Before the champagne pops and the Slack notifications finally stop, it’s worth pausing to reflect on what actually defined the workplace this year.
Not the initiatives.
Not the slogans.
The refrains.
Some of these are healthy habits. Others are the phrases that tend to show up right before problems do.
Here’s what kept ending up on repeat in 2025. Continue reading
Congress is not slowing down on AI regulation. Weeks after lawmakers introduced a bill requiring employers to track how many jobs AI creates and eliminates, another proposal has arrived that targets how employers actually use AI at work. Continue reading
A single disclosure from a job applicant about her methadone prescription allegedly turned a routine interview into an ADA problem the EEOC now wants a court to resolve. Continue reading
Artificial intelligence is changing everything from hiring to customer service, and now Congress wants to know exactly how many American jobs it’s creating… and killing. Continue reading
From lapel pins to lanyards to slogans on uniforms, employees are bringing social causes to work, and HR is left balancing expression, inclusion, and workplace order. A recent federal court decision involving a “BLM” message on a Home Depot apron shows where those boundaries start to take shape. Continue reading
Sometimes the timing writes the headline for you. On October 31, a federal court in New Jersey decided a harassment case that involved an unforgettable Halloween costume and a reminder that bad taste is not always a legal violation. Continue reading
An airline services company once thought a single scheduled break was enough time for a new mom to pump breast milk. The result? A federal lawsuit that is still headed to trial, and a reminder of what today’s PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act now makes crystal clear. Continue reading
“Heads I win, tails you lose.”
That’s how the Sixth Circuit described one hospital’s strategy after it tried to switch to arbitration only after losing some key early motions in court. The judges didn’t flip for it. Continue reading
In 2022, Congress passed a law that makes it harder for employers to require arbitration in certain workplace cases. Some employees are now trying to use that law to keep sex discrimination lawsuits in court. A recent case in Connecticut shows the limits of that strategy: not every sex discrimination claim counts as sexual harassment, and only sexual harassment (or sexual assault) cases are exempt from arbitration. Continue reading
It started with a sick day, a spreadsheet literally called “My Passwords.xlsx,” and a colleague trying to help. It ended with a company accusing two former employees of federal computer crimes and trade secret theft.
The Third Circuit’s response? Nice try — but workplace policy violations aren’t hacking. Continue reading
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