| | Economic Events | | THE ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Tomorrow, the Conference Board will release its Consumer Confidence Index for March. Thursday, the Department of Labor will issue its initial claims report. Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will reveal the unemployment rate for March, and the Census Bureau will report about construction spending in February. | | | Market Mirror | | U.S. stock and bond markets were closed on Friday. | | | Compliance | | ICI Raises Questions About California Secure Choice Plan | | The California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program was approved by Governor Jerry Brown back in 2012, but it has yet to receive the blessing of some of the major defined contribution (DC) plan industry groups operating in the state. Among the opposition stands the Investment Company Institute (ICI), which represents the interests of nearly 40 member companies located in California. While ICI says it wholeheartedly supports the goal of the Secure Choice Program—i.e., getting more people saving for and engaged in their own retirement—it feels the new program will only create more complexity for providers and consumers while doing little to help peoples’ actual financial health.Read more > | | | From the Magazine | | Plan Corrections: Discrimination Testing | | The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows plans to correct nondiscrimination testing errors by submitting an application to its voluntary compliance program (VCP). Companies that do not make corrections on time are subject to penalties—or to having their plan lose its tax-favored status.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON THIS DATE: In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs patented a washing machine. In 1885, The Salvation Army was officially organized in the U.S. In 1917, during World War I the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was founded. In 1921, U.S. President Warren Harding named William Howard Taft as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. In 1963, Sonny Werblin announced that the New York Titans of the American Football League was changing its name to the New York Jets. In 1979, a major accident occurred at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. A nuclear power reactor overheated and suffered a partial meltdown. In 1986, more than 6,000 radio stations of all format varieties played “We are the World” simultaneously at 10:15 a.m. EST. In 2010, China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. signed a deal to buy Ford Motor Co.’s Volvo car unit. | | SURVEY SAYS RESPONSES: Last week, I asked NewsDash readers, “Does your company offer a paid holiday for Easter, and do you think companies should offer a paid holiday for Easter?” Nearly three in 10 responding readers (29.6%) get a paid holiday the Friday before Easter, and the rest do not get a paid holiday for Easter. Slightly more than 38% of respondents said they think companies should offer a paid holiday for Easter, while 41.7% said they shouldn’t and 19.8% had no opinion. I also asked readers if they feel it’s fair for companies to offer paid holidays for one religious group’s celebrations and not others’—50.5% said ‘yes,’ 12.4% said ‘no, and I think they should not be offered,’ and 37.1% said, ‘not fair, but I like having the time off.’ Some readers who left comments pointed out that the “religious” holidays have become so secular, they could just be named something else (like Spring Holiday instead of Good Friday) and be fair to all. Some pointed out that they are off because the market is closed, not for religious reasons. Others suggested extra PTO days or floating holidays in place of certain holidays. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “It should be added as a floating holiday so anyone may use it for their own religious observance.” Thank you to all who responded to the survey!Read more > | | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the NewsDash along – and tell your friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > |
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