com

Seven (7) Free Salary Resources from SalaryExpert.com

2009-08-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here are Seven (7) FREE Resources from SalaryExpert.com...
SalaryExpert Provides HR professionals and employees with choices for finding the most accurate and up-to-date compensation information, SalaryExpert.com has a range of salary tools, salary surveys and products to fit your specific needs.

1. Employee Compensation Tools to Help you Evaluate and Improve your Pay

2. Local Data for Job Salaries By City and State

3. Local Cost of Living Data by City and State

4. Free Salary Calculators Tools to Help you Research and Maximize your Pay

5. SalaryExpert Blog Keeping YOU Informed on Timely Compensation and Salary Issues

6. Education and Career Planning Center Tools and resources to help accomplish your educational and career goals.

7. Global Salary Calculator provides salary data for over 100,000+ job titles in 200+ countries.

> Visit: SalaryExpert.com for more great resources!

SalaryExpert's New Syndication Center... Generate More Traffic to Your Site

2009-08-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

If you're looking to generate more traffic for your site, increase brand visibility or communicate with your readers more effectively, adding SalaryExpert syndicated content can play a major role in growing and developing your online properties. SalaryExpert offers a variety of interactive content modules that can be easily tailored and added to your site.

Boost traffic
Increase visibility
Communicate more effectively
Add relevant content

Salary Calculators

Allow your vistors to quickly perform a number of job, salary and cost of living related calculations without leaving your site.

Sample Salary Calculator...

Enhance and Advance Your Career and Salary with an Online MBA Degree

2009-08-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Prepare for the new business environment or enhance your existing skills and salary with an online business degree. Online MBA opportunities are readily available from one of the many online business schools; schools that offer busy professionals and mothers ready to re-enter the workforce a way to advance their careers in an increasingly competitive job market.

Online MBA programs are an excellent way to get an advanced degree because this option allows you to complete your higher education learning quickly and within your schedule. That way, you can add an online business masters degree or online masters of business administration degree to your resume at a faster pace than with classroom learning.

An online MBA degree program is similar to a classroom MBA degree program. You will be able to take the same type of classes, which offer real-world application on a variety of relevant business subjects like workforce diversity, global leadership skills, information technology, and knowledge management. The only difference with an online MBA degree is that you are able to sign up and take classes through online portals where you can interact with professors and colleagues on your timeframe.

In addition to a regular online MBA degree program in business or business administration, online business schools offer a wealth of specialized online MBA programs, including accounting, e-business, communications, marketing, media and entertainment, entrepreneurship, information technology, risk management, nonprofit management, international business and numerous other niche business careers. Each school will list information about their online MBA program specializations so you can narrow the choices of online business schools.

Once you select the type of online business masters degree you want to pursue, it is easy to sign up and get started. All the paperwork can be processed online and from home, readying you for the coming semester. From there, you can choose from a list of online classes and perhaps even download most of your materials from school’s web bookstore. In no time at all, you can be on your way to an online MBA degree.

Online business schools offer an affordable and convenient way to get the degree that you might have wanted but put off due to a hectic life. There is no time like the present to explore an accredited online business degree because the wide range of online business schools can help advance your career, enhance your earnings power, and stay up to speed on the new global business practices and processes.

About eLearners.com®
The eLearners.com website is one of several high visibility, high-quality prospecting tools offered by EducationDynamics, LLC. Since 1999, eLearners.com has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including online degree and certificate programs, specialized career training, and numerous online courses.

Check out the SalaryExpert.com eLearners Career Center at:
http://salaryexpert.elearners.com/

New Benefits Survey Reports Impact of Rising Health Care Costs on Nonprofits

2009-07-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

As Seen on ERIERI.com...

WASHINGTON, DC - While most U.S. employers reported that health benefit premiums increased only by single digits in 2008, cost shifting to employees continued, in the form of higher premiums for medical and dental plans, reduced coverage, higher deductibles, and higher out-of-pocket co-payments. A new report, entitled 2009 Benefits in Nonprofit Organizations, Ninth Edition, provides current data on health plan costs and benefit practices in nonprofit organizations that can be used to help evaluate benefit program design strategies to contain costs. The report, released July 1, 2009, provides specific types of benefits offered (and levels) effective January 1, 2009, by 21 different types of nonprofit organizations. The 107 respondents, with almost 60,000 employees, included 66 percent organizations with fewer than 100 employees and 24 percent with 100 to 499; the remaining 10 percent employed 500 or more. One hundred forty-three medical plans covering 26,000 nonprofit employees across the United States were reviewed, along with 110 dental plans.

Details on medical, vision, dental, disability, and life insurance, along with retirement plans, are presented, as well as paid leave and executive perquisites.

The 2009 findings include:

62% of respondents have a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan as the primary medical plan.
- The average employee cost for employee-only coverage is almost $67 per month.
- The average employer cost for employee-only coverage is $427 per month – 86% of the total premium cost.
Although total employment was almost 60,000, only 26,000 were covered by these plans – meaning that 60% opted out of their nonprofit employer's plan.
While 95% offer a retirement plan, only 10% are defined benefit plans; the most common type is a 403(b) plan.
While 65% offer traditional leave plans typically consisting of sick days, vacation, bereavement leave, personal leave, and floating holidays, the remaining 35% combine all or part of paid leave into a pool (Paid Time Off or PTO plans), granting an average of nearly 18 days of paid leave after one year of employment; the average granted at 10 years of service is 26 days.
87% offer dental plans, with Dental PPOs (63%) as the most common type.
Life insurance is provided by 88% of respondents and 73% offer a long-term disability plan.

Copies of the report are available for $489 at www.abbott-langer.com. A companion benefit report, the 2009 Health Care Benefits Benchmarking Survey, which includes nonprofit organizations, government entities, privately owned for-profit, and publicly owned for-profit organizations, was published in April 2009. This report, covering health care data, medical insurance, dental insurance, and vision insurance, is also offered by Abbott, Langer Association Surveys, Inc. and may be purchased online at www.abbott-langer.com.

About Abbott, Langer Association Surveys:

Since 1967, Abbott, Langer has provided a wide variety of compensation and benefit survey reports, with a particular focus on the nonprofit and manufacturing sectors. Now operating under license with ERI Economic Research Institute (www.erieri.com), Abbott, Langer uses ERI's patented online survey capabilities to produce reports used by thousands of customers for salary and benefit planning and other HR management decision-making. Users are diverse organizations that vary in size from extremely small to over $4 billion in annual sales volume, and include firms that operate locally, regionally, nationally, and even internationally. In February 2007, Abbott, Langer Association Surveys moved all survey operations and offices from Crete, Illinois, to Washington, DC. Please call 877-210-6563 or visit www.abbott-langer.com for more information and a complete list of available surveys.

