Mercer Marsh Benefits' Health Trends Report surveyed 225 insurers in 55 markets and found that they are expecting half of employers will "want to reduce plan coverage to manage costs in the coming year."

Many working parents today face a tough choice between staying home or paying high childcare costs. In some areas, options are limited, with long waitlists and high prices creating child-care deserts. The challenge is even greater for employees who’ve relocated and no longer have nearby family support. While maternity and pregnancy benefits have improved, the biggest barrier to staying in the workforce is access to affordable, reliable childcare. This is when the biggest drop-off...

For many positions to be exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) it must meet three tests to be Executive, Administrative, or Professional (EAP) exempt. Exempt positions do not have to be paid overtime at time and one-half (1.5x) or keep records of hours worked. The three exemption tests are:

Troy, MI – December 19, 2024 --- ASE, one of the nation’s oldest and largest employer associations, has released the 2025 Starting Salaries for Co-op Students and Recent College Graduates Survey this week. The annual survey provides a comprehensive look at the current state of wages and benefits provided to co-op students and recent college graduates.  The survey also presents employers with a snapshot of the recruitment and retention trends associated with these new...

PBMs or Pharmacy Benefit Managers are under the gun these days. PBMs are third party administrators for many types of drug care plans, especially those covering employers. PBMs earn revenues in a variety of ways. First, they collect administrative and service fees from the original insurance plan. Second, they can also collect rebates from the manufacturer. Third, and more controversial, they can resell drugs at a price higher that than the price negotiated with the manufacturer or...

Michigan is not alone with its paid sick time law. As you wrestle to prepare a new policy to meet Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA), take heart that currently there are16 other states as well as the District of Columbia that require employers to provide some form of paid sick leave to their employees.

Employers are increasingly grappling with the complexities of pay transparency as it reshapes recruitment, retention, and workplace equity. Recent studies from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis indicate that pay disclosure in job postings is growing, partly due to new legislation requiring employers to disclose pay ranges. However, pay disclosure is also expanding in areas where it is not mandated, suggesting that employers are embracing this change in response to unique challenges and...

The Illinois Equal Pay Act (the "Act") is officially going live January 1, 2025.  It was passed in 2023 and amended several times. Employers in Illinois with 15 or more employees will be required to include pay and benefit information in all job postings both external and internal.    The following are specific provisions that must be complied with:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Nebraska v. Su, No. 23-15179 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 2024) that the president lacks authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to set a federal contractor minimum wage.  Initially, Arizona, Nebraska, Idaho, Indiana, and South Carolina brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona challenging enforcement of the contractor minimum wage. The district court had dismissed the suit...

Last month the Federal Court in East Texas vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) salary level test regulations. This DOL rule had moved the weekly salary level test to $844/week ($43,888/yr.) as of July 1^st this year and had scheduled a second increase that would have taken the salary level test up to $1,128/week or $58,656/yr. on January 1, 2025.

On Friday the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas struck down the Department of Labor’s 2024 Exempt Employee Salary Level test (White-Collar tests) which had increased the salary level to $844/week ($43,888/yr) in July of this year with a scheduled second increase to $1,128/week ($58,656/yr) January 1, 2025. This ruling returns the salary level test to the level it was before July 1st – $684/week ($35,568/yr). 

Recent surveys on healthcare have taught us one major thing – healthcare costs are expected to rise.  A survey completed by Willis Towers Watson reports that employers are seeking new strategies to manage rising health care costs, which are expected to grow by 7.7% in 2025. Instead of raising employee premiums, many companies are focusing on cost-saving measures like improving health plan designs and offering access to higher-quality care at lower prices. There is also a trend...

Effective January 1, 2025, employers that wish to maintain the FLSA exemption for certain jobs will have to increase salaries from a minimum of $844/week/$43,888/yr, to $1,128/week/$58,656/yr. This next increase is obviously the bigger of the two regulatory changes and may compel some employers to choose not to increase the salary levels and in turn convert those positions to non-exempt. This will mean they will become overtime eligible, and certain recordkeeping activity will now be...

ASE recently released its 2024-2025 Salary Budget Survey, offering a comprehensive view of salary trends, pay structure adjustments, and incentive-based compensation programs among employers. This data provides key insights into the challenges businesses face in an uncertain economic environment.

Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations setting a new salary level test for determining job exempt status. To classify a job as exempt from overtime and certain record keeping compliance requirements, a job typically must meet three tests: