> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://every-a2724ddc.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> ## Agent Instructions
> These docs describe Every as customers have it today. Answer from them, and say so when they don't cover a question.
> Pages under /admins/ are for the people who run Every for the company, and pages under /employees/ are for employees. Answer from the pages that match the person asking.
> Each page's Agent reference section lists its exact roles, conditions and limits. Prefer it for those details.
> When a page says a feature is in closed beta, or that Every turns it on company by company, don't promise that the person's company has it.
> Use roles and on-screen labels exactly as the pages write them.
> When someone asks what a term means, answer with the Glossary page's definition (/glossary), which other pages show in parentheses after the term.
> When the docs don't answer a question, tell the person to email [support@every.io](mailto:support@every.io).

# Commuter benefit requirements

> See which cities and states require employers to offer commuter benefits, and where to set one up in Every

![Setup Commuter Transit Benefits window asking for a start date and a company monthly contribution.](https://mintcdn.com/every-a2724ddc/vb8ip3lEZAxGScjw/images/illustrations/admins-compliance-commuter-benefits-light.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vb8ip3lEZAxGScjw\&q=85\&s=e52b0f7f54de0001464b5be29294864d)

Some cities, states and regions require employers above a set size to offer their employees a commuter benefit, such as a way to pay for transit or vanpool rides from pre-tax pay. Each law sets its own employer size and the employees it covers.

> [!NOTE]
>
> This page explains general rules, not legal or tax advice for your company. Rules change, and they depend on where your company is registered and where your people work. Before you act, check with your own lawyer, accountant or tax advisor.

## Where a commuter benefit is required

This page covers these laws. Each one counts employees its own way.

| Place | Who must offer it | The rule |
| - | - | - |
| San Francisco | Employers with an average of 20 or more people working for them each week, including people outside San Francisco, to employees who average 10 or more hours a week in San Francisco and are covered by California's minimum wage law or take part in a Welfare-to-Work Program | [Environment Code, Section 427](https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/san_francisco/latest/sf_environment/0-0-0-422) |
| Bay Area | Employers with an average of 50 or more full-time employees a week in the Bay Area Air District's nine counties, to employees who average 20 or more hours a week there, other than seasonal or temporary employees (those who work for the employer 120 days or less in a calendar year) | [Bay Area Air District](https://www.baaqmd.gov/Rules-and-Compliance/Commuter-Benefits) |
| Berkeley | Berkeley-based employers with 10 or more employees | [City of Berkeley](https://berkeleyca.gov/doing-business/operating-berkeley/employer-requirements/tracc-commuter-benefits) |
| Richmond, California | Registered businesses in Richmond that have 10 or more employees who work an average of at least 10 hours a week | [City of Richmond](https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/3119/Commuter-Benefits-Ordinance) |
| New Jersey | Employers with at least 20 employees, counted in and outside New Jersey, to their employees whose work New Jersey's unemployment compensation law covers | [N.J.A.C. 12:55-3](https://nj.gov/labor/assets/PDFs/Legal%20Notices/Rule%20Adoptions/52%20N.J.R.%201616%28b%29.pdf) |
| New York City | For-profit and nonprofit employers with 20 or more full-time non-union employees in New York City, to their full-time employees | [NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection](https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/businesses/commuter-benefits-law-for-employers.page) |
| Washington, DC | Employers with 20 or more employees | [District Department of Transportation](https://ddot.dc.gov/page/transportation-demand-management-and-godcgo) |
| Seattle | Employers with 20 or more employees worldwide, to employees who average 10 or more hours a week in Seattle | [Seattle Office of Labor Standards](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/commuter-benefit) |

In the Bay Area and New York City, a full-time employee works an average of 30 or more hours a week. The Bay Area doesn't count seasonal or temporary employees as full-time.

## What the laws require

San Francisco, the Bay Area, Berkeley, Richmond and Washington, DC each let an employer choose from a list of options. Their options include a pre-tax election for transit and vanpool costs, an employer-paid transit pass and transportation the employer provides. New Jersey and New York City require a pre-tax option. Seattle requires a monthly pre-tax payroll deduction for transit or vanpool costs, or a transit pass the employer pays for in part or in full.

