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

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
H1N1 Paid Sick Leave Splits Democrats, Advocacy Groups
Excerpt: "The House labor committee will hold a hearing on the Emergency Influenza Containment Act the week of November 16. It's unclear when or if a companion Senate bill will be introduced." (Workforce Management)

Pets Are Healthcare Dependents, Too
Excerpt: "With the economy starting to turn around, employees are still keeping a close eye on their money. But bring up their beloved pet, and they're all ears." (Employee Benefit Adviser; free registration required)

Temporary Paid Sick Leave Legislation Introduced to Deal with H1N1, Other Illnesses
Excerpt: "As concern over H1N1 and influenza-related illnesses continues to spread, legislation that would require employers to provide up to five days of paid sick leave per year to workers afflicted with influenza or other, similar contagious illness has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill applies to employers with 15 or more employees where workers comply with the employer's directive to go home or stay home from work because of a contagious illness." (Jackson Lewis)

EEOC Provides Technical Guidance on Pandemic Planning in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act (PDF)
4 pages. (Buck Consultants)

[Guidance Overview] Chart of 2009 and 2010 Retirement Plan and Other Inflation‑Adjusted Benefits (PDF)
3 pages. Also included are transportation and adoption benefits. (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)

Congress Will Consider Option for Federal Workers to Contribute Unused Leave Toward Retirement Account
Excerpt: "Many federal employees lately have been thinking a lot about saving for retirement. One idea currently being kicked around inside the Beltway is allowing government workers to roll their unused annual leave into their Thrift Savings Plans. President Barack Obama endorsed the idea during his Labor Day radio address in September. 'The rules ought to be written to encourage people to save instead of discouraging them,' he said. . . . Congress currently is considering a separate proposal to allow workers in the Federal Employees Retirement System to count their unused sick leave toward their retirement annuities. That legislation affects only the defined retirement benefit portion of FERS, not the TSP, which operates as a defined contribution plan." (GovernmentExecutive.com)

Firms Boost Workplace Benefits to Attract and Retain Tech-Savvy Workers
Excerpt: "Pingpong and pool, free lunches on Fridays, fully stocked refrigerators, on-site yoga, generous vacation time, telecommuting options and employer-paid health coverage: If the list of perks sounds like a throwback to the dot-com boom, think again. At a time when many businesses are slashing benefits to the bone, a growing number of Chicago-area companies are bucking the trend. Those fortunate employers who can afford to go the extra mile for their workers can boost productivity and ultimately gain market share, said Joe Dwyer, chief executive at Brill Street + Co., an Internet matchmaker for job seekers and employers. 'These companies go all out to attract and retain the best and brightest,' he said." (Chicago Tribune)

Tax-Free Commuter Benefits Enhances Overall Benefits' Offerings
Excerpt: "The economic stimulus package appears to have sparked more employers offering tax-free commuter benefits, reports the TransitCenter, a non-profit group that promotes mass transit use. In its 2009 Commuter Impact Survey, the organization reports a 35% increase in the number of employers with programs for tax-free commuter benefits since Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2008." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Guidance on Contribution of Unused Paid Time Off, Automatic Enrollment and Tax Notices (PDF)
Pages 1-3 of 6 pages. Excerpt: "During his weekly address over this past Labor Day weekend, President Obama announced several new initiatives with the goal of providing American workers additional avenues to save for retirement. The details of those initiatives were subsequently published in several Internal Revenue Service ('IRS') rulings and notices [and are summarized in the target document]." (Trucker Huss)

IRS Mounts Audit Initiative Targeting Misclassification and Fringe Benefits
Excerpt: "In the next few months, the IRS will commence an audit initiative intended to study compliance in the areas of payroll taxes, independent contractor (IC) status and fringe benefits/executive compensation arrangements. One of the goals is to reduce: (1) the tax gap by increasing tax compliance' and (2) the number of 'misclassified' ICs. A likely secondary objective, and one urged by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), is to ensure benefits coverage and 'labor protection' associated with employee status." (Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.)