Can the U.S. Government Afford to Let California Fail?

2009-06-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

California's budget crisis threatens the welfare of thousands of the state's resident...

Can the U.S. Government Afford to Let California Fail?

Local Data for Job Salaries for Popular Cities by State from SalaryExpert.com

2009-06-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert.com provides Salaries for Popular Cities by State...

The list of salaries are the 100 most-requested cities on SalaryExpert's free Salary Calculator, this list is updated daily.

SalaryExpert Provides HR professionals and employees with choices for finding the most accurate and up-to-date salary/compensation information, SalaryExpert.com has a range of salary tools, salary surveys and products to fit your specific needs.

Their primary data source is always the federal government. SalaryExpert's basic free report uses only one source per nation covered. For the United States, that sole source is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment Statistics survey. For Canada, it is the similar federal pay report data from Statistics Canada. For the UK it is the National Statistics Office. Each report specifies its sources. International salary data is also from a single source, and is based on updated estimate from national statistics office data reported in the local currency of each nation.

Join SalaryExpert on Twitter for the most up-to-date information on Salaries at: http://twitter.com/SalaryExpert

Learn more about SalaryExpert at: http://www.salaryexpert.com

Unexpectedly Unemployed? Free Help from ERI Economic Research Institute

2009-05-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

As Seen On PRLog.Org

If you are without a job, now might be the ideal time to review your skills and interests and see how they match various jobs. Available for your personal use at no cost, ERI (http://www.erieri.com) offers a tool that has long been used by human resource professionals to assess the specific skills, knowledge sets, and mental and physical capacities needed for various jobs and find which local companies might be potential employers.

ERI Economic Research Institute's Occupational Assessor™ (http://www.erieri.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=eDOT.Main) is an easy-to-use program that provides information concerning 99 characteristics of work for over 10,000 unique jobs found in the US today. The software helps assess abilities and interests and matches them to the requirements for actual jobs. When a user finds jobs of interest, the software then locates employers within commuting distance that employ people in these specific jobs, provides job availability statistics, and even links to online job postings within the commuting range.

According to ERI's founding director, Dr. David Thomsen, "Job search at the personal level is all about minimizing rejection. ERI's software identifies jobs that fit and local employers likely, or visibly, posting openings for these jobs, while providing contact names, emails, addresses, and phone numbers. Because this program increases the odds of a successful job search in these tough times, ERI has decided to make this program available at no cost."

You can use ERI's Occupational Assessor for many tasks:

* Identify your education, achievements, skills, present residence, and any limitations on physical and mental capacities;
* Review the jobs found nationally or locally for which your capacities and past training might qualify you;
* Receive three estimations of the number of these jobs within your area, region, or state;
* Generate a list of employers within commuting radius and a list of employers that are most likely to have the identified positions within their workforces;
* Review a list of job board postings by matched employer, area, and/or industry to see if any of these employers might now have "the right job at the right time in the right place";
* All this, at no cost!

Increase the possibilities for success in your job search by going to the ERI web site at (http://www.erieri.com) and downloading the Demo Edition of the Occupational Assessor. Enhanced versions of the software for consultants and vocational experts are also available for purchase.

# # #

About ERI Economic Research Institute: Based in Redmond, Washington, ERI provides salary survey and cost-of-living research reports and software to over 15,000 organizations worldwide. With information gathered from online surveys and an extensive survey library, ERI provides subscribers with assessments on salary, relocation, the cost of living, and executive compensation. ERI's pay data covers the United States, Canada, and the EU. Its industry-leading Executive Compensation Assessor® & Survey software reports executive cash compensation based on information from private executive pay surveys, as well as publicly reported information for 6,500 US, 1,150 Canadian, and 2,300 UK and EU organizations. Visit http://www.erieri.com to learn more about ERI and to review its other talent management and compensation indices.

Where The Jobs Are, Spring 2009 - As Seen On Yahoo!

2009-03-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

A quarterly survey reveals the cities expecting the largest employment growth--and losses--across the country.

Thanks to last year's strong harvest of apples and the jobs that followed in juicing, packaging and shipping, Yakima, Wash., has the strongest employment outlook in the country for the second quarter of 2009, according to a quarterly survey by employment services firm Manpower.

"This is an agricultural base, a huge apple-growing region," says Bill Cook, director of community and economic development for Yakima. "Last year's apple harvest was huge, and it helped carry employment through the winter. Even in a normal economic year that wouldn't happen."

Cities in the Pacific Northwest and Texas have the best employment outlook for April through June, while cities in the the Southeast have the weakest, according to the study.

Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers' intentions of increasing or decreasing their numbers of employees. Each employer was asked: "How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of June 2009 compared with the current quarter?" The answer is the net employment outlook--the difference between employers who plan to increase and those who plan to decrease.

Of the 31,800 public and private sector employers surveyed in 201 metropolitan areas throughout the U.S., 15% anticipated increases in hiring, 14% said they'd likely decrease staff, and 67% foresaw no change.

Read the full article...

What is Compensation?

2009-03-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

The general term, "compensation", applies to remuneration paid in exchange for work.

Normally, it means wages, salaries, bonus and other incentives, commissions, overtime, shift differentials, premium pay and other cash components that appear on W-2 taxable income statements. Good surveys are careful to clarify what they report. Base salary is the regular sort-of "guaranteed" pay, whether stated as a hourly wage or as a periodic paycheck. Total Cash Compensation is all the cash that is paid by the employer.

Some variable pay elements like overtime, shift differentials and premium pay are rarely reported in pay surveys because they change so often. Surveys of pay practices are more likely to cover those details, which vary mostly by industry and location.

Executives often receive extras that (when paid by a publicly traded corporation) the US Federal Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) require be valued in terms of equivalent cash; in those cases, an executive compensation survey may show Total Compensation that includes base and bonus (all cash beyond the base) plus non-cash elements like Stock Appreciation Rights, Long-Term Incentive awards, Long-Term Compensation and Other things like special taxable benefits like moving expenses and such. "Long-term" elements generally involve periodic annual payouts of pre-established bonus/incentive plans that involve performance measures and payout values computed and paid over multiple years.

In some economies like in the UK, Total Remuneration is the operative phrase to cover cash pay, stock awards, pension and benefits (because Britain requires those executive compensation elements to be published in corporate annual reports). Likewise, in the United States, top executives of tax-exempt entities have to openly publish the same kind of direct cash, non-cash pension, benefit and allowances information on tax forms that are technically available to anyone who wants to pay for a copy from the Internal Revenue Service.

