Unum said Wednesday it is adding a new employee benefit to help its workers pay down student debt with their unused vacation time.
Starting next year, employees can transfer carry-over paid time off into a payment against student debt through the Student Debt Relief Program, managed by financial services provider Fidelity Investments.
"This first-of-its-kind Student Debt Relief Program, along with a range of other financial benefits and resources, provides Unum employees more tools to reduce financial stress and improve overall wellbeing," said Carl Gagnon, assistant vice president of Global Financial Wellbeing and Retirement Programs at Unum..
Student debt now tops an estimated $1.5 trillion in the U.S. Monthly student loan payments can leave employees struggling to contribute to other important savings goals and benefits, such as 401(k) retirement accounts. This innovative solution gives U.S. employees of Unum a choice to use their benefits in ways that work best for them. The option is available to any U.S. employee who has student debt, including parents who have taken out educational loans for their children.
Beginning in their first year at Unum, full-time employees receive 28 days of paid time off, including holidays and personal days, with additional PTO available over time. Each year, employees can carry over up to five days (40 hours) of unused paid time.
In January 2020, those who are interested in the Student Debt Relief Program will be able to transfer up to 40 hours of carry-over PTO into a payment against student debt.
Trump business to use E-Verify
The Trump Organization, responding to claims that some of its workers were in the U.S. illegally, said on Wednesday that it will use the E-Verify electronic system at all of its properties to check employees' documentation.
A lawyer for a dozen immigrant workers at the Trump National Golf Club in New York's Westchester County said recently that they were fired on Jan. 18. He said many had worked there for a dozen or more years. Workers at another Trump club in Bedminster, New Jersey, came forward last month to allege managers there had hired them knowing they were in the country illegally.
"We are actively engaged in uniforming this process across our properties and will institute E-verify at any property not currently utilizing this system," Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said in a statement provided to The Associated Press. "As a company we take this obligation very seriously and when faced with a situation in which an employee has presented false and fraudulent documentation, we will take appropriate action."
Launched in 1996, the E-Verify system allows employers to check documentation submitted by job applicants with records at the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to see whether they are authorized to work.
Businesses add 213,000 more jobs
U.S. businesses added a solid 213,000 jobs in January, a private survey found, signaling that the partial government shutdown and trade war concerns that have roiled financial markets aren't discouraging companies from hiring more people.
Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that January's job gains were lower than the 263,000 added in December, which was revised slightly lower.
ADP's report does not include government employees and therefore was not directly affected by the government shutdown. Still, the data suggests that the shutdown did not broadly discourage private companies from adding workers. The ADP report frequently diverges from the official figures.
The government will issue its official monthly jobs numbers Friday. Economists are forecasting a smaller gain of 164,000, though that is enough to lower the unemployment rate over time.
While economists are forecasting that growth will slow this year from 2018, hiring is still going strong. Employers added 312,000 jobs in December, the government said earlier this month. The unemployment rate is 3.9 percent, slightly above the lowest level in five decades.