[Guidance Overview] 2010 Benefit Limits
Excerpt: "The Service has also released health and fringe benefit plan adjustments effective January 1, 2010." (Kilpatrick Stockton LLP)

At Rescued Banks, Chief Executive Perks Keep Rolling with Fringe Compensation Rising 4 Percent Last Year
Excerpt: "Even as the nation's biggest financial firms were struggling and the federal government was spending hundreds of billions of dollars to save many of them, the companies as a group were boosting the perks and benefits they pay their chief executives. The firms, accounting for more $350 billion in federal bailout funds, increased these perks and benefits 4 percent on average last year, according to an analysis of corporate disclosures filed in recent months." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Study Finds Almost Half of New York City's Workers Lack Sick Leave
Excerpt: "Nearly half of New York City's workforce -- about 1.9 million New Yorkers -- don't get paid sick leave, according to a new study by the Community Service Society of New York, a nonprofit advocacy group for the poor. Low-income workers are nearly twice as likely as higher-income workers to receive no paid sick days, with 66 percent of workers earning less than $36,000 a year for a family of three lacking the benefit, according to the study." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Telework Programs Can Provide Myriad Benefits If Companies Get the Appropriate Policies in Place
Excerpt: "Technology has enabled telework programs to evolve beyond images of people dialing up in pajamas to remote workers tapping advanced collaboration tools that increase productivity and ensure business continuity. In some cases, disaster recovery plans have spawned well-structured and documented telework programs. But at the majority of companies, there are no formal telework policies in place, even as more and more workers go mobile. . . . Here are 10 simple steps that can help organizations advance their telework programs from ad hoc to admirable." (Network World)

Commuter Benefit Offerings Increase, According to Survey
Excerpt: "Despite concerns about cutting costs during the down economy, most employers are maintaining -- and in some cases increasing -- tax-free commuter benefits as part of their compensation packages, according to TransitCenter's 2009 Commuter Impact Survey. Eight months after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which increased the amount of tax-free income employees could use to pay for their mass transit fares from $120/month to $230/month, TransitCenter found that over one-third (35%) of companies surveyed offer a tax-free commuter benefit, according to a press release. The announcement said employees at small businesses have been particularly enthusiastic about the increase in the tax benefit, with TransitCenter showing that 32% of the employees at its existing small business customers who were deducting the monthly maximum of $120 prior to the passage of the bill increased their deductions to above $120 after the bill's passage. The survey found flextime (33%), telecommuting (30%) and Transit (30%) are the top commute-related benefits offered by the surveyed companies. Seventy-two percent of respondents indicated they see tax-free commuter benefits as a way to help reduce their company's carbon footprint." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Transportation Benefits, Adoption Assistance, and More
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Employers with adoption benefit plans will need to confirm whether their plans automatically apply the latest limits or whether an amendment is needed to recognize the cost-of-living increases. If employers are applying the higher limits, they should communicate the increases to employees. (Transportation plan limits are unchanged for 2010, so employers will not need to consider or communicate any increases for those plans this year.) We note that, although 2010 parameters have been released for Archer MSAs, the Archer MSA pilot program expired at the end of 2007, which means that no new Archer MSAs can be established after that date unless Congress acts to extend the program again. Many who previously had Archer MSAs have switched to HSAs, which are generally more favorable." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

[Guidance Overview] Tips Offered on Retirement Plan Changes
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service will change tax forms to allow refunds to be automatically deposited into retirement accounts. Whether the money is directed at an individual retirement account or a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k), employers and their employees need to be sure not to exceed the annual contribution limits for these plans. In 2009, the limit on contributions by individuals to 401(k) plans is $16,500, and the limit on contributions to IRAs is $5,000, with certain exceptions." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)

Commuter Benefit Offerings Increase
Excerpt: "Despite concerns about cutting costs during the down economy, most employers are maintaining -- and in some cases increasing -- tax-free commuter benefits as part of their compensation packages, according to TransitCenter's 2009 Commuter Impact Survey." (PLANSPONSOR)

[Guidance Overview] Some Cautionary Advice About Cash-Outs of Unused Leave or Paid-Time-Off
Excerpt: "[I]f your PTO policy allows your employees to cash out up to $10,000 of accumulated PTO each year without restriction, they will have additional income each year equal to the total amount of PTO they could have cashed out -- even if they do not actually cash out any of their PTO! If you have maintained a PTO policy of this sort, you should have it reviewed and analyzed immediately." (Chang Rutherford & Long)

