HR in Five

Jaksot

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  Gartner Says a Third of AI Job Cuts Will Be Reversed 11.09.2026 5min

  A Gartner forecast reported by HRD Canada and Computerworld says thirty percent of positions cut in AI-related layoffs will need to be refilled by 2029, often at higher cost, while other analysts question the methodology. California passes a bill barring employers from using AI to track emotions or neural data, per HR Executive, and the EEOC asks a federal judge to enforce a subpoena in its probe of San Francisco's mandated DEI training, HR Dive reports. Also: UK right-to-work checks widen to contractors from October, August payrolls come in at 162,000, and Channel 4 is expected to announce around 300 job losses.
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  Amazon Sued Over Pregnancy Accommodations 10.09.2026 5min

  Four former warehouse employees have sued Amazon in federal court in New York, alleging it denied basic pregnancy accommodations and fired them under its attendance policy, a claim Amazon disputes, Ars Technica reports. The Labor Department issued three opinion letters on wage and hour questions, including one finding a fourteen-minute walk to a break area did not necessarily violate the Fair Labor Standards Act, per HR Dive, and federal officials warned that schedule changes and transfers may count as retaliation under USERRA following a 2025 amendment. Also: August payrolls rose by 162,000 per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the EEOC sued Family Dollar Stores of North Carolina, and IBM was ordered to pay nearly $900,000 over a wrongful dismissal.
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  EEOC subpoenas a city's DEI training records 09.09.2026 5min

  Bloomberg Law reports the EEOC asked a California federal judge to compel San Francisco to hand over diversity training documents, tied to a bias charge from a White former employee. HR Executive reports Volkswagen has agreed to reductions totaling 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade, with four plants' futures unclear, and that about 450 Cigna employees petitioned the insurer to restore GLP-1 weight loss drug coverage. Also: Uber drivers filed a collective action over algorithmic management, Chief Justice Roberts denied Red Rock's emergency stay in the Culinary union case, and UK permanent placements rose in August for the first time in nearly two years.
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  NLRB's Top Lawyer Names Her Targets 08.09.2026 5min

  A Foley Hoag analysis carried by Mondaq counts more than a dozen Biden-era labor board decisions that General Counsel Crystal Carey intends to challenge, with briefs already filed on severance agreements, work rules and captive-audience meetings. Personnel Today reports Next won its equal pay appeal after the Employment Appeal Tribunal found market forces a legitimate aim, and argues the Mobley versus Workday case is a reason to keep humans in charge of recruitment. Also: announced US job cuts rose nearly 60 percent from July to August per HR Executive, the Fair Work Agency named 658 employers for minimum wage underpayments, and Jaguar Land Rover is expected to open an extensive redundancy programme.
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  Benefits Costs Spike, Payrolls Beat, VW Cuts 50,000 07.09.2026 4min

  HR Executive reports Marsh projects the steepest health benefits cost increase in 24 years, citing health care consolidation and GLP-1 use. August US nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000 against expectations of 56,000, with unemployment at 4.1%, per Bureau of Labor Statistics figures reported by FXStreet, while HR Dive quotes economists calling the market fragile. Volkswagen will cut roughly 50,000 jobs by the end of the decade under its board-approved Future Plan 2030, per HRD Canada, alongside an FMLA ruling on comparators, Canadian job losses, and two federal appeals court decisions.
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  Uber's Third Restructuring, and a Court Trims the NLRB 04.09.2026 5min

  HR Executive reports Uber paired its third restructuring of 2026 with a firmer in-office policy, targeting managers with only one or two direct reports. The Second Circuit declined to enforce an NLRB order on Starbucks pin and logo-shirt policies, sending the analysis back to the Board, per Courthouse News Service, while HR Dive frames 2027 pay budgets at 3.3 percent as a fourth straight year of moderate increases. Also covered: a Labor Department warning on conflicting tobacco wellness rules, steady small-business job growth, a data center skills shortage, an age-bias suit against Southern Company Services, rising CHRO turnover, and EY's $100 million rewards pool.
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  ADP Misses, Uber Cuts 3,300 03.09.2026 5min

  ADP reported 38,000 private-sector jobs added in August, below the 48,000 forecast, with manufacturing and professional services shedding positions. Uber will cut roughly 3,300 jobs, about 10 percent of its workforce, with middle management bearing the brunt, and the NLRB has asked the full D.C. Circuit to rehear a decision narrowing its rulemaking power. Also: SHRM finds fewer than half of organizations have an AI policy, and American Airlines settles an EEOC disability suit for 200,000 dollars.
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  States Push Back On EEO-1 Rescission 02.09.2026 5min

