Headlines about "Fringe benefits - transit, discounts, other"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.

Mayor Signs San Francisco Commuter Mandate
Excerpt: "San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has signed an ordinance, believed to be the first of its kind for a municipality, that requires employers to offer employees at least one of three commuter benefit options." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Employers Get Creative to Ease Impact of Gas Prices
Excerpt: "Organizations are taking a variety of creative steps to help their employees offset the high cost of gasoline, according to Mercer's 2008 Gas Price Impact SnapShot Survey. Within the next six months, almost one in four employers (22%) are for the first time planning to offer at least some of their employees the option of a four-day work week, and 24% are planning to allow more employees to telecommute . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] On-Site Health Clinics Require an Ounce of Legal Prevention
Excerpt: "Employers offering clinics can achieve attractive outcomes, but realizing these gains requires navigating a complex legal landscape. This Update answers questions about several legal issues faced in setting up and sponsoring on-site health clinics." (Mercer)

Workers Want Time Off for Fun
Excerpt: "Though their stress levels are high, workers haven't been taking much time off from work in 2008, and many have not been using their time off as they would like, according to recent research from The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

States Push Laws to Require Paid Sick Leave Days
Excerpt: "Some 46 million U.S. workers lack paid sick days, but lawmakers in 12 states -- including California, Connecticut, Minnesota and West Virginia -- have proposed legislation in the past year that would require businesses to provide them." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)

Lower Costs, Higher Morale Benefits of Four-Day Work Week
Excerpt: "Chrysler LLC is the latest to propose workers shift to four 10-hour days. The state of Utah adopted it earlier this month, and so have hundreds of U.S. cities. Closer to home, officials in Nova Scotia and the city of Hamilton are interested in the idea, and some industrial plants have quietly made the change." (The Globe and Mail)

[Guidance Overview] Employer's Dollar Limit on Nontaxable Gifts Is Not Imposed by De Minimis Fringe Benefit Rules
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Many employers use a fixed dollar limit to identify gifts that will be considered de minimis, and thus not reported as income. As this information letter reminds us, though, the Code's de minimis fringe benefit rules do not set any fixed dollar limit -- they use a less precise standard. This puts employers in a difficult position. Making individualized determinations seems practically impossible but any fixed dollar limit may include too much or too little in income." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

[Official Guidance] Text of IRS Rev. Proc. 2008-48: Treatment of Dependent by Noncustodial Parent When Custodial Parent Has Not Released Claim (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The Service will treat a child described in the scope section of this revenue procedure of taxpayers within the scope of this revenue procedure as the dependent of both parents under зз 105(b), 106(a), 132(h)(2)(B), 213(d)(5), 220(d)(2), and 223(d)(2), whether or not the custodial parent releases the claim to the exemption under з 152(e)(2). . . . This revenue procedure is effective August 18, 2008. However, taxpayers may apply this revenue procedure in any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2004, for which the period of limitation on credit or refund under з 6511 has not expired as of August 18, 2008." (Internal Revenue Service)

Employers Ignoring Workers' Pain at the Pump, According to Survey
Excerpt: "Employers are doing little, if anything, to help employees cope with the budget-busting fill-ups at the pump. Eighty percent of the employees surveyed say they get no financial or other benefits from their employers to ease the burden of high fuel prices." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Access to and Use of Paid Sick Leave Among Low-Income Families With Children
Excerpt: "Our goal was to provide rates of access to paid sick leave and paid vacation leave among low-income families with children and to assess whether access to these benefits is associated with parents' leave taking to care for themselves or others." (Pediatrics)

San Francisco Mandates Transit Benefits
Excerpt: "Employers with 20 or more employees in San Francisco will be required to offer commuter benefits to their workers under an ordinance passed Tuesday, August 12, by the city's Board of Supervisors. . . . The mayor has 10 days to decide whether to sign or veto the measure." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

New Analysis Shows How Paid Sick Leave Bill Would Force Significant Modifications in Companies' Benefits
Excerpt: "As described in a new HR Policy Analysis, the (HFA) (S. 910 / H.R. 1542), introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), would require employers already providing the benefit to make a number of significant modifications to ensure compliance . . . . [Links to the Act and to the analysis are on the target page.]" (HR Policy Association)

San Francisco Transit Break Would Reduce Payroll Taxes
Excerpt: "San Francisco employers are likely to face new legislation requiring them to provide employees with the opportunity to use pretax earnings to pay for passes on public transportation." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Telework for Federal Workers Becomes More Attractive As Quality-of-Life Concerns Spike
Excerpt: "In the face of all [the] challenges, the federal government is turning to the little workforce policy that could. Telework might not solve all the federal government's workforce ills, but it's providing relatively cheap and easy relief for agencies struggling to make themselves more resilient and performance-oriented. And telework is a major weapon in the fight to make the federal government an ahead-of-the-curve employer." (GovernmentExecutive.com)

With No Paid Sick Leave, Workers Face Grim Choices
Excerpt: "As with so many other things regarding worker health and safety, the United States stands virtually alone in not guaranteeing workers paid leave when they get sick. In 145 other countries Ц including Japan and the top economies of Western Europe Ц employers are legally required to provide paid sick days or short-or long-term leave for illnesses. In 127 countries, employers must provide at least one week of paid sick leave per year. In contrast, outside of San Francisco Ц which recently passed its own law on paid sick leave Ц there is no such requirement in the United States." (San Diego Union-Tribune)

GM Benefits to Cost Salaried Employees More
Excerpt: "General Motors Corp. salaried employees learned Friday morning that dental and vision coverage will be more expensive next year and that prescription drug co-pays also will increase. The benefit cost increases are part of GM's plan, announced July 16, to conserve and raise $15 billion as the world's largest automaker deals with plunging sales due to a weak U.S. economy and dramatically changing vehicle preferences." (Detroit Free Press)

Giving Time Off to Help Save a Life
Excerpt: "Organ transplant advocates push for paid leave and new laws protecting jobs of donors, but small firms say they can't always accommodate such requests -- even for a good cause." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

California Lawmakers Determine Paid Sick Leave Benefit too Costly
Excerpt: "A California bill that would force employers to provide paid sick leave for workers died Thursday amid business lobbyists' opposition and lawmakers' concern that the benefit was too costly, the Los Angeles Times reports." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Opinion] Potential for Paid Sick Leave Mandate in Ohio Warrants Pro-Active Strategy
Excerpt: "With each passing day, it appears more likely that Ohioans will be going to the polls on November 4, 2008 to vote on whether employers that employ at least 25 workers in Ohio will be required by law to provide workers with up to seven days of paid sick leave annually." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)

Federal Employees' Sick Leave
Excerpt: "Federal employees hired since 1984 could be just months away from being able to cash out their unused sick leave at retirement.Last week, the House passed a measure that would allow workers covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (generally those hired in 1984 or later) to apply their leftover sick leave toward their retirement annuity. The measure seeks to correct a disparity between FERS and the older Civil Service Retirement System, under which employees receive credit for unused sick leave." (GovernmentExecutive.com)

The New Workplace Perk: Gasoline
Excerpt: "Gasoline has become the new workplace perk, as employers scramble to help workers cut its use and cost. A dollar a gallon ago, things like telecommuting, shortened workweeks and Internet subsidies were ways of saving time and providing workers with a little more balance in their lives. Now they have become ways to save money and to keep workers from, well, walking." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Survey Finds that Gas Prices Influence Employer Policies for Auto-Bound Employees
Excerpt: "Jackson Lewis LLP, [a workplace law firm], recently conducted a survey of more than 100 employers in New York's metropolitan commuter areas to determine how recent unrelenting gas prices have affected the employer-employee relationship. The survey found that the sky rocketing gas prices have led employers to adjust workplace policies and programs accordingly." (PR Newswire via NewsEdge via Human Resource Executive Online)

[Guidance Overview] Maryland and the District of Columbia Pass Sick Leave Laws (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Continuing a trend of state and local jurisdictions imposing new paid leave requirements on employers, Maryland and the District of Columbia each recently passed legislation that significantly expands the right of employees to take paid sick leave. The District of Columbia joins San Francisco as the only jurisdictions that require employers to provide paid sick leave. Maryland joins California, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington State in requiring or regulating paid family leave." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

California Bill Would Require Paid Sick Days for Most
Excerpt: "[The] bill - AB2716 by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco - was modeled on the paid sick leave law that took effect last year in San Francisco. The bill passed the state Assembly in May and is scheduled for a hearing next week in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Business groups led by the California Chamber of Commerce oppose the sick leave bill, saying it is a complicated and costly mandate that could force companies to cut wages or lay off workers." (San Francisco Chronicle)

California Cities Rally Against Paid Sick Leave Proposal
Excerpt: "A growing number of local cities are expressing opposition to a bill that would mandate paid sick leave for all California employees. Most of the attention on AB 2716, which has passed the Assembly and heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Aug. 4, has centered on the bill's effect on the relationship between employees and private businesses." (Pasadena Star-News)

GSA Raises Mileage Reimbursement Rate for Federal Employees
Excerpt: "The General Services Administration on Monday followed a recent Internal Revenue Service announcement by raising the mileage reimbursement rate for government employees using their personal vehicles on the job to 58.5 cents per mile." (GovernmentExecutive.com)

Teleworkers Say It's A Gas-Saver
Excerpt: "Although the spike in gas prices might be driving the increase, advocates for telecommuting say it's a matter of time before the trend catches fire. For a generation that came of age texting and instant-messaging, driving two hours to sit at a cubicle outside the boss's office doesn't make sense if there's an office down the street. And as that generation replaces an older set of supervisors, businesses will become more open to the idea of remote offices, teleworkers say." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Working Long Hours, and Paying the Price
Excerpt: "[L]ong days at work take a serious toll. For starters, it is very hard for employees to maintain a healthy lifestyle when work and commuting consume 60 or more hours a week. It is probably not a coincidence that obesity has become more prevalent as work hours have expanded for some. Too many hours at the office can also wind up being counterproductive. Employees who are overtired or preoccupied with neglected personal issues are unlikely to perform at their peak. They fall behind, spend more unproductive time at work to catch up, and so on." (The New York Times; free registration required)

GM to Offer an Extra Employee Discount Through July
Excerpt: "The discount offers a substantial savings. A Buick Lucerne with a sticker price of $34,200 would carry an employee price of $29,758.03 after cash incentives, says a GM spokesman." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

New York Governor Seeks Input on Bill Regarding Prostate, Breast Cancer Screenings
Excerpt: "New York Gov. David A. Paterson called for public comments today on whether certain public employees should receive paid time off for prostate and breast cancer screenings. Bill S.8077/A.10035-A would clarify state law to explicitly state that certain government employees are entitled to up to four hours of paid leave for these health screenings. Paterson must act on the legislation by Wednesday." (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Americans and Summer Vacation
Excerpt: "The average U.S. worker gets 14 days of paid vacation, but anxieties about the economy are making fewer employees take off during the summer. Commentator Robert Reich says Americans still need a summer break." (American Public Media)

Legislator Proposes Commuter Relief from Gas Prices
Excerpt: "U.S. Representative Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio) has introduced legislation to reimburse workers for some of the cost of their commute to work." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Benefits to ProtectЧ and AddЧ During Economic Downturns
Excerpt: "There are five employee benefits that should be protected during down times, and they have one thing in common: personal accountability. These benefits use company resources to provide long-term advantages to both the organization and the employee Ц but only if the employee is willing to meet the organizational investment with his or her own efforts." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Provides Guidance on Proper Income Tax Withholding for Nine Common Supplemental Wage Payment Scenarios
Excerpt: "For each of the situations discussed, the IRS assumes that there is no constructive receipt or constructive payment of wages before the actual payment of wages, that no amounts are required to be included in income under section 409A before the actual payment of wages, and that all payments are made on or after January 1, 2007." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

Cuts in Paid Sick Days Puts Unhealthy Employees in the Workplace
Excerpt: "As many as 43% of American workers in private industry don't have paid sick days, according to 2007 data from the federal government. If they call in sick, they lose their pay and, sometimes, their jobs. That number has risen over the years, part of a larger trend to cut back on sick leave. Among workers who do still have the once-venerable benefit, many have found their days reduced or lumped together as part of their vacation time." (Los Angeles Times via Sun-Sentinel.com)

Giving Time Off Work to Help Save a Life
Excerpt: "Organ transplant advocates push for paid leave and new laws protecting jobs of donors, but small firms say they can't always accommodate such requests -- even for a good cause." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Fuel Prices Drive Tough Adjustments As Public, Private Sectors Eye Shorter Workweeks, Telecommuting, to Cut Costs
Excerpt: "[The symbolic gesture by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm--pedaling a bke] a couple of days a week to the state Capitol in Lansing--is part of an evolving behavior shift by individuals, employers and governments struggling to adjust to the hard reality of gas at more than $4 a gallon, as well as higher energy costs overall." (Chicago Tribune via AARP)

[Guidance Overview] New York State Issues Guidelines Interpreting 'Blood Donation Leave' and 'Rights of Nursing Mothers' Legislation
Excerpt: "The New York Commissioner of Labor has recently issued guidelines for the implementation of two new provisions of the New York Labor Law. These guidelines deal with: (1) the provision of blood donation leave to employees; and (2) the right of nursing mothers to express breast milk at their place of employment. The guidelines address many of the concerns facing employers under these new laws, and provide several benchmarks for compliance." (Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC)

Employers Offering Telecommuting to Cut Office Real Estate Costs
Excerpt: "Traditionally, employers have offered telecommuting as a perk to retain key talent, Hand says. But during the past several months, companies are citing it as a way to reduce real estate costs, observers say. The fact that it might also help employees save on gasoline costs is apparently not uppermost in their minds, but it couldn't hurt." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

The Case Against Worker Vacation Policies
Excerpt: "Counting days and hours is a holdover from the industrial era that makes no sense for information workers who can do their jobs without being at their desks at set hours, proponents of such changes say. 'The reason companies have a vacation policy or time-off policy is because of the way work is structured: 8 to 5, Monday through Friday,' says Jody Thompson, one of the Best Buy HR managers who upended the company's attitude toward time." (ECT News Network, Inc.)

Employee Benefits Like Flex-Time and Showers for Cyclists Can Save Gas Ц and More
Excerpt: "Birmingham [Alabama] is just one of many cities, counties, and states turning to 'flex-time' to help employees cope with $4-a-gallon gas. It's not a new concept, but if public and private employers made adjustable schedules more widely available Ц along with telecommuting, mass-transit benefits, and bike facilities Ц the payoff would go far beyond fuel-cost relief." (The Christian Science Monitor)

Utah State Workers Move to Four-Day Week
Excerpt: "Many state workers in Utah are moving to a four-day work week next month in an effort to 'conserve energy, save money, improve our air quality, and enhance customer service.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

2008 Presidential Election: Candidates' Employment Proposals (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he candidates have proposed changes to employer-paid leaves of absence, the rules governing union elections, minimum wage . . . ." (Hewitt Associates)

Sun's 'Open Work' Program Sheds Light on Telecommute Savings
Excerpt: "'Not only did we find that the energy used by working in the office was about twice as much as what was used when working from home, which was a significant difference, but we also found a huge impact [from] the energy consumption used in the commute,' . . . ." (Computerworld Inc.)

Relocation Policy Changes Show Employers Controlling Costs
Excerpt: "Recent relocation policy changes cited by employers participating in a recent survey indicate a greater focus on controlling costs. According to Prudential's Move Forward newsletter, adopting or increasing pre-decision counseling for homeowners (46%) is the single biggest reported change among those surveyed companies that have made, or plan to make, relocation policy revisions. Companies want to help homeowners effectively conduct risk-assessment that includes understanding the limits of the relocation policy, but are also increasingly focused on reining in downstream cost exposure by guiding homeowners in their purchase decisions." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Announces Mid-Year Increase in Mileage Rates for Transportation to Obtain Medical Care and Moving Expenses
Excerpt: "" (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

Breastfeeding Accommodation in California Enforced
Excerpt: "From the Sacramento Bee via CCH Workweek, comes the news that the California Labor Commission last week fined a Santa Clara-based company $4,000 for violating state law that requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees who are breastfeeding. The law requires that employees be given reasonable privacy and reasonable breaks to allow them to express milk." (Workplace Prof Blog)

Leave Benefits in the United States, Updated May 7, 2008 (PDF)
24 pages. Excerpt: "The report closes with results from a federal government survey of the average direct cost to businesses of different types of leave." (U.S. Congressional Research Service)