[Guidance Overview] Revenue Rulings 2009-31 and 2009-32 Dealing with Contribution of Dollar Equivalent of Unused Paid Time Off to Profit Sharing Plan (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Under the facts presented in both Revenue Rulings, all the employers maintain a profit sharing plan which includes a 401(k) feature that, prior to the amendments permitting the dollar equivalent of unused paid time off to be contributed to the plans, meets the requirements of IRC section 401(a) and IRC section 401(k). The plans have a calendar plan year and limitation year and the contribution of the dollarequivalent of unused paid time off (when combined with other plan contributions and annual additions) does not exceed the limitations of IRC section 415(c), dealing with the maximum contributions on behalf of a participant under a defined contribution plan, or the limitations of IRC section 401(a)(30), dealing with the limitations on elective deferrals. In addition, the contributions to the plans are made timely by the employers and qualify as a deduction on the employers' tax return for the applicable taxable year." (Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Increases Alternative Per Diem Rate for Travel and Entertainment Expenses
Excerpt: "The alternative per diems companies can use to reimburse employees for business travel, sometimes called 'high-low' rates, have inched up for 2010. Every year, the IRS releases alternative per diem rates for employers that choose not to use the continental U.S. (CONUS) per diem rates set by the General Services Administration (GSA). The new high-low rates are from Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010. The 'high' per diem rate for 2010 is $258 (up from $256 last year) for travel to any high-cost locality, defined as a place for which the GSA has set a maximum CONUS per diem of $211 or more. The 'low' per diem for 2010 is $163 (up from $158 in 2009). The low rate applies to travel to any destination not considered to be a high-cost location." (Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.)

European Workers Get More Time Off than U.S. Workers
Excerpt: "A new Mercer study of employer vacation policies found the average U.S. allowance is 15, days while Canada has a statutory minimum of 10 days. A Mercer news release said contrary to popular European belief, low levels of statutory time off in the United States and Canada are not comparative to European standards when taking public holidays into account. Workers in United States and Brazil have an additional 10 and 11 days of public holiday, respectively, while workers in Canada are entitled to nine. In total, employees in Brazil that can take the full entitlement and the full number of public holidays would receive 41 days off, those in the United States typically 25 days, and those in Canada 19 days, Mercer said." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Guidance on Safe Harbor Distribution Notices; Automatic Enrollment/increase Arrangements; Contribution of Unused Paid Time Off to Qualified Plans
Excerpt: "The IRS recently published a myriad of guidance concerning new safe harbor rollover notices, additional information on automatic enrollment/increase arrangements and the contribution of unused paid time off to qualified plans. Here we review the rulings and notices." (JPMorgan Chase & Co.)

In Equitable Distribution, Ex-Spouse's Sick Leave/Vacation Should Be Present-Valued in Accordance with Employment Agreement
Excerpt: "The appellate court concluded that it was in the best interest of the parties to utilize the method of present valuation set forth in the employment contract and equitably to distribute assets now as opposed to waiting until the former husband terminated employment. (It seems that the court could have done the math, and directed a specific number; our best guess is the number is about $40,000.) Dye v. Dye, 34 Fla. L. Weekly D2017 (Fla. 2d DCA, October 2, 2009)." (Cypen & Cypen)

[Guidance Overview] EEOC Cracks Down on Leave Policies That May Violate ADA
Excerpt: "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is making it abundantly clear that employers must tread carefully in adopting and implementing medical leave policies. According to the EEOC, those policies that provide for the termination of an employee who has been out on leave for a specified amount of time violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if they do not contemplate the possibility of a reasonable accommodation. In two recent cases publicized by the EEOC, the agency has asserted its considerable authority against two major U.S. employers, United Parcel Service (UPS) and Sears and Roebuck & Co." (Pepper Hamilton LLP)

Accenture Employees Can Finance Own Unpaid Leave
Excerpt: "A global consulting firm known for its innovative benefit programs is taking a novel approach to income replacement -- using it to help employees guarantee an income stream during periods of unpaid leave. Accenture's Future Leave program, offered since January 2008 after two successful pilot runs, is a self-funded sabbatical that enables employees and senior managers in good standing with at least three years of continuous employment take off up to four months, when combined with paid time off and the Family Medical Leave Act." (Employee Benefit Adviser; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS's Business Travel Expense Guidance
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2009-47 on September 30, 2009. The guidance updates the rules for determining the amount of an employee's ordinary and necessary business expenses for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses incurred while traveling away from home that are deemed substantiated under Section 1.274-5 of the Income Tax Regulations." (Hewitt Associates)