  Eight state and local civil rights agencies filed a joint letter opposing the EEOC's proposal to rescind the EEO-1 demographic collection, per StateScoop, while the Teamsters announced a one-day unfair labor practice strike at Amazon's DJT6 warehouse in Riverside, California. Professional and business services shed 188,000 hires in July, the only sectoral change the BLS flagged as significant in Tuesday's JOLTS report, according to Tech Times, and Gartner research reported by HR Dive found employees now rank pay growth and bonuses above wellness benefits. Also: Quebec's secularism law takes effect, Ford settles EEOC graffiti allegations for 2.3 million dollars, and the EEOC found reasonable cause in a harassment case involving Cisco.
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  3.3% Merit Budgets, California's Neural Data Bill, and an EEOC Cause Finding at Cisco 01.09.2026 5min

  HR Dive reports US employers plan to raise base salary budgets an average of 3.3% in 2027, with most companies also expecting incentive payouts below target. A California bill banning workplace AI emotion surveillance and neural data collection has cleared the legislature and awaits Governor Newsom's signature, and the Guardian reports the EEOC's San Jose office found reasonable cause that Cisco subjected a class of workers to a hostile work environment based on national origin and religion, a finding Cisco disputes. Also covered: an arbitrator ordering The Washington Post to reinstate Karen Attiah, August's eight employment settlements, Spain's draft pay transparency decree, and Friday's payrolls expectations.
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  The Payroll Baseline Just Moved 31.08.2026 5min

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics cut US employment through March by 79,000 jobs in its preliminary benchmark revision, with private payrolls down 178,000 and monthly gains reset to about 11,000. NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey issued an August 26 memo previewing challenges to precedent on severance confidentiality, work rules and captive-audience meetings, per a Barnes and Thornburg analysis. Also: BLS projects word processors and typists as the fastest-shrinking occupation over the next decade, Glassdoor data shows employee sentiment on AI tools turning negative, and the EEOC has sued airline caterer Gate Gourmet over harassment complaints in Denver.
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  EEOC Commissioner Defends Enforcement, Workday's AI Revenue 28.08.2026 4min

  EEOC Commissioner Brittany Panuccio pushed back on claims the agency has taken a maximalist approach under the Trump administration, Bloomberg Law reports, while a proposed rescission of mandatory workforce demographic reporting draws industry attention. The Labor Department and other agencies addressed how wellness program surcharges may be designed, per HR Dive, and Workday posted 2.65 billion dollars in second quarter revenue with more than 100 million dollars of new annual contract value tied to AI products, according to Reuters and Investing.com. Also: recruiters report AI resume screening surfaces more qualified candidates while cutting some applicants early, congressional scrutiny of McKinsey's diversity research, record HSA balances, and 36 percent of employers cutting entry-level roles.
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  Health Costs Climb, The Times Sues the EEOC 26.08.2026 4min

  HR Executive reports US employer health care costs are projected to rise 9.5 percent in 2027, a fourth straight year of near double-digit trends, with an Aon analysis cited by HR Dive finding employers cover more than 80 percent of the burden. Bloomberg Law reports The New York Times sued the EEOC in the Southern District of New York over FOIA requests for records on White workers' race bias charges, while defending the agency's claim it discriminated against a White male editor. Also: September WARN filings from FedEx, Kroger, Chick-fil-A, Chime Financial and WellStar; research showing 6 percent of leaders call their middle managers ready to lead change; and a settlement between the American Alliance for Equal Rights and Deloitte.
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  A Second H-1B Fee, and Uber's 825 Million Euro Robo-Firing Fine 25.08.2026 4min

  HR Dive reports federal officials are preparing a second H-1B fee stacking on the existing 100,000 dollar payment, with litigation expected once it is finalized, and separately reports a judge found United Airlines' retention of a pilot accused of harassment may have been criminally negligent. Personnel Today reports the Dutch Data Protection Authority fined Uber 825 million euros over automated systems used to suspend and deactivate drivers. Also covered: a study finding companies that rolled back DEI programs saw no financial gain, the proposed end of the 60-day H-1B grace period, a Ninth Circuit ruling on arbitration claims, and CIPD data on zero-hours contract costs.
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  Contractor Affirmative Action Rules Finalized, AI Note-Takers on the Hook 24.08.2026 5min

