Heightened Military Engagement: Unpacking Employers’ USERRA Responsibilities
Matthew F. Nieman & Jeremy L. Thompson, Jackson Lewis
The recent United States military engagement in the Middle East, as well as significant domestic deployments in multiple large cities in 2025 and 2026, underscores the increasing reliance on National Guard and Reserve forces. Recruitment trends indicate an expanded operational role with nearly 50,000 National Guard enlistees added in 2025. At this time, understanding employers’ compliance obligations under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is more important than ever.
USERRA guarantees the rights of military service members to take a leave of absence from their civilian jobs for active military service and to return to their jobs with accrued seniority and other employment protections.
Age Discrimination Layoffs: A New Meta Suit’s Red Flags
Jen Coletta, HR Executive
… risk may be on the rise, as mass layoffs have picked up considerable steam in recent years, particularly in the tech sector. In January alone, U.S. employers cut more than 108,000 jobs, the highest January total in 17 years, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. While the transportation industry reported the most layoffs, that was primarily due to sweeping cuts at UPS; otherwise, most—nearly 22,300—were concentrated in tech.Such high-volume moves have many organizations turning to AI to guide restructuring decision-making, which can further open the door to discrimination claims, Chris Williams, global people and culture director at global employment solutions provider Mauve Group, recently told HR Executive.“Models can embed bias or recommend role reductions that make financial sense but conflict with short-term strategic priorities,” Williams says.
When Good Frontline Workers Make Bad Supervisors
Corey Tatel and Andy Stewart, Gallup
Across industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and retail, most frontline supervisors are promoted based on individual performance or experience as frontline workers. As the Peter Principle suggests, this approach does not guarantee success as a supervisor. In fact, the practice can be costly. The National Bureau of Economic Research found a 7.5% decline in subordinates’ sales performance when organizations promoted high-performing sales representatives to managerial roles.
‘Roller Coaster’ First Year of Trump 2.0: Survey Reveals Top Employer Concerns
Carol Warner, HR Morning
Widespread uncertainty and rapid policy shifts during the first year of Trump 2.0 have been a “roller coaster for employers,” according to a new report from the Littler Workplace Policy Institute (WPI).
To gauge employer concerns amid this uncertainty, WPI surveyed more than 300 HR professionals, C-suite execs and in-house attorneys, asking about issues most likely to affect their businesses in the year ahead.
There Are No “Quick Favors” in Wage-and-Hour Law
Jon Hyman, Ohio Employer Law Blog
“Can you just help with this for a minute?”
That’s how off-the-clock cases start.
Not with an intent to steal wages, but with an innocent call for help.
From Potential to Practical: Fueling Performance with Proven Workplace Health Interventions
Barbara Jeffery, Jacqueline Brassey, and Lucy Pérez, McKinsey Health Institute
To move from commitment to impact, the McKinsey Health Institute analyzed 115 evidence-based workplace interventions across four dimensions of health: physical, mental, social, and spiritual. The goal was to understand what works and where the biggest opportunities lie based on the current evidence. The analysis shows that effective workforce interventions exist and can improve both employee health and organizational outcomes.
HR News Roundup: Quick Takes
- HR Glossary
- 14 Unhinged Workplace Stories That Prove HR Professionals Deserve a Medal
- Colorectal Cancer’s Alarming Rise in Young Adults
- Red Flags of Financial Abuse in a Relationship
- Random Acts Of Workplace Kindness Are Awesome
- Leadership Lessons from Elite Athletes
- Gender Pay Gap Grows in 2026, Report Finds
- Repo Employer: 8 Steps to Getting Your Property Back from an Ex-Employee
- How to Save Money at the Gas Pump
- Recruiting Strategy: 4 Key Workforce Considerations
- Sending Employees Abroad? This Week Proved Why HR needs a Plan
- From NASA to Nordstrom: 10 Actionable Strategies to Fix Burnout
- The Rise of RentAHuman, the Marketplace Where Bots Put People to Work
From the Lighter Side …
- Drowning in bad news? Let Global Mind Apparel change your mood. Curating a daily stream of good-news stories via video clips, Greg Flowers says: “Every day I share positive stories and wisdom that help change the way you see the world. If you’re looking for content that lifts you up, makes you think, and gives you, you’re in the right place. Every day there are uplifting stories of kindness and positivity.”
- Technology can be such a hassle – but did you know it can be dangerous, too? Check out the hazards of resetting your password. See more smart comics by Tom Gauld.
- Stumped by some of the language your younger employees are using. Here’s a fun guide that translates hip lingo and slang from GenZ to Millenials to Genx. Understanding new English Slang. (Link to TikTok)
- These are both cute and amusing:
HR News – Blog posts you may have missed!