How do these minimum wage increases affect bank and credit union employees where there are entry-level, low-skill positions to fill?

For financial institutions, this would impact positions from almost every department. Some of these positions will include:

• Tellers
• Accounting specialists
• Consumer loan processors
• Customer service reps
• Call center reps
• Card services reps
• Help desk staff
• Receptionists
• Administrative assistants
• Couriers
• Facilities

Minimum wage is a volatile issue with staunch supporters and adversaries arguing for both sides. Those against the minimum wage hike contend that it increases costs for the employer which in turn increases costs to consumers and ultimately reduces revenue because of a decline in sales. Lower revenue forces a reduction in low-skilled positions which impacts the unemployment rate.

We’ve spent the last year creating an entirely new BalancedResults, our performance management app designed to increase employee productivity. This isn’t an average update, and we didn’t just make a few tweaks or tune-up the backend.

We burned it down!

Our dev team scrapped the original BalancedResults and went to ground to build an entirely new application that outperforms the original in every single way. It’s faster, sleeker, smarter, more intuitive, and more accommodating than even we could have imagined at the outset. We’ve invested significant time and the sharpest talent to deliver a tool that completely transforms how our clients develop, document, and manage employee performance.

“The new BalancedResults evolved from everything our clients have been asking for. We listened intently to the feedback, requests, and help tickets from these HR executives to build a new platform that better serves their needs,” acclaimed Jacqualyn Summervill, Chief Product Officer for BalancedComp.

Our annual survey has just released with exceptional data you shouldn’t be working without. It’s a tool you must have to accurately tie pay to performance. Our sole focus is the banking and credit union industry, where we work closely with more than 200 clients across the country to optimize their salary ranges. We know this business, and our 2017-18 Salary Survey gives us the data to help you make informed, competitive decisions in the year ahead.

The survey, completed during the summer of 2017, drew twice as many respondents as last year! These 431 participants helped benchmark 114 of the most common positions at banks and credit unions. We then break down their responses by industry, asset size, and even geography. The data is also broken down by bank, credit unions, and a cross-section of the two compiled; you won’t find this data in any other survey. Download your copy for only $795.

“Our clients wanted to know what a competitive strategy was and there wasn’t any concrete information available in the market," said Christie Summervill, CEO of BalancedComp.

The 55 community banks and credit unions that responded to the short four-question survey had assets from $100M - $4B.

• 60% reported they do not pay an internal referral fee to employees who refer someone for a mortgage loan.

• Of the 34.55% who do, the median payout was $50. However, the average payout of $100 demonstrated the wide variation in response.

“We had responses from $500 per closed loan to $5 for a referral," Summervill reflected. The mode was also near $100.

There is no compelling response to indicate that, to be competitive, one must pay an internal fee for mortgage referrals. It would have to be considered in the total framework of the internal compensation philosophy of each organization and the relative impact of mortgage loans for that organization.

In 2016, BalancedComp found that the median total cash compensation for mortgage loan originators exceeds $70,000.

President-elect Donald Trump committed to “require each federal agency to prepare a list of all of the regulations they impose on American business, and rank them from most critical to health and safety to least critical. Least critical regulations will receive priority consideration for repeal.” While this may spell freedom for some organizations, it will create a need for HR and comp professionals to keep closer tabs on what’s happening in their state​. ​

Here are some regulations that could change during the next four years:

Minimum Wage. Trump suggested tax breaks instead of increasing minimum wage significantly. Twenty-nine states have already taken the initiative to ​increase minimum wage above the federal law, but minimum wage won’t be changing as a result of Trump’s policies.

Fair Labor Standards Act. ​On November 22, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing the the U.S. Department of Labor’s FLSA overtime rule from taking effect on December 1. The fate of the overtime rule is now uncertain. The Trump administration will take over the USDOL in less than two months’ time, and the incoming administration has repeatedly indicated that it wants to eliminate unnecessary regulations hampering the business community.

Paid Family and Medical Leave. Trump supports six weeks of paid maternity leave for working mothers. This would improve upon the U.S.’s current lack of paid leave policies, but still remains far behind other countries’ policies.