New IRS standard mileage rate $0.545 per mile: The IRS has released the 2018 optional standard mileage rates that employees, self-employed individuals, and other taxpayers can use to compute deductible costs of operating automobiles (including vans, pickups and panel trucks) for business, medical, moving, and charitable purposes.  The 2018 standard mileage rate has increased to 54.5 cents per mile for business uses and 18 cents per mile for medical and moving uses. It remains at 14 cents per mile for charitable uses. For purposes of computing the allowance under an FAVR plan, the standard automobile cost may not exceed $27,300 ($31,000 for trucks and vans).  The updated rates are effective for deductible transportation expenses paid or incurred on or after January 1, 2018, and for mileage allowances or reimbursements paid to, or transportation expenses paid or incurred by, an employee or a charitable volunteer on or after January 1, 2018.

Tax changes are coming – when will your payroll provider make the programming changes?  With the tax bill up for vote by both the House and Senate this week and to be signed by President Trump by Christmas, HR needs to be concerned with whether their payroll provider can update the payroll programs in time for the first check in 2018.  Most employees should see a slightly larger check.  If not, HR should communicate with employees when the changes will be seen in their payroll checks to level-set expectations.

Google equal pay discrimination suit dismissed: In the first case of its kind under the California Fair Pay Act, a court dismissed a pay equity class claim against Google, holding that alleging wage discrimination for “all women” does not plead enough information to sustain a complaint. A court has dismissed a sweeping class action complaint against Google, seeking to represent “all women employed by Google in California” on claims of gender-based wage discrimination. The court held that the plaintiffs had not adequately alleged an ascertainable class, meaning there was no way to tell who had claims and who didn’t. Because there was no common policy or practice affecting all women at Google, the court found that the plaintiff could not show commonality or typicality with the group she seeks to represent.  Source: Seyfarth Shaw 12/11/17

Update on California guidance on 10-minute paid rest breaks:  In November 2017, the California Labor Commissioner’s office, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), published updated guidance on employer provided paid 10-minute rest breaks. Specifically, the DLSE maintains that employees must be relieved of all duty during rest breaks and now has taken the position that employees must be permitted to travel off-site during their ten-minute rest breaks. The DLSE also noted, “As a practical matter; however, if an employee is provided a ten-minute rest period, the employee can only travel five minutes from a work post before heading back to return in time.” The DLSE’s guidance further advised that employers are prohibited from requiring employees to monitor pagers or radios during rest breaks. This decision follows the California Supreme Court’s decision in Augustus v. ABM (2016) 5 Cal.5th 257, which holds that security guards cannot be deemed to be on duty-free rest breaks when they are required to carry pagers and respond to emergencies on an “as needed” basis.  Source: Jackson Lewis 12/8/17

EEOC releases proposed 2018-2022 strategic plan: On December 8, the EEOC released for public comment a draft of its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2018-2022. According to the agency release, the Strategic Plan serves as a framework for the Commission in achieving its mission through the strategic application of the EEOC's law enforcement authorities, preventing employment discrimination and promoting inclusive workplaces through education and outreach, and organizational excellence. Every four fiscal years, Congress requires executive departments, government corporations, and independent agencies to develop and post a strategic plan on their public website. These plans direct the agency's work and lay the foundation for the development of more detailed annual plans, budgets, and related program performance information in the future. The EEOC is currently operating under the Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2012-2016, as amended through 2018. The proposed plan has three components: combat and prevent employment discrimination through the strategic application of EEOC’s law enforcement authorities; prevent employment discrimination and promote inclusive workplaces through education and outreach; and build organizational excellence.  For more information, go to www.eeoc.gov

NLRB taking comments on quickie election rule: A Request for Information regarding the “Quickie Election” representation regulations was published on December 13, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board has announced. The RFI seeks input on the 2014 amendments to representation case procedures that reduced the opportunities for employers to communicate with their employees about union issues between the filing of a representation petition and the NLRB-conducted election.  The amendments, which took effect on April 14, 2015, allowed union organizing to move at an accelerated pace by, among other things, significantly reducing the time between the filing of a representation petition and the election from an average of approximately six weeks to an average of 23 days. Other provisions create substantial burdens on employers by requiring, within seven days, the submission of an onerous Statement of Position addressing all potential bargaining unit issues, the provision of copious amounts of information regarding potential voters, and deferring critical election issues, such as supervisory status issues, until after the election is held.  The NLRB wants to know if it should keep, amend, or rescind these rules.  The impact on elections has been mixed.  Source:  Jackson Lewis 12/12/17

Employers need to be creative with training to satisfy workforce needs:  A 2016 Pew Research Center analysis found that the job categories with the highest growth over the past several decades tend to require higher social skills, analytic savvy, and technical prowess. This reality is not lost on U.S workers, the vast majority of whom say new skills and training may hold the key to their future job success.  Employers need to review the traditional thinking of recruitment and think who has the ability to learn the new skills for the jobs regardless of their past experience.  Thinking recruitment within the old paradigm of industry experience and current skills is outdated.  Organizations who can be creative as to talent pipelines and coordinate a better onboarding system incorporating training and development will be the survivors of the future.  Source:  The Pew Research Center 11/30/17

How the workforce has changed since the beginning of the great recession: First, the labor participation rate has fallen.  In December 2007, two-thirds (66.0%) of civilians ages 16 and over either were employed or actively looking for work; as of October of this year, only 62.7% were.  Second, the workforce is becoming more diverse.  U.S.-born non-Hispanic whites comprised nearly two-thirds of the civilian labor force in December 2007 (65.3%, not seasonally adjusted); as of last month, that subgroup accounted for about 60% of the labor force. The foreign born now account for 17.1% of the U.S. labor force, up from 15.6% in December 2007, with Asian immigrants making up a significant portion of the increase.  Third, the workforce is older. Americans ages 55 and older make up more than a fifth of the total labor force today (22.8%, seasonally adjusted), compared with 17.6% at the start of the Great Recession with increasing labor force participation.  They are the only age group to do so.  Fourth, the time being unemployed is longer.  Not only is a smaller share of the adult population in the active labor force, but people who are unemployed are more likely to stay jobless for longer. Finally, service sector jobs are growing but slowly. 83.9% of all private-sector nonfarm jobs are classified as service-providing, up from 81.1% a decade ago.  Source:  The Pew Research Center 11/30/17