Smaller employers are gaining access to pooled 401(K) style retirement benefits: Finance companies are expanding their offerings of pooled employer plans, a relatively new 401(k)-style retirement arrangement that allows multiple small businesses and nonprofits to participate in a single, jointly administered system. For example, Equitable, a life insurance and retirement services company, announced in April that it was rolling out a new 403(b) plan designed for nonprofit employers. Pooled employer plans, or PEPs, are designed to remove barriers from offering retirement benefits, such as high costs, fragmented service models and fiduciary risk. In a PEP, fiduciary responsibility is shared between the pooled plan provider and the participating employers.  Pooled employer plans were created as part of the SECURE Act, which was signed into law in December 2019, with the first PEPs becoming available in 2021. Since then, the PEP market has grown to nearly $11 billion in assets across 210 PEPs, encompassing 24,000 employers and 1.1 million PEP participants, according to Pacific Life.  Source:  EBN 4/23/26

Wishful thinking. Employees demanding 20% more salary to RTO: A new survey of 1,500 remote workers in the United Sates reveals a snapshot of the current return-to-office landscape. Nearly one-quarter of fully remote workers (23%) say they wouldn't return to the office no matter how big of a raise they were offered. Those who would consider returning would demand at least a 20% pay increase to make the switch.  JobLeads, a leading jobs platform, analyzed responses from four LinkedIn surveys conducted globally between November 2025 and February 2026.  The results, compiled in the "Remote Work Benefits for Employees & Employers [2026]" report, illustrate just how non-negotiable remote work has become. According to one of the surveys, 37% of 1,505 respondents would rather give up social media entirely than return to the office full-time, and 20% would give up coffee. Only 6% would sacrifice vacation time. Another survey, which received nearly 3,000 responses, indicated 59% of workers believe better work-life balance is the single biggest benefit of remote work, while yet another survey showed that 74% would choose a remote job over an on-site one even if it paid less.  Source: Benefits Ro 4/21/26

Providing prescription drug coverage for Medicare eligible employees: Employers that provide prescription drug coverage to individuals who are eligible for Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) must inform the individuals and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that their prescription drug coverage is creditable, meaning the coverage is as good as Medicare Part D coverage. In light of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) changes to Medicare Part D benefit, one of the methods determining creditable coverage has been revised.  Under the revised simplified determination method, a group health plan must pay at least on average 72% of a participant's drug expenses in 2026 and 73% in 2027 to be considered creditable.  Employers need to consult with their benefit brokers to ensure notices are appropriately sent.  Source: Zywave 4/27/26

Tips for time clock errors: In some industries, particularly where time clocks are used to record employee work time, a practice is used of recording the employees' starting time and stopping time rounded to the nearest five minutes, or to the nearest one-tenth or quarter of an hour. Michigan is the nearest one-tenth of an hour.  Presumably, this arrangement averages out so that the employees are fully compensated for the time they actually work. For enforcement purposes, this practice of computing working time will be accepted, provided that it is used in such a manner that it will not result, over a period of time, in failure to compensate the employees properly for all the time they have actually worked. Therefore, an employer should:

• Document Your Policy: Clearly outline your rules and policies in your employee handbook.
• Train Supervisors and Payroll Staff: Ensure your team understands and correctly applies the rounding policy. 
• Use Reliable Time Tracking Systems: Invest in systems that accurately record time and apply rounding rules automatically.
• Regularly Review and Audit Practices: Conduct periodic reviews to ensure your policies remain neutral and compliant with federal and state laws. 

If an employer rounds incorrectly, it could lead to a wage theft claim, which can be very costly.  Source: Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer 1/28/26

Mandatory OT must be included in FMLA calculations: A request for the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) opinion was submitted by a correctional law enforcement facility concerning how to calculate the number of hours of FMLA leave available to correctional law enforcement employees who work a fixed "Pitman Schedule," requiring 12-hour shifts over a two-week cycle that includes mandatory overtime. The facility also allows employees to volunteer for additional hours that are not a part of the fixed schedule.  The facility noted that it calculates the 12-workweek FMLA leave entitlement as equivalent to 504 hours, based on the fact that employees are required to work 84 hours every two weeks. The employer asked if this approach was correct, including whether it was appropriate to exclude additional hours that an employee may volunteer to work from the FMLA leave entitlement calculation. The WHD said that the conversion of the 12-workweek FMLA leave entitlement to a 504-hour leave entitlement that was described is in accordance with the FMLA's requirements, as this calculation is consistent with what would be 12 normally scheduled workweeks for an employee working a mandatory 84 hours every 14 days.  Volunteer OT does not count.  Source: DOL