Text of Rev. Proc. 2009-47: Per Diem Substantiation of Expenses While Traveling Away From Home (PDF)
31 pages. Provides rules for employees who are reimbursed for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses, or meals and incidental expenses only, while traveling away from home, to substantiate the expenses by per diem allowance in lieu of actual expenses. The revenue procedure also provides an optional method for employees and self-employed individuals who are not reimbursed to use in computing the deductible costs they pay or incur for business meal and incidental expenses, or for incidental expenses only if they pay or incur no meal expenses, while traveling away from home. Use of a method described in this revenue procedure is not mandatory, and a taxpayer may use actual allowable expenses if the taxpayer maintains adequate records or other sufficient evidence for proper substantiation. (Internal Revenue Service)

National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2009
Includes updated (March 2009) tables on Retirement benefits; Health care benefits; Life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance benefits; Holiday, vacation, sick, and other leave benefits; Other benefits. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor)

[Guidance Overview] Red Flags Rule: Application to Health Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Dependent Care Assistant Programs and Transportation Plans
Excerpt: "Under the Red Flags Rule, certain businesses and organizations must establish and implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program (ITPP). To comply with the Red Flags Rules, a written ITPP must have four basic elements . . . ." (Groom Law Group)

[Guidance Overview] Proposed Legislation Would Require New York City Employers to Provide Paid Sick Leave
Excerpt: "The proposed law requires employers to provide the following amounts of paid sick leave to their employees: Employers with ten or more employees must provide a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, not to exceed 72 hours of sick time in one calendar year. Employers with fewer than ten employees must provide a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, not to exceed 40 hours of sick time in one calendar year." (Littler Mendelson)

[Guidance Overview] Guidance Allowing Unused Paid Time Off to Be Contributed to 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "The IRS has issued guidance that allows 401(k) plans to be amended to permit or require certain contributions of the dollar equivalent of participants' unused paid time off (PTO), in accordance with the governing nondiscrimination requirements and contribution limits. Two general situations are addressed: the contribution of unused PTO at the end of the year that would otherwise be forfeited and the contribution of unused PTO at the time of participants' termination of employment that would be distributed to the participants." (Wolters Kluwer)

Flu Outbreak Could Give Momentum to Paid-Sick-Days Bill
Excerpt: "An outline posted at www.flu.gov recommends that employers 'establish policies for employee compensation and sick-leave absences unique to a pandemic.' Preparations for an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus this fall could give momentum to legislation that would require employers to provide paid sick days. Even with the government urging companies to keep sick workers at home, the measure faces significant legislative obstacles. But advocates are using the flu scare to promote the bill. Titled the Healthy Families Act, it would enable workers to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work up to a total of 56 hours, or seven days." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] Recent Defined Contribution Plan Guidance: Automatic Enrollment, Paid Time Off Contributions, 404(c) and Mutual Fund Prospectus (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This Alert highlights recent guidance regarding (1) automatic enrollment features in 401(k) plans, (2) the contribution of unused paid time off to tax-qualified defined contribution plans as either employer contributions or employee salary deferral contributions, and (3) the permissibility of distributing a mutual fund's 'Summary Prospectus' to participants to satisfy one of the requirements for limited fiduciary protection under section 404(c) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)." (Drinker Biddle Reath LLP)

[Guidance Overview] Treasury Facilitates Workplace Retirement Savings
Excerpt: "Specifically, the new retirement savings initiatives: Permit 401(k) and profit sharing plans to allow contributions based on the dollar equivalent of unused vacation and sick leave, either on an annual basis or at termination of employment; Allow default 401(k) contribution percentages in automatic 401(k) contribution arrangements to increase annually based on the rate of increase in an employee's eligible pay or on dates other than the first day of the plan year; Allow employers to add automatic salary reduction contribution arrangements to their SIMPLE IRA plans and provide sample plan amendments to do so." (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP)

