- U.S. Economy Added a Lackluster 142,000 Jobs in August
- U.K. Workers Could Get Right to Request Four-Day Workweek
- DOL Recommends Reopening Retirees’ Lawsuit Against IBM
- Report: Five Fast-Growing Fields for Hybrid Jobs in 2024
- IRS: Consider How SECURE 2.0 Act Changes Impact W-2 Reporting
U.S. Economy Added a Lackluster 142,000 Jobs in August
Data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed the labor market added 142,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, fewer additions than the 165,000 expected by economists.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, from 4.3% in July. August job additions came in higher than the revised 89,000 added in July. Additionally, revisions to the June and July labor reports showed the U.S. economy added 86,000 fewer jobs than initially reported in those months.
According to the BLS report, the August data marked the fifth straight month payroll additions had slowed from the month prior. Meanwhile, BLS data released Wednesday showed July ended with the lowest amount of job openings in the U.S. labor market since January 2021.
U.K. Workers Could Get Right to Request Four-Day Workweek
As reported by The Guardian, workers in the United Kingdom could be given the right to request a four-day working week under new government plans but would still need to clock in their usual contracted hours.
Joe Ryle, the director of the 4 Day Week campaign, welcomed the proposals as a step toward reducing the U.K.’s overall working hours.
“This is a welcome move from the government, which recognizes that the future of work we are heading for is a four-day week for all,” he said. “However, these proposals would only allow workers to compress their working hours rather than reduce them, which we have found is key for improving work-life balance and also maintaining productivity.”
Asked about jobs such as teachers, who would not be able to do a four-day week using compressed hours, education minister Jacqui Smith said, “Well, no, and nor can lots of other people, but that doesn’t mean that those people that can do it shouldn’t have the ability to do it.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson also denied the Labour Party would impose the working pattern on businesses.
DOL Recommends Reopening Retirees’ Lawsuit Against IBM
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is urging the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to reopen a lawsuit filed in June 2022 against IBM Corp. and its plan administrator committee, according to a report by PLANADVISER.
The technology company was accused by three long-time IBM employees — Joshua Knight, Michael Campbell and Ernest Fabrizio — of using outdated mortality tables and inflated interest rate assumptions to determine the value of annuity benefits to be paid out by the pension plan. The plaintiffs claimed IBM’s actions were in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
IBM moved to dismiss the case, and the district court approved the dismissal on April 4. The plaintiffs filed a motion to appeal the dismissal on May 3.
IBM claimed in its motion to dismiss that the plaintiffs’ fiduciary breach claim was “untimely” under ERISA’s statute of limitations for such claims because the employees had “actual knowledge” of the alleged fiduciary breach — their pension protection statements disclosed the UP-1984 mortality table — more than three years before filing the initial complaint, Joshua Knight et al. v. International Business Machines Corp. et al., in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
However, the DOL argued in an amicus brief filed in support of the plaintiffs that the district court did not make any factual findings as to whether the IBM employees were aware of the company’s use of the 1984 mortality table when they received their statements.
ERISA requires that plaintiffs filing a lawsuit for fiduciary violations do so within three years of obtaining “actual knowledge of the breach or violation.”
Report: Five Fast-Growing Fields for Hybrid Jobs in 2024
A recent FlexJobs survey found the vast majority of people want some form of remote work ––with 37% of workers preferring a hybrid arrangement.
Between March 1, 2024, and Aug. 31, 2024, FlexJobs analyzed its jobs database to identify the emerging hybrid career categories with 10% or more growth.
Among the five hottest categories, account management saw the highest growth rate (62%) in hybrid jobs postings over the past six months. Bilingual positions, HR and recruiting, and administrative fields followed, with each category growing upward of 30% in the total number of hybrid job postings. And while bookkeeping scaled the most modestly of the five categories, it also saw significant gains (10%) in hybrid work-from-home jobs.
The top-growing industries exclude career categories that typically lead the hybrid and flexible job marketplace, such as computer and IT, accounting and finance, marketing, customer service, and project management.
IRS: Consider How SECURE 2.0 Act Changes Impact W-2 Reporting
The Internal Revenue Service recently published a Fact Sheet reminding employers that changes under the SECURE 2.0 Act may affect the amounts they need to report on their Forms W-2.
The SECURE 2.0 Act allows for additional features in various employer retirement plans to encourage plan usage. The provisions potentially affecting Forms W-2 (including W-2AS, W-2GU and W-2VI) are:
- De minimis financial incentives (Section 113 of the SECURE 2.0 Act),
- Roth Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) and Roth Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (Section 601 of the SECURE 2.0 Act), and
- Optional treatment of employer nonelective or matching contributions as Roth contributions (Section 604 of the SECURE 2.0 Act).
For de minimis financial incentives, the SECURE 2.0 Act made changes designed to encourage employees to contribute to their employers’ 401(k) or 403(b) plans. These changes allow employers to offer small financial incentives to employees who choose to participate in these retirement savings arrangements. If an employer offers such an incentive, it’s considered part of the employee’s income and is subject to regular tax withholding unless there’s a specific exemption.
For Roth SIMPLE and Roth SEP IRAs, under Section 601, an employer that maintains a SEP or SIMPLE IRA plan can offer participating employees the option to designate a Roth IRA as the IRA to which contributions under the arrangement or plan are made. Salary reduction contributions to a Roth SEP or Roth SIMPLE IRA are subject to federal income tax withholding, plus taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). Employer matching and nonelective contributions to a Roth SEP or Roth SIMPLE IRA are not subject to withholding for federal income tax or FICA/FUTA taxes.
For designated Roth nonelective contributions and designated Roth matching contributions, under Section 604, plans can allow employees to designate certain matching and nonelective contributions made after Dec. 29, 2022, as Roth contributions. These contributions are not subject to withholding for federal income tax. In addition, these contributions generally are not subject to withholding for Social Security or Medicare tax. Unlike regular Roth contributions, designated Roth nonelective and matching contributions must be reported on Form 1099-R for the year in which they’re allocated to an individual’s account.
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