Is It Worth Ramping Up Relocation Packages to Entice People to Move?
Excerpt: "In the Weichert study, 27 percent of companies said they are increasing relocation benefits in 2008 to entice new hires into new locations. In a similar study of 50 companies surveyed by Valhalla, N.Y.-based Prudential Relocation's Global Consulting Group, 58 percent said they have made changes or plan to change their relocation policies to address today's market." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Employers Try to Ease Workers' Commuting Costs (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "[A] growing number of companies have undertaken a variety of initiatives to ease the commuting burden for employees." (Hewitt Associates)

Employers Pump Up Mileage Reimbursement, but Offer Little Relief for Costly Commutes
Excerpt: "Americans are likely to get only modest help from employers in easing pain at the pump. Two recent surveys show the primary way companies are responding has nothing to do with getting to work." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

IRS Increases Mileage Rates
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service has bumped up optional standard mileage rates for computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, medical, or moving expense purposes and for determining the reimbursed amount of these expenses that is deemed substantiated." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Official Guidance] Text of IRS Announcement 2008-63: Increase in Optional Standard Mileage Rates, Effective July 1, 2008 (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "This announcement informs taxpayers that the Internal Revenue Service is modifying Rev. Proc. 2007-70 . . . by revising the optional standard mileage rates for computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, medical, or moving expense purposes and for determining the reimbursed amount of these expenses that is deemed substantiated. This modification results from recent increases in the price of fuel. The revised standard mileage rates are: . . . Business: 58.5 cents per mile . . . [and] Medical and moving: 27 cents per mile." (Internal Revenue Service)

Ampad Implements Programs to Help Reduce Employee Commuting Costs
Excerpt: "Ampad CEO Don Meltzer stated, 'In a recent management meeting, our leadership team discussed the impact of the rising price of gasoline on our employees. The daily drive to and from work is probably the largest fuel cost they face. We implemented new employee programs in an effort to help our employees offset some of these escalating costs.'" (BusinessWire)

Continental Airlines, Shedding Jobs, Offers Health Benefits to Workers Who Leave
Excerpt: "Continental Airlines Inc., which is shedding 3,000 jobs in a cost-cutting move, is offering employees a year's worth of health insurance and travel perks if they leave on their own." (AP via International Herald Tribune)

More Employers Are Offering Group Legal Plans to Employees
Excerpt: "Prompted by the national mortgage mess and myriad other legal issues that people face, an increasing number of employers are following in Fujitsu America's footsteps by offering group legal plans to employees. Under these programs, employees sign up for payroll deduction to pay the fee -- usually around $200 annually -- to have access to attorneys." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Guidance on Proper Income Tax Withholding for Nine Common Supplemental Wage Payment Scenarios
Excerpt: "For each of the situations discussed, the IRS assumes that there is no constructive receipt or constructive payment of wages before the actual payment of wages, that no amounts are required to be included in income under section 409A before the actual payment of wages, and that all payments are made on or after January 1, 2007." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

Helping Employees Fight Rising Fuel Costs
Excerpt: "Helping employees fight increasing gas prices doesn't have to cost you anything but a little time; however, if you have the budget available, small incentives may mean a lot to employees. These can include raffles for gas gift cards for carpoolers; train tickets for commuters; even movie tickets or restaurant gift cards, since employees are probably cutting back on entertainment with the extra cost of gas." (The Precept Employee Benefits Blog)

Imagine a Month of Mandatory Paid Leave
Excerpt: "BKD forces partners . . . to truly unplug. 'We basically won't talk to partners when they're on sabbatical,'. . . . 'If they call, we will not forward their phone calls. We turn off their E-mail.' When clients call looking for a partner who's away, the receptionist reminds them that the person is on sabbatical and directs the call to a manager. Hultz says the program helps ensure that partners don't get burned out and that managers and junior staffers get a chance to test their skills while a partner is away; it also gives BKD a recruiting edge." (CFO.com)

Some Companies Provide Loans, Grants and Counseling to Workers Mired in Mortgage Debt
Excerpt: "In the wake of the mortgage crisis, a small but growing number of workers are getting help avoiding or coping with foreclosure from an unlikely source: their employers. So far, a handful of companies -- from small manufacturers to large companies like home-financing behemoth Fannie Mae -- are offering assistance, such as interest-free loans, grants and support in securing rental properties. They're also beefing up their employee-assistance programs, or EAPs, and adding more educational seminars on personal finance." (The Wall Street Journal)

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