• HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

Bipartisan bill balances state/federal paid leave

03/23/2026
One of the most frustrating HR problems for employers operating across state lines is managing different state and city paid-leave laws in the absence of at least a federal minimum standard. Now, Congress is considering enacting legislation to help.

More small employers choose 401(k) benefits

03/23/2026
For small employers, adding a plan may help with a persistent retention problem. Workers with a retirement plan at work—especially one where the employer offers a matching contribution—are less likely to jump ship to access a retirement plan through a new employer.

Paid-leave mandates reach record number of workers

03/23/2026
Approximately 46 million workers can now take time off for medical care, having or adding a child to their family, and a dizzying array of other reasons, thanks to state and local paid-leave laws enacted over the past two decades.

Spreading raises across the board can backfire with your best employees

03/16/2026
Employers are shifting their deployment of increases away from merit-based increases targeting top performers with bigger raises than less stellar performers and towards equal percentage increases for all employees. That’s something referred to as “peanut butter increases”—that is, spreading that 3.5% increase evenly across the board, peanut butter sandwich-style.

Study cites heartbreak as a reason for workplace absences

03/09/2026
Romantic breakups are quietly affecting workplace productivity, according to a new survey of 1,020 U.S. workers by career platform Zety. One in three employees say they’ve taken sick leave or PTO to recover from a breakup.

Caregiver benefits gain ground as employees juggle work and aging parents

03/09/2026
Millions of employees now log off from full workdays only to begin hours of unpaid caregiving at home, whether for young children or aging parents. As the U.S. population ages, that dual role has pushed more employers to expand paid leave and caregiver support.

What HR professionals need to know from Trump’s 2026 State of the Union

03/02/2026
President Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address covered health-care costs, retirement savings, workplace tax relief and border enforcement.

Congress to consider paid leave

03/02/2026
Will this be the year that a federal law will require employers to provide some form of paid leave for workers? It’s too early to tell for certain, but there’s an increasing chance it might happen during the off-year midterm elections as pressure mounts on so-called affordability issues.

Should you add an emergency 401(k) withdrawal benefit?

03/02/2026
Just 4% of employers offering 401(k) plans have amended them to allow the new $1,000 emergency withdrawals authorized under SECURE 2.0, according to financial services firm Vanguard.

DOL announces proposed final independent contractor rule

03/02/2026
To make classification easier and better understood by businesses and the workers they seek to employ or contract with, the proposed rule uses a single definition of who is an employee under other federal laws.