The more basic the information, the easier it is to collect and analyze and the less expensive it is to get.

Learn more at: SalaryExpert.com

What is Education worth in the marketplace? - From SalaryExpert.com

2009-03-06T22:58:00.000-08:00

What is Education worth in the marketplace?
by Jim Brennan, ERI Econonmic Research Institute

Education makes a difference. How does education level play a role in your salary? (For example, how might a starting salary differ based on if someone has a bachelor’s vs master’s degree?)

The role that education level plays in your salary depends on the nature of the job and the relevance of your education.

A PhD in Physics won’t earn you more money as a cab driver, but it will probably put you at the high end of the starting pay scale for physical stress measurement technicians, and it may be merely an essential entry requirement for rocket scientists.

In some jobs, like many commissioned sales positions, education is relatively irrelevant because initial income will be based on outputs (closely-measured productivity results) rather than on inputs (education, experience, process, etc.). At the same time, however, related education can affect the employer’s estimate of how effective a new hire will be immediately, and that can produce a fatter starting pay offer. A candidate for a telemarketing job with a degree in communications should be more productive and the hiring manager could probably justify a premium entry rate for someone expected to possess advanced essential skills and special competencies. If applying for a professional position as a suicide-prevention-line counselor, that same candidate with a bachelor’s degree in communications might merely meet the minimum requirements; they would most likely earn less pay at the beginning than a candidate with superior relevant credentials like a master’s degree in clinical psychology or a PhD in social work.

All else being equal, more formal education or advanced credentials in the specific field of work or occupational area will carry some weight in starting-salary offers. How much difference will depend on the employers and their practices.

Learn more at: SalaryExpert.com

Why do salaries differ based on where you live?

2009-03-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

Why do salaries differ based on where you live?
by Jim Brennan - www.erieri.com

If your salary differs based on where you live, it usually means you work in the same place you live. Salaries tend to be based on where you work more than where you live. If you live in East St. Louis IL and work in St. Louis MO, you will be paid according to the local Missouri rates. In that case example, both your gross (total before deductions) and net (after deductions) also differ more; because the City of St. Louis has an earnings tax.

Different locations feature different salaries for otherwise similar jobs because each area has a unique competitive market for labor, based on the practices of employers in that area. Generally speaking, people are willing to work for different amounts in different locations. Manhattan workers demand different salaries than those in Queens, for example. Los Angeles has different salaries than Detroit. Miami pays differently than Atlanta. Salaries vary by the practices of the employers in the area.

Every organization has its own way of paying people. Each decides which labor market will apply (and for what jobs) as their basis for competitive comparisons. For jobs where good candidates can easily be found within the nearby commuting area, most employers pay local competitive rates. When the company has to search an entire region of states to find the right worker, they will be forced by competitive necessity to pay a regional or even national salary. Executive jobs tend to be paid on national or international scales where the pay practices nearest the work location are less vital than the pay practices within the reach of the candidate. Hourly workers usually can’t justify moving to another state for a higher wage and thus tend to be limited to a relatively narrow range of local pay; but executives move (usually with their relocation expenses paid by the employer) routinely and know that they operate in a wider competitive market for pay.

Visit: SalaryExpert and ERI for more salary information!

Everything You Should Know about Your Salary - CBsalary.com

2009-03-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

It happens all the time. An employee marches into her boss's office demanding a raise. A college graduate looks forward to a high starting salary because he "deserves" one. A job seeker researches the average salary for a position she's interested in, expecting to automatically be offered something in the same arena.

Although salary information is one of the most important aspects of finding a new job, it's also the most under-researched. Unfortunately, with so many salary resources out there, there is always conflicting information and people who always disagree with, or don't understand, the information presented.

What you, the job seeker, must understand is that the information provided to you via salary information sites should merely be a starting point in your research. What you find as the average salary for a position doesn't guarantee that is what you will earn; there are too many other factors things that come into play.

To help understand how you can analyze the salary information you find online and apply it to your situation, we've brought in compensation expert Jim Brennan, senior associate with the ERI Economic Research Institute, to help.

Read the FULL Article at: www.CBsalary.com

Survey Finds Company Layoffs Expected to Decline

2009-02-26T13:04:00.000-08:00

As the recession continues, companies are looking ahead and expecting to experience a long period of economic hardship. A new update to an ongoing series of surveys conducted by Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm, shows that most companies have already made most of their intended sweeping changes. However, many expect to make further cost-cutting changes this year, such as salary and hiring freezes, and reduced 401(k) matching contributions.

“Companies have come to terms with the fact that this recession is going to last and that they can’t slash their way out of it,” said Laura Sejen, global director of strategic rewards consulting at Watson Wyatt. “Many companies are putting the drastic cuts behind them and are now focusing on smaller, more sustainable cost-cutting actions.”

According to the survey of 245 large U.S. employers conducted last week, 52 percent have made layoffs, up from 39 percent two months ago. However, the number of companies planning layoffs has fallen 10 percentage points from 23 percent to 13 percent. Additionally, 56 percent now have a hiring freeze in effect, an increase from 47 percent in December’s survey.

There has been a jump in the number of companies that have put into place other changes as well. These include salary freezes (up to 42 percent of respondents now from 13 percent in December’s survey), reductions in 401(k) matches (up to 12 percent from 3 percent), a shortened workweek (up to 13 percent from 2 percent) and travel restrictions (up to 69 percent from 48 percent).

Companies continue to change a variety of HR programs in response to cost pressures...

> Read the FULL Report at:
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/press.asp?ID=20684

Highest-paid exec pay dips 7.4 percent: ERI Economic Research Institute study

2009-02-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

Total compensation of the highest-paid executives at publicly traded companies dipped 7.4 percent in the past 12 months, according to a recent study.

According to Redmond-based ERI Economic Research Institute, the executives’ overall total compensation decreased but base salaries remained about the same and other parts of compensation, including pension benefits and nonequity incentives, increased.

The average highest-paid top executive received $17.7 million in total compensation in February 2009, down from $19.1 million in February 2008. Executives were hit by a drop in stock options compensation, which was down more than 10 percent from last year.

ERI studied compensation data from a group of 45 companies it said it selected from nearly 6,500 companies that report compensation data to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: http://triangle.bizjournals.com

Bachelor's vs. Master's: How Does Your Salary Stack Up? - Career Builder.com

2009-02-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

These days, education is playing a bigger part in your career than ever before. More and more, employers are encouraging employees to take advantage of tuition reimbursement programs to go back to school -- but workers wonder if it's worth the time and effort.

Additionally, the unsightly job market is making college students rethink their entry into the real world. Instead, many students are continuing their education -- but they don't know if the extra credentials will help or hurt them when they do join the work force.

"The role that education level plays in your salary depends on the nature of the job and the relevance of your education," says Jim Brennan, senior associate at ERI Economic Research Institute. "A Ph.D. in physics won't earn you more money as a cab driver, but it will probably put you at the high end of the starting-pay scale for physical stress measurement technicians, and it may be merely an essential entry requirement for rocket scientists."

All else being equal, more formal education or advanced credentials in the specific field of work or occupational area will carry some weight in starting-salary offers -- how much difference will depend on the employers and their practices, Brennan adds. It's also important to remember that in this economy, the job market is more competitive than ever. While it may not boost your salary much in some cases, having higher education on your résumé certainly won't hurt.

Click Here to take a look at how starting salaries can differ based on the degree type and level,* according to CBSalary.com.

Data is taken from CareerBuilder and SalaryExpert research, and represent starting salary offers for recent graduates in 2008.

SalaryExpert.com offering a FREE Cost of Living Calculator for over 4,500 cities...

2009-02-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

SalaryExpert.com Free Cost of Living Calculator

SalaryExpert.com has your city and state covered. The cost of living calculator provides easy to use cost of living comparisons for over 4,500 cities.

For HR executives and professionals they offer a FREE Demo below of the Cost of Living Software. The Relocation Assessor provides Cost of Living data for over 10,000 areas/cities including Canada.

The Relocation Assessor® is used by thousands of companies to compare cost-of-living levels in over 11,500 area worldwide. The demo edition provides access to a limited dataset for product evaluation purposes.

More Free Salary Tools at: SalaryExpert.com

5 Salary Survey Data Resources for HR Professionals, Directors and Managers...

2009-01-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

Here are 5 EXCELLENT Salary Data resources for Human Resource Professionals...

1. Local Salary Survey Data by Location, City and State
This is a list of the 100 most-requested cities on ERI's affiliate site, SalaryExpert's, free Salary Calculator in the last 30 days. Choose a location to view free salary survey data. Providing you choices to find the most accurate and up-to-date compensation information, ERI Economic Research Institute has a range of salary tools, salary surveys and products to fit your specific needs.

2. The Salary Assessor® - Free Demo
The Salary Assessor® is used by thousands of companies for its reports on competitive salary, incentive and total compensation ranges for over 5,800 job titles in the US and Canada. This demo edition provides access to a limited dataset for product evaluation purposes.

3. Salary Survey Data by Job Title
This is a list of the 50 most-requested job titles on Careerbuilder's CBSalary.com in the last 30 days. Their salary calculator uses salary survey data provided by ERI and PAQ's eDOT Skills Project.

4. Salary Survey Data, Compensation and Comparison Tools
Providing HR professionals with choices to find the most accurate and up-to-date compensation information, SalaryExpert.com has a range of salary tools, salary surveys and products to fit your specific needs.

5. Executive Compensation Calculator
ERI's Free Executive Compensation Calculator reports broad-range executive salary values and allows for easy comparison of executive positions but when you need the most up-to-date, reliable data adjusted by geographic area, industry, organization size, pay strategy, compensation valuation, and planning.

5 Ways to Get Better Compensation in 2009 from MSN-CareerBuilder.com

2009-01-29T10:08:00.000-08:00

5 Ways to Get Better Compensation in 2009
By Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

The normal way to ring in the new year is by creating a list of resolutions that results in you eating straight from the fridge at midnight so you're not technically cheating on your diet. If you received a good performance review at work, you might be fortunate enough to get a raise (to offset the cost of the gym membership you'll never use).

As you're undoubtedly aware, businesses are operating with caution these days and watching their bottom lines more closely than ever. Accordingly, employees are feeling the pinch. Maybe year-end bonuses and holiday parties were smaller or nonexistent this winter. Expect lean operations to continue for a while longer, but don't assume you have no chance of receiving a salary boost.

Whether you're already employed or negotiating a job offer, all hope for bumping up your compensation is not lost. With the right amount of flexibility and good timing, you can end up getting what you want.

Prove your worth
Don't expect to earn a hefty paycheck based on your merits if you have no proof of your accomplishments. Specificity is the best friend of job seekers and employees. When budgets are already tight, employers won't be willing to hand out more cash than necessary. Businesses are always trying to do more with less, but these days they are forced to.

If you're already employed, your boss might not notice your accomplishments. Smooth operations mean no hiccups or need for finger-pointing; therefore your good work might go unnoticed. You should be able to list specific achievements during your time at the company to be a reminder of your accomplishments. Did you increase sales, make operations more efficient or receive positive feedback from clients? If so, have proof and use it. Quantifiable numbers and direct quotes make a better case than pretty phrases.

For job seekers, the story is the same, except your highlights should span your career. A strong track record throughout your work history gives a hiring manager good reason to expect more from you ... and do more for you.

Know the market
Although you might think you're worth a seven-figure salary, your boss isn't likely to agree, so don't walk into negotiations thinking you can start at $1 million in order to negotiate your way to an $80,000 salary. Your boss probably knows how much other workers in similar positions earn and so should you. Go to salary sites, such as CBSalary.com, and see what the standard rate is for your job title in your city or across the country. Putting your salary in context gives you realistic expectations and helps you bargain effectively.

Read the FULL Article at: http://msn.careerbuilder.com

Two Free Salary Software Editions for Subscribers of (ERI) Economic Research Institute.

2009-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

Two Free Editions for Subscribers of (ERI) Economic Research Institute...

ERI subscribers now have free access to two new Assessor Series beta editions. The Nonprofit Comparables Assessor has the ability to search and review over thirty million individuals' names and compensation found in US publicly available documents in a new FullXwalk tab; see ERI's October 2008 newsletter. And the redesigned Competency Assessor (Occupational) now contributes weighted subscriber Subject Matter Expert data to PAQ's eDOT Competency Project; see ERI's January 2009 newsletter.

Order any Assessor Series product or traditional ERI Salary Survey, each fully derived from employer-provided sources, and an accompanying License Code will allow access to these databases. 27,030 subscribers and survey purchasers have been mailed enhanced Codes to complement their subscription periods; for a demo License Code(s), click here.