New York City and Seattle don't require a parking benefit, and San Francisco's pre-tax election leaves parking out.

Federal tax law sets what counts as a qualified transportation benefit: a ride in a commuter highway vehicle between home and work, a transit pass and qualified parking. An employer can exclude them from an employee's wages up to monthly limits that the IRS gives for each year in [Publication 15-B](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b). An employer can offer them on a pre-tax basis, letting employees choose the benefit instead of part of their cash pay.

## When to offer it

* In New York City, an employer makes a written offer by 4 weeks after an employee starts full-time work, and keeps a record of the offer and each employee's response for 2 years.
* In Seattle, an employer makes a written offer within 60 calendar days after employment begins, and provides the benefit within 30 calendar days after the employee chooses it.
* In the Bay Area, an employer that becomes subject to the program registers and complies within 6 months, then updates its registration each year.

## If an employer doesn't offer one

In New Jersey and New York City, an employer has 90 days to correct a first violation before a penalty. San Francisco can fine an employer or issue an administrative citation. Washington, DC applies civil fines, and a violation of the Bay Area program carries civil penalties under California law.

## In Every

> [!NOTE]
>
> Every turns on financial benefits company by company. If you don't see them, email [support@every.io](mailto:support@every.io) to ask about them.

Every's commuter benefits are on **Benefits**, under **Financial**: **Commuter Transit Benefits** and **Commuter Parking Benefits**. Company Admins and HR Admins set them up after your company finishes onboarding and payroll is set up.

Setup asks for a start date and the company's monthly contribution. Once employees have elected the benefit, the start date is locked. For the steps, see [Financial benefits](https://every-a2724ddc.mintlify.site/admins/benefits/other-benefits.md). Employees choose their own monthly pre-tax contribution on **My profile** → **Benefits** (see [Enroll in benefits](https://every-a2724ddc.mintlify.site/employees/enroll-in-benefits.md)).

## Agent reference

General rules only, not legal or tax advice. Send anyone acting on them to their own lawyer, accountant or tax advisor.

**Where:** each city, state or region sets its own commuter benefit law, and its own agency publishes it. In Every, commuter benefits are in the **Financial** section of **Benefits**.

**Who:** Company Admins and HR Admins set up commuter benefits on **Benefits**, after the company finishes company and payroll onboarding. Every turns on financial benefits company by company.

