Headlines about "Fringe benefits - transit, discounts, other"
Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
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 Protect and Add 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 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 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 along with telecommuting, mass-transit benefits, and bike facilities 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)
Employee/Employer Gas Cost Idea Runs on Fumes
Excerpt: "What are the chances of getting my employer to pay me a gas-offset perk, and how do I present the idea?" (Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.)
West Virginia State Employees Can Start Cashing in Sick Days July 1
Excerpt: "The Legislature this year passed a bill that allows eligible state workers to trade their sick days for cash in an effort to ease debt from members of the Public Employees Insurance Agency. Certain state employees hired before 2001 can convert unused sick days into free PEIA coverage after retirement." (Charleston Daily Mail)
Telework: A Green Solution for the 21st Century's Employee Crisis
Excerpt: "Experts have debated at length the cost/benefit analysis of telework from productivity, security, and work-life standpoints, but one thing is for certain. Rising energy costs and the trickling economy have lead to a nationwide cash crunch. New data suggests that telework can contribute strongly to reducing pollution, energy consumption and overhead costs for companies." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Downsizing Maternity Leave: Employers Cut Pay, Time Off
Excerpt: "Employers are cutting back on post-childbirth pay for mothers and offering shorter leaves, on average, for both moms and dads, compared with a decade ago." (The Wall Street Journal)
[Official Guidance] Proposed IRS Regs: Qualified Nonpersonal Use Vehicles for Public Safety Officer Vehicles (PDF)
15 pages. Excerpt: "Qualified nonpersonal use vehicles are excepted from the substantiation requirements of section 274(d)(4) that apply to listed property as defined in section 280F(d)(4). These proposed regulations would add clearly marked public safety officer vehicles as a new type of qualified nonpersonal use vehicles. These proposed regulations would affect employers that provide their employees with qualified nonpersonal use vehicles and the employees who use such vehicles." (Internal Revenue Service)
[Guidance Overview] Paid Sick Leave in the Nation's Capital (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Washington, D.C. is poised to join San Francisco and New Jersey1 in requiring employers to provide paid sick leave benefits to employees, but an internal inconsistency in the new D.C. law may make implementation by employers difficult." (Groom Law Group)
Tech Workers Would Trade Pay Cut for Telecommuting OK
Excerpt: "If they could work out of their homes, 37% of U.S. technology workers would take a pay cut of up to 10%, a new survey found." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Vacations Are Good for You, Medically Speaking
Excerpt: "Using information from the Framingham Heart Study, which started in 1948, researchers looked at questionnaires women in the study had filled out over 20 years about how often they took vacations. Those women who took a vacation once every six years or less were almost eight times more likely to develop coronary heart disease or have a heart attack than those who took at least two vacations a year, said Elaine Eaker, a co-author of the study and president of Eaker Epidemiology Enterprises, a private research company." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Who Benefits from Tax-Advantaged Employee Benefits? Evidence from University Parking
Excerpt: "We use university parking permits to study how firms and employees split the value of employee benefit tax subsidies." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
[Guidance Overview] California Court of Appeal Interprets 'Kin Care' Provisions for the First Time
Excerpt: "In McCarther v. Pacific Telesis Group, No. A115223 (May 23, 2008), a case of first impression, a California Court of Appeal held that California's kin care statute Labor Code section 233 applies where an employer provides employees with an indefinite number of paid sick days on an as-needed basis. In essence, the court held that whenever an employer provides paid sick leave, it must comply with kin care obligations no matter how it structures and calculates the sick leave entitlement." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)
[Guidance Overview] Washington, DC's 'Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act' Receives Congressional Approval (PDF)
Pages 3-4 of 4 pages. Excerpt: "The District of Columbia Accrued and Safe Leave Act of 2008 took effect on May 13, 2008. The Act applies to all DC employers, for profit and not for profit, regardless of the size of their work forces." (Dow Lohnes PLLC)
Employers Dealing with Workers' Commuting Costs
Excerpt: "As gas prices skyrocket, some workers are changing jobs to be closer to home, while others won't even apply to ones that require a long commute. Experts say employers must develop strategies to deal with these threats -- and many companies are already taking action." (Human Resource Executive Online)
[Guidance Overview] Washington, D.C. Passes the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008
Excerpt: "Effective November 13, 2008, mandatory sick leave provisions will apply to even the smallest employers." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)
'Learning 401(k)s' an Innovative Way to Encourage Employees to Increase Their Knowledge
