Employer-Paid

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday signed landmark legislation that increases pension and health contributions paid by a half-million teachers, police and other public workers and removes the issue from collective bargaining for four years.

Although employer spending on employee benefits remained stable, the amount of HR professionals reporting that the economy negatively affected benefits ticked up 5 percent this year, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

State employee union leaders in Connecticut decided Monday to postpone taking any action on a rejected labor savings and concession deal, saying they're reviewing ways to halt thousands of looming layoffs.

The Supreme Court will decide whether workers can challenge a union's decision to charge extra fees to members and nonmembers without sending out a special notice.

The U.S. Postal Service is again accepting mail for Canada, starting Tuesday.

Employers are remodeling their benefits plans to give employees more power to manage their health care costs, retirement, financial security, and leave, according to a 2011 Employee Benefits Study from the Society for Human Resource Management.