Workspan Daily News Bytes for Oct. 17, 2025

California Governor Signs Pharmacy Costs Bill, Vetoes AI Bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday, Oct. 11, signed Senate Bill (SB) 41, which regulates pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in an effort to prevent prescription drug price inflation.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), reforms the revenue-generating abilities of PBMs, including prohibiting the practice of spread pricing, requiring manufacturer rebates to be passed through to health plans, and allowing only administrative fee charges to be assessed to health plan and health insurer clients.

“This new law builds on the licensing framework we established earlier this year to begin holding PBMs accountable for abusive behavior,” Wiener said.

Additionally, Newsom vetoed legislation on Monday, Oct. 13, that would have regulated employers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated decision-making technologies in employment-related decisions, citing concerns about “overly broad restrictions” on employers’ use of the technology.

According to employment law firm Ogletree Deakins, SB 7, known as the “No Robo Bosses Act,” would have:

• Required employers to provide prior written notice to employees and job applicants when an “automated decision system” (ADS) would be used to make an employment-related decision;
• Imposed potentially burdensome employee data access requirements;
• Prohibited employers from relying “solely” on an ADS to discipline employees or terminate their employment;
• Prohibited employers from using ADS to prevent compliance with state, federal or local labor, workplace safety or civil rights laws;
• Prohibited employers from using an ADS to “[i]nfer a worker’s protected status” or to identify, profile, predict or take adverse action against a worker for exercising their legal rights; and,
• Prohibited employers from using an ADS to collect worker data for undisclosed purposes.

New Research Shows Employees are Prioritizing Benefits Decisions

According to new research by Voya Financial, 77% of employed Americans “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” that they plan to spend more time reviewing their benefit elections during annual enrollment to maximize their benefit dollars because of the current state of the economy — significantly up from 69% last year.

This shift reflects a growing demand for:

• Education
• Personalization
• Digital tools that help employees make informed decisions across such things as retirement savings, health spending accounts and voluntary benefits.

In addition, nearly half of surveyed employees (49%) said personalized benefit recommendations would increase their confidence in making benefits decisions. This was followed closely by interactive calculators (39%) and one-on-one support from HR or benefits teams (38%).

“Effectively communicating how benefits can be used — and making it easy for employees to understand their value — is just as critical as the benefits themselves,” said Andrew Stocker, the president of employee benefits at Voya Financial. “Employers should continually enhance their benefits guidebooks, invest in intuitive administration platforms and empower teams with personalized guidance. These efforts are key to delivering competitive compensation and benefits packages that truly support employee well-being.”

Report: Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. Workers Took No Vacation Days

Twenty-three percent of U.S. workers didn’t take a single vacation day over the past year, according to a Work and PTO Pressure Report by career website FlexJobs.

The survey of 3,063 respondents found that even though most employees (82%) have paid time off (PTO), many avoid using it due to heavy workloads, manager expectations and unsupportive corporate cultures. Nearly half of respondents (42%) took just one to 10 days off, while 25% said their manager would discourage them from taking a full week away.

According to FlexJobs’ survey:

• 42% of surveyed workers have accrued PTO, earning time off incrementally
• 18% report having no PTO at all
• 17% have a fixed number of days off
• 12% follow a use-it-or-lose-it policy, where days expire annually
• 11% have unlimited PTO

The top reasons employees avoid taking time off included:

• 43% of surveyed respondents said their workload is too heavy to justify time away
• 34% don’t have enough accrued PTO
• 30% fear falling behind
• 29% feel guilty or pressured to appear committed
• 19% said their employer doesn’t clearly support taking time off

“When people can completely unplug and disconnect from their job, they return to work more focused, productive and engaged,” said Toni Frana, a career expert at FlexJobs. “Encouraging workers to take time off isn’t just important in supporting employee well-being but is also critical to talent retention and performance.”

Google Adds Restrictions to ‘Work from Anywhere’ Policy

As reported by CNBC, Google is placing new limits on its “Work from Anywhere” (WFA) policy, which the tech company established during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The policy allows employees to work from a location outside of their main office for up to four weeks per calendar year. According to internal documents viewed by CNBC, working remotely for even a single day will now count for a full week.

Google’s current hybrid schedule, which allows employees to work from home two days a week, will not be affected by the WFA changes, but the company stated WFA weeks cannot be used to work from home or nearby.

Additionally, employees can’t work from a Google office in a separate state or country during their WFA time due to “legal and financial implications of cross-border work.” If in a different location, employees may be required to work during the business hours that align with that time zone.

The WFA update doesn’t apply to all Google staffers and may exclude data center workers and those who are required to be in physical offices. According to the internal documents, violations of the policy will result in disciplinary action or termination.

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Benefits
• Employee Experience
• Organizational Performance