[Guidance Overview] IRS's Retirement Plan Options for Paid Time Off Plans
Excerpt: "The Rulings examine in depth 6 different scenarios as a means of demonstrating various legal principles dealing with the relationship of PTO plans and 401(k) plans. Between them, the Rulings analyze several different types of PTO plans, including plans which do or do not allow carryover of unused amounts, plans which contribute to an employee's account (or pay the employee in cash) for unused amounts at the end of a year, and plans which contribute unused PTO credits to an employee's account (or pay to the employee in cash) upon employment termination." (SunGard Relius)

[Guidance Overview] IRS's Guidance on Expanding Automatic Enrollment and Contributing Unused Leave Amounts to 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This new guidance is helpful in a number of ways. First, the IRS anticipates that the pre-approved automatic enrollment language will allow employers to amend their plans to adopt automatic enrollment more quickly -- and without the need for case-by-case approval from the IRS. Also, the new rulings on contributing unused PTO amounts will be of great interest to 401(k) plan sponsors, who will need to carefully consider how to design plan features to fall within the umbrella of this guidance. (For example, careful planning will be needed to ensure that the variable contribution amounts resulting from PTO-based contributions do not cause nondiscrimination testing violations.) Last, employers and administrators will appreciate having the streamlined and updated model rollover notices in hand, given that the prior safe harbor explanation was over seven years old." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Response to President Obama's New Initiative Regarding Retirement Savings
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service ('IRS') has followed up on President Obama's . . . call for more opportunities to save for a 'rainy day.' In particular, the IRS guidance relates to: Contribution of the value of unused paid vacation, sick and other leave ('paid time off') to a defined contribution plan; Automatic enrollment arrangements; and Required notice with regard to eligible rollover distributions." (Blank Rome LLP)

New York City Business Groups Taking Stand on Paid Sick Days
Excerpt: "Opposition is slowly building among groups worried that a New York City Council bill requiring companies to provide employees with as many as nine paid sick days per year would place a burden on small businesses. Earlier this week, the Manhattan and Staten Island chambers of commerce sent an online survey to members to find out where they stand on the proposal, which would compel businesses with 10 or more employees to provide nine paid sick days, and those with fewer than 10 workers to give five. Fines would be levied at a rate of $1,000 per violation." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Vermont Solar Firm Offers New Workplace Benefit
Excerpt: "A White River Junction, Vermont, solar power company is offering a workplace benefit program in which employers can contribute part of the cost when employees add solar power to their homes. A news release from groSolar said its Employee Green Benefits program offers group discounts on solar power systems for employees." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Companies Handing Out Cash to Needy Workers
Excerpt: "Disbursing funds for emergencies, or letting workers trade vacation time for cash, are among practices lauded in a new report by the Families and Work Institute, a New York nonprofit. At 1-800 Contacts, a Salt Lake City, Utah, contact-lens vendor with 850 employees, an 'associate outreach fund' offers emergency funds to employees in crisis. The company helped one worker make mortgage payments after a spouse was laid off; another payout helped an employee strapped by two surgeries and four months' missed work. Other disbursements covered emergency medical treatment for an employee's child, and cancer treatment for a spouse, says Max Neves, vice president, administration." (The Wall Street Journal)

Sabbatical Programs Aid Work/Life Balance
Excerpt: "In addition to family and medical leave programs, some employers offer their employees extended leaves of absence to pursue personal endeavors or just rejuvenate. The purpose of such leaves or sabbaticals is simple: Give valued employees the time off they want and avoid the costs associated with turnover by keeping them tethered to the company. Given today's turbulent economic times, such leave programs offer employers an alternative to layoffs, experts say." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

OPM Proposes New Federal Employee Leave Policies for Pandemics and Family Care
Excerpt: "The Office of Personnel Management proposed regulations on Wednesday that would make it easier for federal employees to take time off to care for family members who have been exposed to dangerous communicable diseases or wounded in combat. 'It's a very generous federal benefit, and it's one that makes us a model employer,' Jerome Mikowicz, deputy associate director of the Center for Pay and Leave Administration at OPM, said of the communicable disease benefit. Currently, federal employees can use sick leave to care for a family member who health authorities have barred from work because of a communicable illness that could endanger other people at their workplace." (GovernmentExecutive.com)

