Income Taxes	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Income Taxes	Income Taxes Income tax expense was $6.4 million (a 22.2% effective tax rate) for the first quarter of 2019 and $6.4 million (an 18.8% effective tax rate) for the first quarter of 2018. The first quarter of 2018 tax expense includes favorable tax effects of stock compensation. Our tax expense is affected by recurring items, such as the amount of pretax income and its mix by jurisdiction, U.S. work opportunity credits and the change in cash surrender value of non-taxable investments in life insurance policies. It is also affected by discrete items that may occur in any given period but are not consistent from period to period, such as tax law changes, changes in judgment regarding the realizability of deferred tax assets, the tax effects of stock compensation, and changes in the fair value of the Company’s investment in Persol Holdings, which are treated as discrete since they cannot be estimated. The work opportunity credit program is a temporary provision in the U.S. tax law and expires for employees hired after 2019. While the program has routinely been extended, it is uncertain whether it will again be extended. In the event the program is not renewed, we will continue to receive credits for qualified employees hired prior to 2020. The Company provides valuation allowances against deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. Sustained profitability by our United Kingdom subsidiaries makes release of their $14.7 million valuation allowance possible in the near term, while recent losses by our Germany subsidiaries makes recording a valuation allowance against their $3.8 million of deferred tax assets possible in the near term.

Income Taxes

Income tax expense was $6.4 million (a 22.2% effective tax rate) for the first quarter of 2019 and $6.4 million (an 18.8% effective tax rate) for the first quarter of 2018. The first quarter of 2018 tax expense includes favorable tax effects of stock compensation.

Our tax expense is affected by recurring items, such as the amount of pretax income and its mix by jurisdiction, U.S. work opportunity credits and the change in cash surrender value of non-taxable investments in life insurance policies. It is also affected by discrete items that may occur in any given period but are not consistent from period to period, such as tax law changes, changes in judgment regarding the realizability of deferred tax assets, the tax effects of stock compensation, and changes in the fair value of the Company’s investment in Persol Holdings, which are treated as discrete since they cannot be estimated.

The work opportunity credit program is a temporary provision in the U.S. tax law and expires for employees hired after 2019. While the program has routinely been extended, it is uncertain whether it will again be extended. In the event the program is not renewed, we will continue to receive credits for qualified employees hired prior to 2020.

The Company provides valuation allowances against deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. Sustained profitability by our United Kingdom subsidiaries makes release of their $14.7 million valuation allowance possible in the near term, while recent losses by our Germany subsidiaries makes recording a valuation allowance against their $3.8 million of deferred tax assets possible in the near term.