Not taking a vacation? No one else is either: Paid time off can make an attractive retention tool, but it's being underutilized, according to a study conducted by WorldatWork.  A sizable percentage (37%) of employees do not use all of their PTO each year. Some employers have discovered a way to prevent this, however. Employers that established PTO guidelines were able to promote usage of PTO benefits, the study found. Organizations with "use it or lose it" policies, for example, had only 19% of employees lose paid time off, WorldatWork said.  Survey respondents reported that most employees need not wait to take time off after starting a new job. 52% of surveyed organizations said they allow immediate use of vacation time benefits, while 63% of organizations allow for immediate use of pooled vacation, sick, and personal time. Additionally, a quarter of employers said their employees can redirect unused paid time off to colleagues who need it (20%). Others let workers put the cash-value of unused time off to their 401(k) or convert time to a donation.  Source:  HR Dive 7/24/19

How to pay for employee recreational activities: A common way for employers to boost employee morale and promote team building is to host non-work-related recreational activities, such as sports teams and bowling events. The obligation to pay employees for attendance at these kinds of events applies only to non-exempt employees (that is, those eligible for overtime pay). Exempt employees do not need to be paid extra for time spent participating in these events.  As far as non-exempt employees are concerned, an employer’s obligation to pay them for attendance at a recreational activity depends on (1) when the event is scheduled and (2) whether attendance is voluntary. Specifically: activities scheduled during the regular workday will almost always be compensable. Even if scheduled after hours, these activities will still be compensable “work” for any non-exempt employees required to attend. Activities scheduled outside of regular working hours that are entirely voluntary will not be compensable. Attendance, however, is not truly voluntarily if the employee is led to believe that nonattendance would somehow adversely affect his employment. For example, if attendance is “strongly encouraged” or an employer makes note of an employee’s failure to participate in a performance evaluation, attendance is compensable time.  Source: Law Office of Kristine A Sova 7/23/19

Google settles age discrimination applicant lawsuit:  Google has reached an $11 million deal with a class of older job applicants, ending claims that the tech giant interviewed the applicants to make it appear the company cared about diversity but then passed them over for engineering jobs because of their age.  Named plaintiff Cheryl Fillekes and Google LLC said they have reached a settlement agreement in which the tech giant will pay $11 million to Fillekes and nearly 230 opt-in plaintiffs.  They will aso provide noneconomic relief, such as offering anti-bias training to its employees and managers and ensuring any age bias complaints for open positions are adequately investigated, according to the motion for final approval filed Friday by both parties.  Google also agreed to create a subcommittee within its recruiting department that will focus on age diversity in engineering positions and conduct surveys of departing employees about any potential discrimination.  Source: Law360 7/22/19

IRS expands preventive care definition under high deductible plans:  Millions of Americans in high-deductible health plans may find it easier to access insulin, inhalers, and other treatments for chronic health problems under guidance released by the Trump administration.  Currently, people in high-deductible plans with pretax health-savings accounts have to pay down their deductible before their insurance covers treatment for chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure.  The change will allow insurers to begin providing coverage for those treatments, such as glucose or blood-pressure monitors, before the deductible is paid. Insurers have pushed for this flexibility because people who don’t get ongoing treatment for a disease can have their condition worsen, leaving insurers paying even more for their care. Under the new guidance, patients in plans with HSAs could save money because insurers would provide coverage for treatments for chronic conditions such as regular diabetes vision screening or medications even if people haven’t paid down their deductible, which can sometimes be in the thousands of dollars.  Source:  The Wall Street Journal 7/17/19

Financial wellness is an important tool for employers:  With the economy do so well, why are so many households found to be unable to cover even a small emergency?   Four out of 10 households maintain that they would have trouble paying $400 for an unexpected expense, according to a Federal Reserve Board measure of financial well-being in 2018. The study was released in May. About 17% of households with more than $100,000 in income say that they'd find it tough, too. Let's face it, $400 is peanuts when something goes haywire. It won't even cover the average car repair bill that's likely to run around $500 to $600, according to a AAA survey. In fact, the research concluded, some of these households actually do have enough money in savings, but many feel constrained by credit card debt and other bills. Often, researchers said, people who have some savings tend to mentally allocate some of that money toward upcoming expenses – maybe next month's mortgage payment, the minimum payments on the credit card bills, paying student loan debt, or maybe even saving up for new tires by winter.  Once the bills are covered, they don't have much wiggle room.  Source:  USAToday

Cadillac Tax finally being repealed? A bipartisan effort, The Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Bill cleared the House by a 419-to-6 vote. The bipartisan bill would repeal the 40% excise tax under the ACA known as the "Cadillac tax" on certain high-cost employer-sponsored health care plans on the excess cost of employer-sponsored health coverage for employees—amounts over $11,100 for employee-only and $29,750 for family coverage, adjusted for inflation annually. The Cadillac tax has been delayed several times, most recently to 2022.  Although the measure has bipartisan support in the Senate, as for when it will get its legs in the upper chamber remains to be seen. Lately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been viewed on Capitol Hill as focusing more on moving nominations than considering tax bills.  Notably, HR 748 dodged House Democrats’ "pay as you go" rules for tax legislation, thus carrying with it a large price tag with no offsets. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill would cost the federal government more than $196 billion over 10 years.  The impact of repeal will likely positively impact at minimum 21% of employers offering healthcare.  Source:  CCH 7/23/19