Detroit Mayor Targets Detroit City Workers' Perks
Excerpt: "As Mayor Dave Bing and city unions wage a high-stakes stare-down over pay cuts, administration officials are also taking aim at employee benefits they say have grown archaic and costly. Most workers get 17 sick days a year, a paid lunch hour, can keep children on their health insurance until age 25, draw a Christmas bonus of as much as $750 and have Viagra picked up by the city's prescription plan. And time off? The average staffer with 15 years on the job can take up to 42 days off a year for vacations, holidays and a host of other paid absences." (The Detroit News)

N.Y. City Council Pushes for Mandatory Paid Sick Days for Workers
Excerpt: "Some 30 New York City Council members, led by Gale Brewer, plan to introduce a bill Thursday, August 20, that would require employers to provide their workers with paid sick days. The measure would give workers at businesses with 10 employees or more nine paid sick days per year, while those at smaller companies would get five days. Businesses would be fined $1,000 per violation." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Exempt Workers Enjoy an Average 9.2 Vacation Days, According to Survey
Excerpt: "A new survey finds exempt employees are typically granted 9.2 vacation days while those who are not exempt get 8.2 days. A news release from Compdata Surveys, a Kansas City-based compensation and benefits data provider, said exempt workers get an average 10.9 days after their first year. Those with five to nine years of service earn 14.8 days. In addition to vacation time, the news release said, exempt and non-exempt employees get three personal days and nine holidays a year." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Letter Ruling Finding That Expense Reimbursement Arrangement Satisfies Accountable Plan Rules
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: For guidance about designing a successful reimbursement plan, this private letter ruling is a must-read! The IRS has previously addressed tool reimbursement plans that fail to qualify as accountable plans -- largely due to recharacterization of wages, which violates the business connection requirement, and lax substantiation requirements." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

[Opinion] Paid Sick Days Would Go Long Way Towards Addressing Flu Pandemic
Excerpt: "Boston [Massachusetts] health officials have been asking businesses to let employees take paid sick days so they can stay home with children. It is regrettable that Congress has yet to pass legislation requiring large employers to offer paid days off for workers who are sick or have to care for family members. Without such legislation, a sense of shared commitment will have to suffice. Even small employers whose operations are severely strained by an absence should strive to accommodate parents of flu-stricken children. If parents fear the consequences of missing work, they'll be more likely to ignore their children's symptoms and end up having them infect entire classrooms." (The Boston Globe)

Unions in U.S. Guarantee More Vacation
Excerpt: "The United States has been called 'the no-vacation nation.' In fact, it is alone among industrialized countries in having no statutory paid leave. European Union rules entitle all workers to a minimum of 20 paid days of leave per year, and many European countries do better than that. In the United States, one out of four workers has no paid vacation or public holiday leave at all. Belonging to a union, however, is a clear advantage in this regard. The average non-unionized worker will work a lifetime and still never reach the European minimum amount of paid annual leave (see chart). A study of the entire workforce -- adjusted for occupation, industry, and other factors -- found that, after 25 years, union members receive 26.6% more vacation weeks than non-union workers." (Economic Policy Institute)

[Guidance Overview] Group Health Plan Eligibility, COBRA and the Importance of Clear Leave of Absence Policies
Excerpt: "An employee's leave of absence can raise a number of practical and legal issues. That is why employers need to include clear leave of absence policies in employee handbooks and in employee benefit plans. A recent federal court decision illustrates how important this is in the group health plan and COBRA context. In Jennings v. D.F. Crane Constr. Corp., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41794 (W.D. Ky. Apr. 10, 2009), Mr. Jennings was participating in the company's health plan. Mr. Jennings took a leave of absence, and while he was on leave the company terminated his employment. The dispute boiled down to when Jennings lost his coverage under the company's health plan (i.e., when the COBRA qualifying event occurred)." (Poyner Spruill LLP)

Sabbaticals, Furloughs: Retention Tools or Layoff-Lite?
Excerpt: "Although employers continue shedding jobs due to the recession, alternatives exist, such as sabbaticals and mandatory furloughs. Although leaders at yourSABBATICAL, an Atlanta-based company that sets up sabbatical programs, assert that a well-designed program can be low-cost and buoy morale, such programs - furloughs especially - can be a legal and personnel gamble. 'At first glance, business leaders may think that sabbaticals are managerial insanity, particularly in times like these,' says Elizabeth Pagano, co-founder of yourSABBATICAL. 'However, once they take a deeper look, they understand that the benefits of sabbaticals far outweigh the perceived unorthodoxy.'" (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] New Academic Leave Law in Nevada
Excerpt: "Effective August 15, 2009, Nevada employers will have to comply with expanded academic leave provisions which Governor Jim Gibbons recently signed into law. Although Nevada already has a statute that grants leave to parents, guardians, or custodians of a child to attend certain school-related events and emergencies, the new law enhances and clarifies the protections afforded for participation in these and other academic events." (Holland & Hart LLP)

