For a lot of, the beginning of a brand new yr can imply the beginning of efficiency overview and lift season. However current ADP information exhibits the share of U.S. staff receiving bonuses has been falling since 2021.
Lower than 40% of staff obtained a bonus final yr, down from 44% in 2021. And in 2024, the typical bonus payout was $1,786, down from $1,857 a yr earlier, in accordance with the research.
That’s not the one pay-related pattern to look at in 2026. Pay transparency will even be a sizzling matter this yr, stated ADP Chief Expertise Officer Jay Caldwell. In June, counties within the European Union might be required to adjust to new pay transparency legal guidelines, mandating wage disclosures in job commercials (very similar to many U.S. states).
“This all of the sudden is becoming less of a hypothetical and very real for companies,” Caldwell stated. “They have to adapt to the requirements of their local jurisdictions. I think the trend here is going to be action.”
Within the EU, if giant employers discover a gender pay hole of 5% or extra, they are going to be required to conduct an audit to repair the disparity. Caldwell predicts 2026 will deliver elevated investments within the HR compliance house. HR leaders ought to make sure that they’ve the “right automation in place” to assist them extra simply adhere to those new legal guidelines, he says.
“I think that’s the fundamental challenge: More and more organizations are getting more global and more dispersed, operating in more states and more countries,” Caldwell stated. “Employers will have to be very disciplined in the management of it.”
Across the Desk
A round-up of an important HR headlines.
Some tech firms are enacting a “no-shoes” coverage of their places of work to make staff extra comfy. New York Occasions
Employers are utilizing quite a lot of stealth ways to entice staff to return to the workplace, together with tying promotions to attendance. Wall Road Journal
Job seekers are utilizing relationship apps like Hinge or Grindr to land internships or job interviews. Bloomberg
Watercooler
All the pieces it is advisable to know from Fortune.
Meet the non-compliers. Excessive-value expert staff are ignoring return-to-office mandates—they usually have the leverage to get away with it. —Nick Lichtenberg
Entry-level nightmares. Financial institution of America CEO Brian Moynihan says the financial institution solely hires about 2,000 from a pool of 200,000 functions. —Ashley Lutz
4-day future. Some high enterprise leaders suppose the five-day workweek is useless, and right here’s why. —Preston Fore
