IRS mileage rate increases to $.76 per mile: In Announcement 2026-11, 2026-29 I.R.B. 49, the IRS amended Notice 2026-10, 2026-4 I.R.B. 378, which sets the standard mileage rates for 2026. The IRS made the change to reflect the rising cost of fuel in 2026. For the period January 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, the standard mileage rate was 72.5 cents per mile for all business miles. For the period July 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026, the standard business mileage rate is 76 cents per mile. The mileage rate for moving and medical expenses also increased from 20.5 cents per mile to 23.5 cents per mile. The mileage rate for charitable mileage is fixed by statute at 14 cents per mile and has not changed. Source: Littler 7/13/26

No more watercooler talk? Watercoolers in workplaces have long served as an informal social hub.  But the era of "watercooler conversations" may be over, as meetings emerge as the main touchpoint of employee interaction in the workplace, according to a new report from Kahoot! Its latest research, which surveyed 4,000 office workers, found that meetings are the only places where 50% of employees have interaction with some of their colleagues. “Meetings have become the watercooler in many organizations today," Sean D'Arcy, chief solutions officer at Kahoot!, says. "In fact, more than half of employees admit to messaging coworkers while in the same room, instead of walking over to talk to them face-to-face," he added. The survey also found that more than half of the report's respondents (56%) wish they had closer connections with coworkers, as 39% report feeling lonely at work. At the same time, 60% of employees said that they want to keep a personal distance from coworkers to maintain work-life boundaries. Gen Z employees emerged as the cohort most challenged by the conflict, where 50% feel disconnected at work but 68% still wish they were closer friends with their colleagues. Source: HR Director 6/25/26

Elder care taking toll on employees: With Baby boomers retiring, elder care has taken on new meanings. The sandwich generation has always been around, but more so today than ever. More than half of employees between the ages of 40 and 60 are actively coordinating a parent's care. According to data from a survey of 1,100 working adults conducted by the subscription-based legal services platform LegalShield, caregiving touches nearly every part of their lives. Most are in the active phase — coordinating a parent's care, paperwork, and medical decisions — and nearly two-thirds spend six or more work hours a month on caregiving tasks during the workday. More than half say the emotional toll is the hardest part, ahead of financial cost. More than half of survey respondents caring for a parent spent $5,000 or more of their own money on such care in the past year. To cover those expenses, nearly 40% cut their own savings or retirement contributions, more than a third took on credit card debt, and more than a quarter drew from retirement accounts. Nearly 1 in 4 has seriously considered leaving the workforce because of caregiving. More than 20% turned down a promotion, and nearly 1 in 5 reduced their hours. Source: BenefitsPro 6/25/26

New hires may chafe at hiring salaries: Despite a rebound in earnings, early career workers are experiencing negative wage growth thanks to inflationary pressures, according to research from Glassdoor Economic Research. Glassdoor predicted in November that new grads who could land a job would “see higher purchasing power” in 2026. However, “inflation rose again as American households face higher energy prices due to the U.S.-Iran war in a way we did not anticipate at the end of 2025,” Glassdoor said.  Inflation “pushe[d] up the break-even rate for early-career wage growth,” and the 7.2 million salaries submitted on Glassdoor that were analyzed in the report didn’t show that kind of increase. Early career workers’ real earnings in 2026 fell 0.7% below 2020 levels, Glassdoor found. Just what employers need: more pressure to create salary compression. The good news is that job offer decline rates continue to decrease, falling to 21.4% for interviews that started between January 1 and April 15, which represents a 5.1 percentage point drop from a year before. However, inflation is currently at the highest level for the past few years and shows no signs of relenting. Employers will have to rethink their salary structure and compensation policy if this situation persists. Source: HR Dive 6/25/26

AI in benefit selection? Not a priority for employees yet: More than 8 in 10 employers are interested in using artificial intelligence to help workers better understand their benefits. However, only 58% of employees say they would use AI for this purpose, and just 24% say they do so today. According to the 2026 Benefits & Beyond study from Prudential Financial, some key findings of the study include trust and privacy are the biggest barriers. Although both employers (49%) and employees (52%) cite privacy and security as top concerns, employees are twice as likely to say they simply don't trust AI (25% vs. 12%) in general. Concerns about inaccuracy, moral and ethical issues, and job loss also are more pronounced among employees. Adoption varies by workforce segment. Forty percent of unionized employees, 27% of salaried employees, and 27% of sole decision-makers already use AI for benefits guidance, compared to lower rates among their peers.  Employees are open to sharing data for personalization. Sixty-five percent of employees are comfortable with their employer managing their personal data for benefits purposes, rising to 75% among employees in technology-related roles. Source: BenefitsPro 6/26/26

Remote work may be a barrier to entry-level hiring: A recent study from researchers at the London School of Economics noted that the amount of hiring devoted to entry-level roles across a handful of countries has fallen more than 14% since 2019. The study, based on more than 400 million online job postings, found that firms that stayed remote after the pandemic were more likely to cut back on junior hiring. Recruiting an entry-level worker, the researchers say, is a bet on the employee’s future skills. A company’s return-on-investment hinges on the rate at which that young employee learns. Since remote work slows that process, the researchers argue, companies see young talent as a less attractive value proposition, preferring to invest instead in older workers. As a result, remote work doesn’t just dampen young employees’ day-to-day experience, it also makes it harder for them to find a job in the future. Less than a quarter of Gen Z wants a fully remote workplace, according to a Gallup poll last year, compared with more than a third of the older generations. Source: The Wall Street Journal 6/29/26