Visit ERI for more information: http://www.erieri.com

Recruiting Predictions for 2009 from ere.net

2009-01-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

We’re already a week into 2009, and everyone else has already published their predictions for the year. In the spirit of better late then never, here are a few from ere.net:

2009 will be a painful year for recruiters. It’s obvious, but how could I leave this off the list? We’re in a recession, and as employment numbers continue to fall it will get worse for recruiters before it gets better. When will the turnaround come? Hiring typically lags behind corporate profits, so don’t expect recruiting activity to pick up again until after companies’ profits start rising again.
There will be less of us. As was pointed out to me today on the Recruiting Animal Show, I’m an old salt in the recruiting world at the not-so-tender age of 34. The last time I saw our profession contract was in the recession of 2001, when we simply had too many recruiters trying to fill too few open positions and thousands of professionals moved on to greener pastures. The strong and the lucky will once again survive, and those who are not at the top of their games will move on. In the last recession, many went into real estate. This time it will be different.
Recruiting stocks will rebound. As an industry, the public companies whose businesses connect people with employment opportunities will rebound before the year is through, including Monster, Taleo, DICE Holdings, Kenexa, Manpower, and Spherion, barring any issues specific to the individual companies. If the economy is so scary, why predict a rebound? The stock market is a forward-looking discounting mechanism, and in the next few months I expect the worst expectations to be priced into the stocks of these companies, and for investors to begin to look forward to better results in the future. On the other hand, Workstream will finally be delisted.
Social Media will play an ever-increasing role in our personal and professional lives. Yeah, this is a safe one. There are still plenty of people whose lives have not been touched by Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others, but there are less every day. More and more, it’s where people, young and old, are communicating and managing relationships, and smart recruiters always fish where the fish are. Also, the pace of innovation in Social Media will not slow down any time soon. Why? Because even though venture capital money is drying up, it does not take much capital to build these things. (BTW, I’ve linked above to my profile on each of these social networks, so be my friend!)
Social media overload/backlash. With social media innovation continuing at a blistering pace, we are constantly being barraged with new, cool-sounding social tools and networks. There are only so many hours in the day, and we are forced to pick and choose the services that best meet our lifestyles and objectives. In the fight to stand out from the pack, implicit promises are being made about why every single service is the best. Inevitably, people are going to be disappointed with those that do not live up to expectations. The best will continue to grow, while the ones that do not stand out from the crowd will quietly go away.
Social networks will make finding a business model their top priority.huge audiences, but here’s a pop quiz — which of the following social networks made money in the last year — YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter? Not a single one. And in this economy, not even Google, YouTube’s parent company, can afford to have a money-losing property. Finding a solid revenue source to sustain their torrential growth will be the goal of every major social network. They’ve proven that they can attract
…and the medium-sized players won’t make it. The biggest networks have or will raise enough investment money to give them time to find workable revenue models. The truly tiny social networks will find their niches and targetted advertising dollars will follow. It’s the medium-sized services — the Facebook wannabes — that are going to fall by the wayside, being snapped up on the cheap by acquirors or simply going out of business.
Vendor shakeout. It’s not only the social networks that will see a shakeout. This year will be brutal on the vendors that serve our profession. Less hiring = less recruitment spending = less business. Layoffs, consolidation, and bankruptcies will be norm until things stabilize later in the year. The strongest, and those with the best relationships with their customers, will survive.
Recruiters will try to shift towards the most cost-effective tools. Not the cheapest, but the ones with the most return on investment. Of course, recruiting departments do a notoriously poor job at measuring their own results, so I expect to see a lot more focus on metrics and measurement. Expect plenty of debate over how to properly evaluate recruiter performance and industry metrics in the next few months.

Read the FULL Article at:
http://www.ere.net/2009/01/09/recruiting-predictions-for-2009

PAQ.com providing competency tools, questionnaires, forms, reports and more...

2009-01-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

PAQ competency tools (questionnaires, forms, and reports) assist in managing an organization's most important assets, its employees. Other approaches consist of task-based statements, and task-based competencies alone are complex and impractical, with millions of task and related mission statement combinations. PAQ's approach to competencies, built around abilities and aptitudes, are understandable for use in recruiting, talent, and reward management.

PAQ's competencies serve as a universal language describing all jobs, allowing successful implementation of whatever HR management approaches are utilized. Explore PAQ because, besides saving time and expense, PAQ's web-based competency tools avoid the failures of more complex competency systems.

Learn more at: www.PAQ.com

Free Research Links and Products for Researchers from (ERI) Economic Research Institute

2008-12-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

Free Research Links and Products for Researchers from (ERI) Economic Research Institute...

ERI has expanded its provision of free resources to researchers, students, and instructors (with the latter able to receive other complimentary ERI and PAQ materials):

ERI Distance Learning Center: Online HR courses are provided free of charge for those new to compensation. To date, more than 20,000 individuals have spent an hour or more on the 53 subject matter topics for either certification credit or continuing education.
Free Global Salary Calculator®: Download a calculator that converts job family data into specific job value estimates (for over 100,000 job titles). See www.erieri.it, www.erieri.co.uk, or any of 190 other countries' similar URLs.

Free for Charities: ERI is assisting PAQ Services, Inc., which supplies free, web-based salary planning services using conservative data (typically 15% below competitive norms) for use by nonprofit organizations. See www.paq.com.
Free International Pay Data: See why Assessor Series datasets and software make ERI unique among those who provide compensation survey data. Click on a dot and review the source data. Review ERI's C3 job family matrix that allows US specific job methodologies to complement European (and US public entity) job family classification systems.
Free Looks at Selected Characteristics of Occupations: PAQ and ERI have teamed to make their worker trait measures for over 10,000 specific jobs available to the public. See www.paq.com.
Download Support: Chat with a seasoned ERI compensation specialist while you download any demo program from our site. We see the "comp world" changing:

> Find more information at: ERIERI .com

ERI Helps HR Professionals Manage Executive Compensation...

2008-12-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

ERI EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION was founded in 1987 to provide compensation research to organizations and consultants in the form of published reports and survey software.

Our thousands of subscribers rely on ERI executive compensation survey data to set pay and to assess the reasonableness of compensation packages.

Download a demo version of ERI's Executive Compensation Assessor and see for yourself how this software tool can help you make more accurate and informed decisions.

ERI's Executive Compensation Calculator

ERI's Free Executive Compensation Calculator reports broad-range executive salary values and allows for easy comparison of executive positions but when you need the most up-to-date, reliable data adjusted by geographic area, industry, organization size, pay strategy, compensation valuation, and planning date then turn to ERI's Executive Compensation Assessor.

To learn more about this exciting product, Click Here...

Quick Start for Salary Negotiation - Kelsey Publishing Knowledge Base

2008-12-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Kelsey Publishing Knowledge Base - Quick Start for Salary Negotiation

Article by Trevor Davide Grant, a PM in the information technology field and has extensive experience in salary negotiation....