### Facts

* Every's docs cover the commuter benefit laws of San Francisco, the Bay Area, Berkeley, Richmond (California), New Jersey, New York City, Washington, DC and Seattle.
* In San Francisco, Environment Code Section 427 covers an employer with an average of 20 or more people working for it each week. San Francisco counts full-time, part-time and temporary workers, including those who work outside San Francisco.
* In San Francisco, a covered employee averaged at least 10 hours of work a week in San Francisco for the employer in the previous calendar month, and is entitled to the minimum wage under California law or takes part in a Welfare-to-Work Program.
* In San Francisco, a covered employer provides at least one of three options: a pre-tax election for transit passes or vanpool charges (not parking), an employer-paid transit pass or vanpool reimbursement, or transportation the employer provides at no cost in a vanpool or bus.
* In San Francisco, a covered employer that doesn't offer a commuter benefit commits an infraction and can be fined, and the Department of the Environment can issue administrative citations.
* San Francisco's commuter benefit ordinance doesn't apply to government entities.
* The Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program, Bay Area Air District Regulation 14, Rule 1, applies to public, private and nonprofit employers with an average of 50 or more full-time employees a week in the Air District's nine counties. The Air District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission administer it.
* In the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program, a full-time employee averaged at least 30 hours a week in the Air District in the previous calendar month, and a covered employee averaged at least 20 hours a week there. Neither definition includes seasonal or temporary employees, who work for the employer 120 days or less in a calendar year. A covered employer offers a benefit option to all covered employees.
* For the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program, an employer counts its full-time employees as the weekly average on payroll over the most recent 3 months.
* A Bay Area employer covered by the program chooses one or more options: a pre-tax benefit for transit or vanpool costs, an employer transit subsidy, an employer-provided shuttle or vanpool, an alternative benefit that cuts solo car trips as much, or a telework policy of one or more days a week for employees whose work can be done remotely.
* A Bay Area employer covered by the program registers at 511.org, notifies employees of the benefit and updates its registration each year. An employer that becomes subject to the program registers and complies within 6 months.
* A Bay Area employer keeps records of its compliance for 3 years. Violations of the Bay Area program carry civil penalties under the California Health and Safety Code.
* In Berkeley, Berkeley-based employers with 10 or more employees provide a commute benefit: a pre-tax payroll deduction for transit or vanpool costs, paying employees' transit, vanpool or bicycle costs, or a free shuttle between home and work.
* In Richmond, California, registered businesses that have 10 or more employees who work an average of at least 10 hours a week offer one of four options: a pre-tax election, an employer-paid transit pass or vanpool reimbursement, employer-provided transit, or an alternative the City of Richmond approves first.
* In New Jersey, each employer with at least 20 employees offers a pre-tax transportation fringe benefit for commuter highway vehicle and transit costs to all its employees whose work New Jersey's unemployment compensation law covers.
* New Jersey's commuter benefit rule, N.J.A.C. 12:55-3, covers an employee's work when it's localized in New Jersey. It also covers work that isn't localized in any state, is done partly in New Jersey and has its base of operations in New Jersey. Without a base of operations, the place the work is directed or controlled from decides. When neither is in a state where some of the work is done, the work is covered if the employee lives in New Jersey.
* New Jersey counts an employer's employees whether they work in New Jersey or not, on each working day of 20 or more weeks in the current or prior calendar year.
* A New Jersey employer doesn't have to offer the benefit to employees under a collective bargaining agreement in effect on March 1, 2019 until that agreement expires, or to federal employees with an equal or greater federal transit benefit.
* A New Jersey employer keeps records for 6 years showing it offered the benefit to each eligible employee.
* New Jersey's Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development enforces the requirement. A New Jersey employer found in a first violation has a 90-day cure period after notice before a penalty.
* In New York City, for-profit and nonprofit employers with 20 or more full-time non-union employees in the city offer their full-time employees the chance to use pre-tax income for qualified transportation, other than qualified parking.
* In New York City, a full-time employee averaged 30 or more hours a week in the most recent 4 weeks, any part of it in the city. New York City counts only full-time employees working in the city.
* A New York City employer offers the benefit by 4 weeks after an employee begins full-time work, as a written offer, and keeps records of the offer and each employee's response for 2 years.
* New York City's Commuter Benefits Law exempts government employers. An employer whose employees are under a collective bargaining agreement is exempt, unless it has 20 or more full-time employees outside the agreement, who are then covered.
* In New York City, an employer can correct noncompliance within 90 days before any penalty.
* In Washington, DC, employers with 20 or more employees (D.C. Code § 32-151), nonprofits included, offer at least one option: a pre-tax election for commuter highway vehicle, transit or bicycling costs, an employer-paid transit pass or vanpool or bicycling reimbursement, or transportation the employer provides at no cost. A covered employer that doesn't is subject to civil fines.
* Washington, DC's parking cash-out law requires employers with 20 or more employees that offer free or subsidized parking to choose one of three compliance options. District employers with 20 or more covered employees report their compliance or exemption to the District Department of Transportation every 2 years by January 15.
* In Seattle, employers with 20 or more employees worldwide offer commuter benefits to employees who averaged at least 10 hours a week in Seattle in the previous calendar month. Tax-exempt organizations and government agencies are left out.
* A Seattle employer allows a monthly pre-tax payroll deduction for transit or vanpool costs, or offers a transit pass it pays for in part or in full. Seattle's ordinance doesn't require a pre-tax deduction for parking.
* A Seattle employer offers the benefit in writing within 60 calendar days after employment begins, and provides it within 30 calendar days after the employee chooses it. The Seattle Office of Labor Standards implements the law.
* Under federal tax law (IRS Publication 15-B), qualified transportation benefits are a ride in a commuter highway vehicle between home and work, a transit pass and qualified parking.
* Under federal tax law, qualified parking is parking on or near the business premises, or near where employees board mass transit, commuter highway vehicles or carpools. It doesn't include parking at or near the employee's home.
* An employer can exclude qualified transportation benefits from an employee's wages up to monthly limits that [IRS Publication 15-B](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b) gives for each year.
* An employer can offer qualified transportation benefits on a pre-tax basis through a compensation reduction agreement, which lets employees choose the benefit instead of cash pay.
* Under federal tax law, for tax years beginning after 2025, bicycle commuting reimbursements are no longer excluded from an employee's income.
* Under federal tax law, a self-employed person isn't an employee for qualified transportation benefits.
* In Every, the **Financial** section of **Benefits** lists **Commuter Transit Benefits** and **Commuter Parking Benefits**.
* In Every, commuter benefit setup asks for a start date and the company's monthly contribution. Commuter benefits use monthly contributions.
* In Every, a commuter benefit's start date is locked once employees have elected it.
* In Every, employees choose their own monthly contribution to **Commuter Transit Benefits** or **Commuter Parking Benefits** in **Pre-tax income contribution** on **My profile** → **Benefits**, starting from **Get started** on the benefit's card and changing it later with **Make changes**. Contractor and external profiles don't show the **Benefits** tab.