  Three final rules rescind federal contractor affirmative action requirements, HR Dive reports, leaving employers to sort out what still must be collected, reported and audited. A California federal judge ruled Otter's meeting assistant could be treated as an independent third party that recorded and retained data for profit, per HR Executive, while an arbitrator found WorkSafeBC's return-to-office mandate breached a work-from-home clause covering about 3,440 employees, according to HRD Canada. Also: a survey on managers entering employee names and performance details into public AI tools, an Amazon pregnancy discrimination claim moving forward, the Lowe's customer-slur suit heading to trial, KPMG Australia cutting nearly 400 roles, and UK graduate vacancies hitting an all-time low.
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  Trump Accounts Get Rules, Ninth Circuit Narrows a Union Defense 21.08.2026 4min

  The IRS proposed its first regulations for Trump Accounts, giving benefits and payroll teams an early look at setup and administration while nondiscrimination testing, a per-employee contribution cap and a small-employer safe harbor draw industry attention. Bloomberg Law reports the en banc Ninth Circuit amended its work-preservation precedent, holding unions cannot use that defense against alleged NLRB order violations in jurisdictional disputes, and upheld a board decision against the ILWU at the Port of Seattle. Also, a court ruled a Salesforce worker must arbitrate a gender-based discrimination claim that does not involve sexual harassment, plus state versus federal A.I. law mapping, cash-for-coverage plan growth, a Meta immigration-letter suit, and a study on DEI policy and financial performance.
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  Ontario Narrows Early Dismissals 14.08.2026 5min

  An Ontario Divisional Court ruling in Bokhari versus Top Medical Transportation Services narrows when the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario can dismiss an application before it is heard, which HRD Canada reports could push more complaints into mediation, summary hearings and full proceedings. Also today, the International Labour Organization counts 67 million unemployed young people globally as employers rethink entry-level roles, and HR Dive reports a worker's lawsuit alleging his employer's lack of a fossil-fuel-free 401(k) option violated his religious rights. Plus, Canadian medical plan costs are projected to rise 8.3 per cent this year on Aon's 2026 Global Medical Trend Rates Report, as CFOs press HR leaders on what benefits spending returns.
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  Canada's Wage Parity Clock, and a Looser UK Causation Test 13.08.2026 3min

  HRD Canada reports federally regulated employers have until October 20 to prepare for new equal treatment wage rules under the Canada Labour Code, which bar different pay rates for the same work based solely on employment status and put the onus on employers to justify any differential. Personnel Today reports the UK Supreme Court has ruled part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, not the sole cause, a lower bar that puts benefits design and scheduling rules back under review. Also today: an arbitrator struck down the TTC's random drug testing and reinstated a fired bus operator, per HRD Canada; HR Dive reports Zillow faces an untested bias complaint from a White man alleging age-based mockery; and Labor Department official Julie Hocker said return to work efforts should be early, coordinated and sustained, per HR Dive, because the likelihood of return drops significantly as weeks pass.
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  A $4.7M RSU Ruling, and HR's Shrinking Share 12.08.2026 4min

  Ontario's Court of Appeal ruled a fired Meta employee is entitled to 4.7 million US dollars in restricted stock units that should have vested during his notice period, holding that Meta could not alter his compensation scheme mid-notice, per HRD Canada. Visier's Hidden in the Headcount report, covering 3.6 million employee records, found HR among eleven job domains losing headcount share while data and analytics and product management grew fastest, and HR Dive carries an economist's argument that a historic contraction in the American labor force strengthens the case for AI at work. Also: Visa's job cuts reached six vice presidents and 37 senior directors, a record 1.24 million people are on zero-hours contracts in the UK, and US employers named cancer their top unmanaged cost risk.
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  A Million Fewer Workers, and a New NLRB Majority 11.08.2026 5min

  Morningstar reports labor force participation fell to 61.4 percent in July, the lowest since February 2021, with the workforce down more than a million people from a year ago on BLS data. HR Dive reports the Senate's 51 to 47 vote confirmed James Macy and David Prouty to the National Labor Relations Board, giving Republicans a 3 to 1 majority, and covers a Fourth Circuit ruling that the ADA may require reassigning a worker who cannot perform a job's essential functions. Reuters reports Apple agreed to pay 150,000 dollars to settle EEOC religious discrimination and retaliation claims involving its Reston, Virginia store, with Apple denying wrongdoing.
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  Tech Layoffs Climb as the July Jobs Report Misses 10.08.2026 5min

  HR Dive reports Challenger, Gray and Christmas found technology job losses running higher year over year even as layoffs slow elsewhere, while BLS data shows the US economy lost 23,000 jobs in July against expectations of an 80,000 gain, with May and June revised down by a combined 103,000. KFF's read of rate filings puts insurer requests on small group plans at roughly 14 percent next year, another year of double digit increases. Statistics Canada reports the opposite trend north of the border, with 75,000 jobs added and unemployment down to 6.4 percent.