Brittany Panuccio nominated to be EEOC Commissioner: President Trump has nominated Brittany Panuccio, an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, to fill one of the three open seats on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Panuccio's nomination was sent to the Senate on Tuesday. According to her LinkedIn page, she's currently an assistant U.S. attorney in West Palm Beach, previously served in the U.S. Department of Education as a special counselor during the first Trump administration, and logged about a year as an associate at Jones Day.  If confirmed, her term would end in 2029.  Further, EEOC would have a quorum and can conduct policy and regulatory matters.  Source: Law360 5/7/25

HSA contribution limits set for 2026 by IRS: The IRS recently announced a slight boost to the maximum annual amount that individual employees may contribute to health savings accounts (HAS) while enrolled in a high-deductible health plan for 2026, which will be set at $4,400, up from 2025’s limit of $4,300.  For individuals with family coverage, the IRS increased the contribution limit to $8,750 from this year’s mark of $8,550. Both increases are comparatively smaller than that which the agency instituted in 2025, when caps for individual and family coverage increased year-over-year by $150 and $250, respectively. The agency again adjusted its regulatory definition of HDHPs for inflation, setting the low end of annual deductibles for HDHPs at $1,700 for self-only coverage and $3,400 for family coverage. The annual out-of-pocket expense limits for 2026 are $8,500 for individuals and $17,000 for families. Source: HR Dive 5/12/25

Smaller raises expected in 2025:  According to the March 2025 Mercer QuickPulse® U.S. Compensation Planning Survey of more than 800 U.S. organizations, employers delivered an average merit increase of 3.2%—the percentage of payroll given to employees as a base salary increase for merit—and a total increase of 3.5%, which encompasses all salary increases, including merit, promotional, cost-of-living, and other adjustments, in 2025. Both figures are calculated based on the total salaries of all employees across companies who responded to the survey, including those who will not receive increases.  These figures reflect a decline from Mercer’s November 2024 projections, where U.S. employers anticipated 3.3% for merit increases and 3.7% for total increases for non-unionized employees. In 2024, the actual merit and total salary increases delivered were 3.3% and 3.6%, respectively, indicating an ongoing decline in annual compensation budgets, suggesting a return to pre-pandemic norms, driven by softening labor market. Source: CCH 5/9/25

Graduates of 2025 have unrealistic expectations of the job market: ZipRecruiter released its annual grad report, The Graduate Divide: Expectations vs. Reality for the Class of 2025. Based on a dual survey of rising and recent college graduates, the report reveals that graduates' expectations often clash with reality—especially when it comes to the job search experience, pay, job preferences, and views of the future job market.  Specifically, graduates found the job search took longer than they expected. 82% of rising grads are expecting to start working within three months of graduating, however, only 77% of recent grads accomplished that, and 5% are still searching for their first job. Graduates found salaries didn’t meet expectations, with 42% of recent grads reporting they couldn’t secure the pay they wanted. Rising graduates expect to make six figures ($101,500 on average), but the majority may fall short. The average starting salary for recent grads surveyed was $68,400. Rising grads want jobs with flexibility, but recent grads report they are hard to come by. 90% of rising grads say schedule flexibility is very important to them but according to recent grads, they’ll be hard pressed to land such a role as only 29% report having very flexible jobs. Source: ZipRecruiter 4/23/25

IRS planning on limiting wage deductions on covered employees: On January 16, 2025, the IRS issued proposed regulations under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the "Code"), which limit the amount of compensation a publicly held corporation may deduct for wages paid to its "covered employees" to $1 million per year. Section 162(m) has been amended over the years to expand the definition of a "covered employee," which originally was limited to a corporation's principal executive officer ("PEO"), principal financial officer ("PFO"), and its next three most highly compensated executive officers. Most recently, in 2021 the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ("ARPA") amended the definition of "covered employee" to include, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2026, the corporation's five highest compensated employees other than its PEO, its PFO, and its next three most highly compensated executive officers. The proposed regulations provide guidance on determining and applying Section 162(m) to these next five most highly compensated employees.  Source: Seyfarth 4/28/25