[Guidance Overview] San Francisco Commuter Ordinance: Update on Enforcement and Enhanced Federal Commuter Benefits
Excerpt: "This article discusses the new San Francisco Ordinance as well as its interplay with [the federal tax law, Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits,] and California laws allowing employees to cash out employers' subsidized parking for additional wages under the California Air Resources Board's 'Parking Cash-Out Program.'" (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

Sick Kids Add to Workplace Anxiety
Excerpt: "A recent study shows that parents of disabled or chronically ill children suffer physical and mental-health problems that increase absenteeism. Experts recommend family-leave and alternative programs as well as more communication about company benefits." (Human Resource Executive Online)

[Guidance Overview] Vacation Policy Cannot Save Massachusetts Employers from Paying Accrued, Unused Vacation Time upon Termination
Excerpt: "Employers are wise to evaluate their paid leave policies and practices to ensure that they are consistent with the decision in Electronic Data Systems v. Attorney General. In June 2009, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that an employer could not rely on its vacation policy to avoid paying involuntarily terminated employees for unused vacation time. The decision confirmed a long-standing interpretation of the Wage Act by the Massachusetts Attorney General, and serves as a lesson to employers who mistakenly believe they can avoid paying accrued but unused vacation time upon termination merely by creating a policy that purports to give them authority to do just that. As the highest court in Massachusetts has now made clear, employers must include accrued but unused vacation time in the final paychecks of Massachusetts employees who are involuntarily terminated." (McDermott Will & Emery)

Senate Shoots Down Federal Employee Sick Leave Credit
Excerpt: "An amendment to the Defense authorization bill that would have allowed federal employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to get credit in their pension calculation for unused sick leave was withdrawn Thursday." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Opinion] HR Policy Association Urges Senate to Consider Workplace Leave/Scheduling Mandates as Part of a 'Larger Framework' (PDF)
18 pages. Excerpt: "As the Chairman of the HR Policy Association's Employment Rights Committee, I am pleased to respond to your request regarding the Association's views on family and work-life balance issues. We appreciate your reaching out to us and others in the business community to achieve consensus-based, bipartisan solutions that work for employers and employees. . . . [W]e strongly advise against enacting new 'one size fits all' prescriptions in this area. Rather, a more productive approach would be to examine the existing laws to determine which statutes now in place are hampering the ability of employers to provide flexibility." (HR Policy Association)

[Guidance Overview] Nevada Expands Employee Leave Entitlements
Excerpt: "The Nevada law pertaining to parental leave for school-related activities has been amended to broaden the protections afforded parents, guardians and custodians of school-age children who attend certain school-related activities. Effective August 15, 2009, under amended Nevada Revised Statute 392.920, employers with at least 50 employees must give each employee who is a parent, guardian or custodian of a child in a public or private school up to four hours of leave each school year for each child." (Jackson Lewis LLP)

[Guidance Overview] Recent Legislation and Regulations Require Changes to Health and Welfare Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "Congress and federal regulatory agencies have been busy enacting legislation and proffering guidance which implements many new requirements for group health and welfare benefit plans. Many of the changes will require thoughtful action on the part of administrators and sponsors of group health and welfare benefit plans. This brief outline of current health and welfare compliance developments is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather serves to illustrate the depth and breadth of changes facing plan sponsors now and in the coming months." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

Insurers Offer Benefits Bundles
Excerpt: "Insurers are offering small businesses a new way to cap the cost of insurance coverage for workers and their families through contracts for bundles of group disability, life and other insurance benefits. The platforms allow small-business owners to create a baseline of group benefits, which they can fully or partially subsidize for eligible workers and their dependents. It doesn't include medical coverage, which is contracted separately. Employees can purchase supplemental coverage and pick from a range of other voluntary benefits, such as short-term disability policies and critical-illness insurance, which they would pay for out of pocket but at discounted group rates obtained by the employer." (The Wall Street Journal)

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