Does a one-size-fits-all health benefit program hurt employers? A new report suggests small businesses are losing talented employees because management isn't offering benefits that actually fit workers' needs and priorities. "Today's workforce needs aren't one-size-fits-all anymore, but many small businesses still feel forced into one-size-fits-all benefits," according to the "Small Business 'Bene-Fit' Gap Report" from Justworks, a cloud-based HR and payroll platform for small and medium-sized businesses. Benefits flexibility is becoming a talent gap. Nearly 9 in 10 decision-making respondents (89%) say it is important to offer employees more choice in their health coverage, while 86% of employees say flexibility in choosing their health insurance provider is important when evaluating a job offer — highlighting growing demand for benefits solutions that deliver both flexibility and certainty. Workers expect to personalize health coverage. Almost all employees surveyed (87%) would consider working for a small business offering a monthly reimbursement to choose their own health insurance. However, 80% say it is difficult to find a health benefits solution that works for employees' different needs, and 96% say offering employees more choice in their health coverage is important. Source: BenefitPro 7/17/26

Employee retention is at risk: Work feels like a “situationship,” according to a report released 14 by Zety. Akin to a casual dating scenario, 59% of workers told Zety they don’t see a “clear, long-term path” forward with their current workplace. Likewise, the majority of workers said they don’t feel their employers are committed to retaining them long-term. Be that as it may, workers still feel like leaving their employer is too great a risk; 60% said they stay due to financial reasons and 47% said they stay due to familiarity. Employees said they were particularly dissatisfied with the path forward; 32% said they have limited growth opportunities, and 23% reported feeling unfulfilled or frustrated. Per Monster’s 2026 Hiring WorkWatch Report, 52% of employers said retention was their top workforce priority in 2026, compared to 45% of employers who said they were focused on hiring talent. Employers “are keeping strong employees, building skills internally, and adopting AI thoughtfully,” the Monster report said at the time. Source: HR Dive 7/20/26

California pay reporting changing again in 2027: Beginning with the 2026 reporting cycle (due May 2027), California is moving away from the traditional EEO-1 job classification system and will instead require employers to group employees according to the 23 major job categories from the Standard Occupational Classification (“SOC”) system. This represents a significant change that will require employers to reassess how each job title is classified for reporting purposes. For federal government contractors, employers that use SOC classifications for immigration purposes, and employers in states such as Washington or South Carolina that already incorporate SOC codes into certain reporting requirements, the transition may be more manageable because they are likely already familiar with the SOC framework and may have existing SOC job classification processes in place. However, for other employers who have not assigned SOC classifications to each job title, the change will be significant, as it requires them to assign each job title to one of the 23 SOC major job categories. The new categories apply to both payroll employees and labor contractor employees, which may require coordination with third-party “labor contractors” as defined in California to ensure proper classifications are in place. Source: Seyfarth Shaw 7/14/26

Illinois updates pay transparency requirements: On June 18, 2026, the Illinois Department of Labor took a long-anticipated step by adopting comprehensive amendments to 56 Ill. Adm. Code Part 320 implementing the pay transparency law amendments to include definitions for “benefits,” “pay scale and benefits,” and “job posting.” Pay scale and benefits covers the wage or salary, or the wage or salary range, and a general description of the benefits and other compensation.  Other compensation may include anticipated or possible bonuses, stock options, or other incentives the employer reasonably expects in good faith to offer for a position. Benefits include health care benefits, retirement benefits, paid time off (including sick leave, parental leave, and vacation benefits), job-protected paid time off, and any other benefits that must be reported for federal tax purposes. This definition expressly excludes benefits in the form of minor privileges incidental to regular salary or wages. Finally, job posting as a written announcement that an employer is seeking to hire or is accepting applications for a specific position. Notably, this definition does not include general announcements that do not identify a specific job opportunity or position, such as help wanted signs. Records for job searches must be maintained for at least five years. Source: Crowell 7/19/26

Dogs are more intuitive than you may think: Research has revealed dog brains can distinguish different types of unhappy human faces. Dr Laura Cuaya, a co-author of the study from the University of Vienna, said previous behavioral studies had shown dogs could tell apart some human facial expressions, but such studies tended to only test two at a time, one positive and one negative. As a result, it was not clear if dogs could distinguish different types of happy or unhappy faces. Now Cuaya and colleagues have revealed dog brains can not only distinguish happy faces from other expressions, but can tell apart different negative expressions, distinguishing fearful faces from those that are angry or sad.  “This is the first demonstration that the dog brain can distinguish between emotions from the same valence,” she said. Bridget Waller, a professor of evolution and social behavior at Nottingham Trent University, who was not involved in the study, described the work as fascinating, saying it showed how dogs have been shaped through domestication to understand human behavior.  “Smiling is the most commonly used human facial expression, vital to our social interactions, and so it makes sense that dogs have developed a particular ability to distinguish this from other facial movements,” she said. “It seems less clear that they can distinguish between the other facial expressions, and again this would make sense as these are much less commonly produced in human social interaction.”  Source: The Guardian 8/10/26