Many people lack the expertise at salary negotiation and want to improve so they can advance their salaries and their careers. One friend recently asked me for some quick tips on how to negotiate a better salary.

Expert salary negotiation takes a lot of experience and a lot of practice. My experience has allowed me to negotiate salary many many times, and I have been able to realize significant salary gains as a result. I am writing here to outline what I consider a great, quick approach that can help arm you for salary negotiation and get you ready to negotiate a great salary.

While what follows here is a great beginning strategy, there are many approaches to negotiating salary. It is very important for salary seekers to have the full picture. You need to know all the successful and relevant strategies and all the ways to overcome common salary negotiation hurdles. Read more...

Read FULL Article: Check out the following salary negotiation do’s and don’ts at: http://www.kelseypub.com

Executive Compensation Tools and Resources

2008-11-20T16:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of Executive Compensation Tools and Resources for HR Professionals...

FREE Proxy and 10-K Retrieval
Research past executive pay packages at competitor organizations.
FREE Black-Scholes Calculator
Calculate the future value of stock options.
FREE Bardahl Calculator
Compute the reasonable working capital needs of a corporation.
FREE Executive Comp Calculator
Base salary calculations by position and location.
For-Profit Executive Pay Report
Executive employee salary report based on input for industry, experience, education, organization size, etc. $89
Executive Salary Software
Competitive executive total cash compensation survey data for 400 top management job titles in all industries.

Learn more at: www.ERI-Executive-Compensation.com

Cost of Living, Salary Reports and Resources for HR Professionals

2008-11-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Cost of Living, Salary Reports and Resources for HR Professionals...

> Cost of Living Resources:

FREE Cost-of-Living Calculator
Calculate the cost-of-living differentials between different cities in the same country.

FREE Student Calculator
International cost-of-living calculator for college students

Cost-of-Living Report
Choose from 6,000 cities worldwide. Just $19 per single-city cost-of-living report.

Cost-of-Living Software
For country-to-country cost-of-living comparisons, see ERI's Relocation Assessor software.

> Salary Reports:

US Employee Salary Report
Personal salary report based on your position, location, industry, company size, education, and experience.

International Salary Report
Salaries for 4,000 jobs in 6,000 cities. Just $19 per single position report.

College Graduate Salary Report
Competitive college graduate salary reports by position.

2009 Salary Increase Survey
Merit increases by industry, location, and position. $89 with survey participation.

Get more Salary Resources at: SalaryExpert.com

Salary Surveys, Reports, Data and Resource Links for Human Resource Execs

2008-11-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a List of Seven Salary Survey and Resource Links for HR Execs...

Salary Surveys
Providing salary surveys in both software and hard copy formats.

Cost of Living Comparisons
Calculate relocation allowances and per diem rates for 10,000 cities.

Executive Salary Surveys
Competitive executive total cash compensation survey data for 400 top management job titles in all industries.

Geographic Salary Comparisons
Set branch office salary structures based on geographic pay differentials.

Non-Profit Executive Salary
Executive compensation software and reports for employees at non-profits.

International Salary Comparisons
Research salaries for 100,000 jobs in 200 countries. This is the only salary database available for many hard-to-research international locations.

Job Analysis Software
Analyze thousands of positions. Update job documentation (titles and descriptions).

The Best Job and Salary Tech Tips from GlobalTV.com

2008-11-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Best Job Relevent Websites and Salary Tech Tips from GlobalTV.com...

Notice at the very end of this two-minute TV news story on job-relevant websites during BC’s Skilled Trades Week concludes with repeated references to the best of the breed, SalaryExpert.com...

Watch the Connected Life segment video clip at GlobalTV.com:
http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-globalbc-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=morningnewsfeatures&maven_referralObject=3175885

Kudos to SalaryExpert.com!

ERI-Salary-Survey.com providing salary survey data to management and HR professionals

2008-10-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

ERI-Salary-Survey.com provides salary survey data to management and HR professionals...

ERI Economic Research Institute was founded in 1987 to provide salary survey and cost-of-living research to HR professionals in the form of survey software databases, published salary reports, and online salary surveys. Human resource managers, directors and executives all over the world rely on our compensation analyses to set individual pay, adjust branch office salary structures, and set relocation allowances.

Visit: http://www.eri-salary-survey.com/

Animators Are Some of the Happiest Workers in America, Survey Finds - MarketWatch.com

2008-10-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

As seen on MarketWatch.com...

Third-party survey commissioned by AnimationMentor.com reveals career trends in the animation industry

AnimationMentor.com (Animation Mentor), the leading online character animation school created by animators for animators, today unveils key findings from an animation industry survey that shows a vibrant and healthy workforce with a bright future. Animation Mentor commissioned independent research firm Knowledge Wave International to conduct the survey to gain insight into an insider's view on industry trends, job titles, job satisfaction and salaries. "Behind the Characters: Professional Animator Job Satisfaction, Career Outlook and Salary Survey Report" is based on the responses of more than 1,200 professional animators from over a dozen countries who participated in the August 2008.

Animators are some of the happiest workers in America

The survey explored job satisfaction and how happy animators are overall. Of those surveyed, 59 percent of professional animators enjoyed their work and are proud of the work they do. More than 80 percent plan to continue working in this field and more than half would recommend a career in animation to friends and family. These statistics put animators high on the list of highest occupations when compared to national averages found in the University of Chicago's 2007 "Job Satisfaction in America" survey that identified clergy (67.2 percent) and firefighters (57.2 percent) the top professions where individuals classified themselves as "very happy."

> Read the Full Story at:
www.MarketWatch.com

SalaryExpert.com Launches ALL New Re-Designed Easy to Use Website

2008-10-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

HR Execs, Professionals, Students, Job Recruiters, noticed any changes lately to SalaryExpert.com?

The NEW SalaryExpert Website is easy to use, great looking and performing well we hear, I even noticed an updated logo - nice job!

SalaryExpert.com provides Salary Survey Data, Compensation and Comparison Tools with choices to find the most accurate and up-to-date compensation information online.

SalaryExpert.com has a range of salary tools, salary surveys and products to fit your specific needs.

Drop by and see for yourself!
Visit: http://www.salaryexpert.com

Compensation and Salary Data Software from ERI Economic Research Institute

2008-09-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Salary Survey Software ERI offers compensation survey databases and software intended for management, professional analysts, or consultants' use. Free Demo Downloads allow one to evaluate the effectiveness of the survey databases before subscribing. Assessor Series® are used by a majority of the US Fortune 500 and major consulting firms; they allow for quick, efficient, and cost-effective second opinions of others' surveys, "less than 5 second" answers from your PC representing thousands of hours of ERI researchers' time.

