Mandated commuter perks: An idea whose time has come?
The controversial topic of air pollution control isn’t going away. In fact, its reach has recently expanded to affect employers’ benefits packages.
The ultra-progressive state of California has a tendency to test out laws that end up getting adopted elsewhere throughout the U.S.
What to watch for now
One of the latest signed into law by California’s legislature: Senate Bill 1339, which authorizes the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and Metropolitan Transportation Commission to adopt and implement a pollution-reducing ordinance covering San Francisco employers.
In an attempt to “encourage commuting by means other than driving alone,” the ordinance, called the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program, would require all San Francisco employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer at least one of these four commuter benefits to their workforces:
- The ability to pay for their transit pass, vanpooling or bicycling expenses with pretax dollars up to the maximum amount allowed by federal law.
- A subsidy to offset the monthly cost of commuting via public transit or vanpool. The subsidy must be equal to either the monthly cost of commuting or $75 dollars, whichever is lower.
- A free or low-cost, employer-provided vanpool, bus or similar multi-passenger mode of transportation.
- An alternative method that would be equally as effective as the three options above at reducing single-occupant driving and/or vehicle emissions.
A telecommuting option, under which a certain percentage of employees are required to work from home in a given period, could be covered by No. 4.
The board of directors for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is scheduled to meet in March to consider the adoption of the proposed ordinance.
It’s a development worth keeping an eye on, because if such an ordinance is enacted and is successful at reducing air pollution, it’s possible other cities will follow suit.
The ripple effect
Initially, it may not seem like a huge deal, as most employers will likely select option No. 1 — and set aside employees’ pretax dollars to pay for commuting expenses.
But the ripple effect has the potential to be much bigger than that for two reasons (forgive our cynicism):
- It threatens to pile more administrative headaches on employers’ benefits staffers, and
- It’s not a stretch to think that the local government — when starving for cash — may lobby for the elimination of the pretax option and force employers to pay for commuting benefits on their own.
Stay tuned.
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