MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

CFO Daily News

MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Payroll
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Finance Technology
  • More
    • Employment Law
    • Strategy
    • Policy and Culture
    • Fraud
    • Payments and Transactions
    • Budgeting and Forecasting
    • Banking
    • Staff Management
    • Cost Control
    • Supply Chain
    • IT

Will companies really shower workers with tax law bonuses, or is it all hype?

Jared Bilski
by Jared Bilski
January 11, 2018
  • Benefits
  • Employment Law
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

The President said companies are giving big bonuses to their workers because of the “Tax Cut Bill,” and the national media is offering a number of examples to back up this claim, but will the new law actually benefit most employees? 

It all depends who you ask.

Yes, a number of major corporations have pledged to pass along some of the savings they’ll reap from the new 21% corporate tax rate (down from 35%) in the form of raises, bonuses and new investments in human capital.

One major example is AT&T. The company announced it would give a $1,000 bonus to more than 200,000 U.S. workers and invest $1 billion in the U.S. economy because of the new tax law.

Here are a few additional examples, courtesy of The Daily Signal:

  • Aflac: $250 million boost in U.S. investments and increased 401(k) benefits, including a one-time contribution of $500 to every employee’s retirement savings account.
  • American Savings Bank: $1,000 bonus to 1,150 employees, nearly the entire workforce, and increase minimum wages from $12.21 an hour to $15.15.
  • Aquesta Financial Holdings: $1,000 bonus to all employees, and increase minimum wages to $15 per hour.
  • Associated Bank: $500 bonus to nearly all employees and increased minimum wage to $15 per hour, up from $10.
  • Bank of America: $1,000 bonus for about 145,000 U.S. employees.
  • Bank of Hawaii: $1,000 bonus for 2,074 employees, or 95% of its workforce, and increase minimum wages from $12 to $15.
  • BB&T Corp.: $1,200 bonus for almost three-fourths of associates, or 27,000 employees, and increase minimum wages from $12 to $15.
  • Boeing: $300 million boost in investments to employee gift-match programs, workforce development, and workplace improvements.

Industry insiders, such as Adam Michel, policy analyst for economic studies at The Heritage Foundation, see the moves corporations are making as proof tax reform is working. According to Michel:

“Raises, bonuses, and new investments spurred by tax reform show that the Republicans’ tax reform is working how they said it would. Business across America are putting their tax cuts to work for the American people. This first wave of stories is great news, but the real benefits are yet to come. Tax reform expands the economic pie so that more Americans will be better off.”

‘Good marketing but …’

Others, however, feel it’s too soon to point to such a small sampling of bonuses and wage increases as proof the tax law will delivered as promised.

William Klepper, a management professor at Columbia Business School, said:

“It’s good marketing, but you don’t have a trend yet. It’s premature at this point.”

In fact, according to the White House’s own calculations, just 18 companies in the S&P 500 will dole out bonuses or boosted wages and/or benefits because of the tax law.

This story was initially published on our sister website, HR Morning.

Keep Up To Date with the Latest Finance News

With CFO Daily News arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on accounting, benefits, payroll & employment law strategies.

Sign up for a free CFO Daily News membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
CFO Daily News Logo
  • ABOUT CFO DAILY NEWS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Payroll
  • Policy and Culture
  • Employment Law
  • Fraud
  • Finance Technology
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Strategy
  • Payments and Transactions
  • Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Banking
  • Staff Management
  • Cost Control
  • Supply Chain
  • IT

CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

preloader