Excerpt: "[A]nnouncing a corporate learning program is hardly earth-shattering news. But in this case, IBM created its new learning initiative to give employees who have been with Big Blue more than five years a 50 percent match of up to $1,000 contributed -- to do whatever they want with the money, as long as it's used for learning. In the extreme, if an IBM employee wanted to use his or her matching dollars to take cooking lessons or learn to speak Chinese, that's perfectly fine under the program's guidelines." (Human Resource Executive Online)
Employers Help with Adoptions
Excerpt: "Companies that offer adoption benefits do so out of a sense of inclusiveness, and to make themselves more competitive employers. Federal law guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave, but little else directs private employers to accommodate adoptive parents. Laws regarding additional benefits vary from state to state." (AP via Philly Online, LLC)
Look Before Making a Relocation Leap
Excerpt: "With a fear that jobs are harder to come by, you may be tempted to pick up stakes and relocate at the first offer you encounter. But experts say that it doesn't always make sense to move for just any job. For one thing, moving isn't cheap. Many employers will pay at least part of the relocation costs, but employees should get as many details as possible about their relocation package before committing." (MarketWatch)
Employers Turn to Four-Day Work Week to Save Gas
Excerpt: "When Ohio's Kent State University offered custodial staff the option of working four days a week instead of five to cut commuting costs, most jumped at the chance, part of a U.S. trend aimed at combating soaring gasoline prices. 'We offered it to 94 employees and 78 have taken us up on it,' said university spokesman Scott Rainone." (Financial Week; free registration required)
Employees' Commuter Benefit Opportunities Grow
Excerpt: "Responding to workers' frustration with soaring prices at the gas pump, employers are beefing up commuter benefits as a way to offer some financial relief, reports the Society of Human Resource Management." (Employee Benefit Adviser; free registration required)
California Lawmakers Sign Off on Mandatory Paid Sick Leave
Excerpt: "On Wednesday, the California Assembly passed a bill that would require paid sick leave for all workers, poising California to be the first state to adopt such a requirement, the Sacramento Bee reports." (California HealthCare Foundation)
What Is Your Firm Doing About Rising Fuel Costs? Survey Results
Excerpt: "With the rising cost of fuel and, for many, the cost of getting to work [PLANSPONSOR] asked readers what, if anything, their firm had done to help folks deal with those rising costs." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Program Providing Reimbursement of Phone Services for Retirees is an ERISA Plan
Excerpt: "The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has determined that a telephone company's program that provides reimbursement for phone services to retirees constitutes a pension plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Telecommuting Could Save Money for Workers and Employers
Excerpt: "Telecommuting, or using computer technology to work from home, was a buzzword in the 1990s, but it's debatable whether the trend truly caught on. As the nation struggles with soaring gas prices, air pollution and traffic congestion, telecommuting is appealing to many workers." (The Augusta Chronicle)
Wachovia Offers Employees Three-Year Leave Plan
Excerpt: "The program does not grant job protection. Once on leave, individuals are considered inactive employees and their benefits are on hold. But the program provides a formal way for employees to maintain a presence with the nation's fourth-largest bank." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Mercer Issues Survey on Prevalence of Car Benefits
Excerpt: "Mercer's 2008 International Car Policies report is a valuable reference guide that can help companies define new strategies and optimize their car policies by highlighting differences in practices across key markets, identifying cost-saving measures and benchmarking an organization's car policy against others in the market. The new report provides information on allocation policies, cash alternatives to cars and associated tax regulations in 63 countries." (Mercer LLC)
2008 Top Five Total Rewards Priorities Survey (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "Although no longer most employers' top worry, confronting the mounting cost of total rewards particularly health care benefits remains a high priority for survey respondents. In fact, 'the cost of providing health care benefits to active employees' was the second-highest concern on a list of 12 . . . ." (Deloitte Consulting LLP and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists)
Vacations Continue to be Less of a Break from Work
Excerpt: "One-quarter of workers surveyed by CareerBuilder.com said they stay in contact with work while on vacation." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Companies Help Employees Deal With Fuel Costs
Excerpt: "Companies are launching a variety of relief initiatives such as providing alternate ways to get to work -- including purchasing buses and vans to give employees free rides -- and changing corporate policies to accommodate workers who travel for their jobs. (The Wall Street Journal)
Wachovia Banks on Three-Year Leave Plan
Excerpt: "The program does not grant job protection. Once on leave, individuals are considered inactive employees and their benefits are on hold. But the program provides a formal way for employees to maintain a presence with the nation's fourth-largest bank. " (Workforce.com)
\Group Legal Plans Becoming More Popular
Excerpt: "Prompted by the national mortgage mess and myriad other legal issues that people face, more employers are offering group legal plans to employees." (Workforce.com)
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