Compensation Data Software:

The Assessor Series® desktop software reports competitive salary, incentive, and total compensation ranges for over 8,500 job titles in the US and Canada as well as providing data on executive pay, geographic and cost of living differentials.

Learn more at: http://www.erieri.com

How Do I Find Out Salary Ranges? - As Seen on AllBusiness.com

2008-09-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

As Seen on AllBusiness.com... Let’s face it — money can be a touchy issue. It’s no less a hot potato during the job interview process, when many candidates find themselves hesitant to broach the subject of salary ranges for fear of either over- or underselling their worth.

Even though the topic can be an uncomfortableone, it’s important not to put the money issue aside when meeting with potential employers. It is to your advantage to do your homework beforehand to get a sense of standard industry wages. Try to gather as much information as possible about the company to which you’re applying and the average salaries they offer for various positions.

This solid understanding of salary guidelines is important. If you ask for too much, you could take yourself out of the running; too little and you could doom yourself to a salary that’s lower than what the employer was prepared to offer. Arm yourself with information about what is reasonable and standard in your profession and your industry. Also keep in mind whether you bring any extraordinary skills to that position, skills your employer may value and compensate accordingly.

Read more...

Salary and Cost of Living Resources for HR Execs...

2008-09-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here are 3 Cost of Living and Salary Resource Websites for HR Execs:

1. CostofLiving.net:

CostofLiving.net has your city and state covered. They provide easy to use cost of living comparisons for over 4,500 cities. For professionals they offer a free demo of Cost of Living Software. The Relocation Assessor provides Cost of Living data for over 7,500 cities including Canada.

2. SalaryExpert.com:

SalaryExpert.com is an (ERI) Economic Research Institute affiliate providing Salary Resources for Students, Job Recruiters, HR Execs and Professionals.

3. SalariesReview.com:

SalariesReview.com and Abbott, Langer Association Surveys provide salary survey reports to subscribers. Abbott, Langer Association Surveys has long focused on the nonprofit and manufacturing sectors.

Hope you find this helpful!

Gannett Co. to Buy 10% Interest in CareerBuilder - BusinessWeek.com

2008-09-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

According to BusinessWeek.com Gannett Co. said Wednesday that it bought a 10 percent interest in CareerBuilder from Tribune Co. for $135 million, giving it a majority stake in the employment Web site.

The deal bumps Gannett's interest in CareerBuilder up to 50.8 percent. Tribune now owns 30.8 percent of the Web site, with McClatchy Co.'s stake at 14.4 percent and Microsoft Corp.'s interest at 4 percent.

The controlling interest gives Gannett, publisher of USA Today, three seats on CareerBuilder's six-seat board of directors. The other seats are held by Tribune, McClatchy and CareerBuilder.

Survey says... More employees work from home!

2008-08-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

According to a survey from WorldatWork a record number of companies in the United States and Canada are permitting employees to work from home.

Forty-two percent of U.S. companies surveyed say they have offered their employees work-from-home programs this year, up from 30 percent last year. In Canada, the jump was even bigger — from 25 percent last year to 40 percent this year.

Some of the survey findings include:

Part-time employment with benefits is offered by 38 percent of employers in Canada and 37 percent of employers in the U.S.
Retention bonuses grew from 27 percent in 2004 to 38 percent in 2008 in the U.S. with similar growth in Canada.
Sign on/hiring bonuses are on the rise in both the U.S. (70 percent) and Canada (51 percent).
Stock grant programs are experiencing more rapid growth in the U.S. -- from 7 percent in 2004 to 20 percent this year.
Stock option programs are slightly down in the U.S., from 23 to 22 percent in 2008.
For pay rates, 31 percent of U.S. employers pay above market compared to 25 percent in Canada.

Read more at: http://www.bizjournals.com

Salary Survey Data by Job Title and Survey Data for the UK and Europe

2008-08-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert an ERI Company...

Salary Survey Data by Job Title - Here is a list of the 50 most-requested job titles on Careerbuilder's CBSalary.com in the last 30 days. Their salary calculator uses salary survey data provided by ERI and PAQ's eDOT Skills Project.

ERI's Salary Assessor software also provides remuneration survey data for more than 4,000 positions in the UK and Europe. Subscribers utilise this software to determine competitive salary ranges for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

> Learn more: http://www.erieri.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=ERISAUK.uk-salaries&TrkID=515-82

Career Salaries at SalaryExpert.com

2008-08-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

At SalaryExpert.com they offer a calculator to determine career salaries. The calculator works by entering a job title, zip code or state and city. You will then be given a complete description of the job and duties assigned. SalaryExpert will then display the average salary based on the job title you input as well as the top and the bottom of the salary range. You will also be given the national salary average for that position as well as the calculated salary after adding benefits.

For Small Businesses

If you are a small business and don't have a budget for surveys or applications but desire more titles and salary information than you can use the free online salary calculator.

> Read More...

Local Salary Survey Data - Information by State and City from SalaryExpert.com

2008-08-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert.com providing Local Salary Survey Data - Information by State and City: Salary survey software provides salary and cost of living data for compensation planning.

The Salary Assessor^® desktop software reports competitive salary, incentive, and base compensation ranges for over 5,000 job titles and 7,000 geographic locations in the US and Canada.

To download the Salary Assessor Demo, Click Here.

Check out the list of the 100 most-requested cities on Careerbuilder's CBSalary.com in the last 30 days. Their salary calculator uses salary survey data provided by ERI and PAQ's eDOT Skills Project. This list was last updated on August 17, 2008.

Executive Pay Drops in the Past 12 Months, According to ERI Economic Research Institute

2008-08-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

REDMOND, WA - During the most recent 12 months the average total compensation paid to the highest paid executives in US publicly traded companies decreased by 7.0%. The ERI August study showed the first decrease in total compensation since 2004. While overall total compensation decreased, two components of pay reported sharp increases: non-equity based incentives (up 33%) and pensions (up 84%). Decreases were reported in components of base salaries, equity based compensation, LTIP, and "All Other".

ERI Economic Research Institute created this index of Executive Compensation 11 years ago. Since its inception in 1997, revenues of the US publicly traded companies studied increased over 7 times faster than the dollar amounts paid to the companies’ highest paid executives, with total revenues increasing by 113.5% compared to a 15.9% increase for executive compensation.

Free Salary Tools and More from SalaryExpert.com

2008-08-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert.com has some excellent FREE Salary Tools...

All you have to do is click here on Free Salary Tools then select your job title and location, then click the Search button to receive a sophisticated salary report. Benefits, bonuses, and the cost of living will be factored into your salary analysis.