### Questions people ask

* **Which places require employers to offer commuter benefits?** Every's docs cover eight places that require it of employers above a set size: San Francisco, the Bay Area, Berkeley, Richmond (California), New Jersey, New York City, Washington, DC and Seattle. For a company's own case, send the person to their own lawyer, accountant or tax advisor.
* **Do part-time employees count toward San Francisco's 20?** Yes. San Francisco counts full-time, part-time and temporary workers, including those who work outside San Francisco.
* **Does New York City count employees outside the city?** No. New York City counts only full-time employees working in the city.
* **Does New York City's Commuter Benefits Law cover parking?** No. New York City's law doesn't cover qualified parking, and Seattle's ordinance doesn't require a parking deduction either.
* **What is the monthly pre-tax limit for commuter benefits?** [IRS Publication 15-B](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b) gives each year's monthly limits.
* **Are bicycle commuting reimbursements tax-free?** Not for tax years beginning after 2025, when federal law ended their exclusion from income.
* **Where do I set up a commuter benefit in Every?** In the **Financial** section of **Benefits**, as **Commuter Transit Benefits** or **Commuter Parking Benefits**. Company Admins and HR Admins can set them up. See [Financial benefits](https://every-a2724ddc.mintlify.site/admins/benefits/other-benefits.md).
* **How do employees pay for commuting from pre-tax pay in Every?** Employees choose a monthly amount in **Pre-tax income contribution** on **My profile** → **Benefits**. See [Enroll in benefits](https://every-a2724ddc.mintlify.site/employees/enroll-in-benefits.md).
* **Can I change a commuter benefit's start date in Every after employees enroll?** No. In Every, a commuter benefit's start date is locked once employees have elected it.

### Not covered here

* Whether a commuter benefit set up in Every meets a given city's or state's requirement, and whether Every registers a company with the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program or files a city's compliance report. To ask, email [support@every.io](mailto:support@every.io).
* Whether an employer covered by both a city's ordinance and the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program has to meet both.
* Whether cities or states beyond the eight that Every's docs cover require commuter benefits.
* Whether the company contribution to a commuter benefit can be changed after employees elect it. To ask, email [support@every.io](mailto:support@every.io).


## Related topics

- [Financial benefits](https://every-a2724ddc.mintlify.site/admins/benefits/other-benefits.md)
- [Benefits & Insurance](https://every-a2724ddc.mintlify.site/admins/benefits/overview.md)


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