Salary Data

At SalaryExpert we cover both US and Canadian salary data. We offer free salary data that allows you to quickly look up the prevailing wage for a position by zip code, job description or regional and state information. The salary data covers the US and Canada as well as international positions. We welcome web developers to add these free salary calculators and our free cost-of-living calculators to their own sites.

Salary Survey Data with Sources from ERI Economic Research Institute

2008-08-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Oftentimes more a Census than a Survey...

Founded nearly 20 years ago as an outsource of salary survey analyses, ERI has evolved into a geographic-and industry-specific salary survey, cost-of -living, and executive compensation benchmark survey firm dedicated to research and development. ERI researchers collect skill measures of modern-day work, and assist organizations with their compensation planning via salary software and special reports. Traditional salary surveys sometimes reflect non-random samples; but ERI's databases have grown so robust, many ERI products can be better characterized as a census.

ERI compiles the most robust job competency, cost-of-living, executive compensation and salary surveys (over 565,000 organizations' data) available. Over 10,000 annual subscribers use ERI data for compensation and salary planning, expert witness testimony, relocations, disability determinations, board level presentations, setting branch office salary structures, and determination of defensible beginning to experienced salary & bonus levels.

Learn more...

Salary Reports for HR Professionals and Personal Use from SalaryExpert.com

2008-08-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert personal salary reports provide average job salaries for your position and location. Reports are personalized based on the input you provided us, we have identified the closest match among the over 15,000 job descriptions available. SalaryExpert reports are designed for use in salary negotiations and the evaluation of job offers.

HR and Compensation Professionals: Do you need to run multiple salary reports for your organization's pay planning? Then see these salary survey databases:

Salary Assessor Survey Software: Research competitive salary ranges for more than 5,000 jobs in the US, Canada, and Europe. This reliable salary survey calculator is used by over 80% of the US Fortune 500 to set individual employee pay, establish salary structures, and determine salary increase percentages. Available on an annual subscription basis. More.
Global Salary Calculator: Calculate overseas salaries for 100,000 jobs in 200 countries. Includes job descriptions and local cost-of-living information. Available on a calendar-year subscription basis (expires 12/31/2008). More.

HR Resources: The ERI Distance Learning Center

2008-08-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

The ERI Distance Learning Center offers: human resources online continuing education for Human Resource Management training and development, distance education online courses, online learning, adult education elearning, HR courses online, human resources management online course, human resource development hr training, business education, hrci recertification courses, compensation and benefits e-learning, accounting cpe continuing professional education, worldatwork recertification courses, crcc recertification courses, cpa cpe online accounting courses, cpe courses and professional career development.

Learn more at: http://www.eridlc.com

Top 20 paid positions as reported by ERI Economic Research Institute

2008-08-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here are the top 20 paid positions as reported by the: ERI Economic Research Institute.

It quickly becomes obvious that most of these top earners are executives, or doctors and surgeons. "Top Surgeon" which sits at the top is actually both an executive and a surgeon. The Salary Assessor describes the duties of a Top Surgeon as follows: "Directs and coordinates surgery delivery programs. Instructs hospital personnel in universal and specific control procedures."

Physician	$146,125.00
Controller, Top Corporate	$114,812.00
Engineering Manager	$99,169.00
Corporate Attorney	$92,440.00
Physicist PhD	$92,265.00
Systems & Programming Manager	$89,356.00
Pharmacist	$88,786.00
Marketing Manager	$86,283.00
Financial Analysis Manager	$85,986.00
Computer Programmer Lead	$79,485.00
Systems Analyst Lead	$78,860.00
Personnel Manager	$77,307.00
Benefits Manager	$74,770.00
Electrical Engineer	$74,441.00
Sales Area Manager	$72,510.00
Chemical Engineer	$71,317.00
Purchasing Manager	$69,373.00
Mechanical Engineer	$68,178.00
Civil Engineer	$61,145.00
Computer Programmer	$60,155.00

> View a list of the industries with the highest wage growth.

> Read more...

Job Market Intact for Young Journalists, Says Survey

2008-08-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

As seen on: EditorandPublisher.com...

NEW YORK The job market for journalism graduates has remained largely unchanged for the second half of 2007 and the first half of 2008, according to a new survey from the University of Georgia.

The results of the survey from the university's James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, to be officially unveiled Thursday, reveal that nearly the same percentage of graduates in 2007 found full-time jobs within six to eight months of graduation as in the previous year, and salaries remained the same.

According to the report, on Oct. 31, 2007, 63.3% of the bachelor's degree recipients had a full-time job, a figure nearly identical to the 2006 report of 64%. Almost all of the 2007 bachelor's degree recipients who looked for work had at least one in-person job interview in the six to eight months after graduation.

The median salary earned by 2007 bachelor's degree recipients was $30,000,exactly the same as the median salary earned by bachelor's degree recipients in 2006, while the median salary for master's degree recipients in 2007 was $40,000, $2,000 higher than a year earlier. For eight of nine benefits listed, a slightly larger percentage of 2007 graduates reported receiving those benefits than 2006.

Read More...

Celebrity parents work hard for their money - From parentdish.com

2008-08-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's time for TV Guide's annual salary survey, that time of year when we get to find out how much our favorite personalities get paid every year for entertaining us after the kids have gone to bed. These celebs all have kids at home, but still manage to bring home some pretty serious bacon:

Charlie Sheen: $825,000 per episode of "Two and a Half Men"
Mariska Hargitay: $400,000 per episode for playing Det. Olivia Benson on "Law & Order: SVU"
Heidi Klum: "Project Runway" earns her $2.5 million a year
Katie Couric: $15 million yearly for anchoring CBS News
Matt Laurer: $12 mil -- no matter where he is in the world -- for NBC's "Today" show
Tiki Barber: $2 million annually for working as an NFL analyst and "Today" show correspondent
David Letterman: $32 million a year for yukking it up on late night TV
John Stewart: $14 million a year for his work on "The Daily Show"

> Read more at: www.parentdish.com

> You can get more Salary Survey Information at: www.SalaryExpert.com

Salary Survey Data for 90,000+ Jobs at Salary Expert

2008-08-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

SalaryExpert.com your resource for Salary data, free salary calculators, personal salary reports, and executive salary surveys for employees and HR professionals calculating salaries.

Salary Expert's affiliate, ERI Economic Research Institute, was founded in 1987 to provide salary survey and cost-of-living research to HR professionals in the form of survey software databases, published salary reports, and online salary surveys. Over 85% of Fortune 500 companies rely on ERI compensation analyses to set individual pay, adjust branch office salary structures, and set relocation allowances.

> Learn more at: SalaryExpert.com