USERRA leave to be treated like any other leave: An $18.5 million settlement in Huntsman v. Southwest Airlines Co. represents the largest USERRA class action recovery reported to date and signals a significant shift in how employers approach paid short-term military leave when other comparable short leaves (e.g., jury duty, bereavement) are paid. Under the proposed deal, approximately 2,791 employees will share monetary relief and – importantly – the company will implement up to 10 paid days per year of short term military leave beginning in 2026 and continuing through 2030. This paid-leave policy acts as a practical benchmark for HR leaders across industries.  Courts across multiple circuits – including the Seventh, Third, and Ninth – now agree: if you pay for jury duty or bereavement leave, you must treat short-term military leave equally. This is not an industry-specific issue.  Source: Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP 12/30/25

Did you know HSA/FSA may pay for delivered meals? According to the CDC, 90% of overall healthcare spend goes toward the treatment of chronic conditions, many of which are caused or exacerbated by poor eating habits. As healthcare and grocery costs rise, the challenges will only get worse. To help solve this piece of the chronic-care puzzle, meal-delivery service Trifecta partnered with food-tech platform Prado, which connects prepared food businesses with healthcare professionals and other specialists to distribute medically-approved meals that employees can pay for with their health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA). To get started, an employee's healthcare provider must first prescribe a weekly meal plan as part of their chronic disease management regimen. Then they choose from around 120 physician-certified meals from Trifecta's various plans, and Prado streamlines ordering by helping with steps needed to use HSA or FSA funds as payment. Estimates showed that implementation would save approximately $23 billion in healthcare costs the first year and prevent more than 2.6 million hospitalizations per year from complications related to diabetes, heart disease and cancer and per-patient savings could be as much as $6,299. Just food for thought. Source: EBN 1/15/26

Stay or go, what’s better for employees: In 2025 hiring slowed. Layoffs, as proxied by initial jobless claims, remained near historic lows. Workers were in no big rush to quit their jobs. Taken together, these numbers might suggest a softening labor market, with fewer jobs and less competition for workers. Job-changer pay is highly sensitive to real-time labor market conditions, and it’s sending an important signal: The job market is tighter than it appears.  December pay gains for job-switchers peaked in 2021 at 14.3%. The pay premium for switching jobs – that is, the differential between annualized pay gains for job-stayers and job-changers – also hit a high of nearly 8%. Since 2023, however, the pay premium for switching jobs has been less than 3%, a symptom of softening demand for hiring since the Great Resignation. The job-changer pay premium ended 2025 at 2.2%. In 2025, the low pay premium for job-changers was accompanied by faster pay growth. The annualized pay gain for this group was just 5.7 % in December 2020. It was 6.6% in December 2025.  For job-stayers, annualized pay gains were just 3% at the end of 2020. By the close of 2025, they were 4.4%.  Source: ADP 1/16/25

Why supervisory training is important: Only 30% of front-line supervisors said they were placed into their role based on supervisory skills, experience as a supervisor or because they began their career as a supervisor, according to recent data from Gallup.  65% of front-line supervisors said they obtained their position “based on performance or years of experience in a front-line role.” Supervisors who obtained their roles this way are less engaged (31%) than peers who got their roles through supervisory skills, experience as a supervisor, or who began their career as a supervisor (42%). Front-line supervisors who have been through training that focused on becoming a better supervisor in the past year are 79% more likely to be engaged, per Gallup. The report also said they were 19% less likely “to feel burned out at work very often or always, and 11% less likely to be actively looking or watching for a new job.” With retention of these employees at a high priority, investing in supervisory training should be at the top of the list. ASE supports leadership development through both public workshops and customized onsite programs. Our supervisory training is also approved for Michigan’s Going PRO Talent Fund, making it even more accessible for your organization. Explore ASE Training & Development to see how we can support your team. Source: HR Dive 1/15/26

Marijuana use on the rise with seniors: 7% of adults 65 or older are using marijuana at least once in the past month according to a survey by the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HVC and the NYU School of Global Public Health. The increase of use is from 4.8% in 2021 to 5.2% in 2023, nearly 46% jump.  Increase usage is higher for senior who are college educated and married, and women with higher incomes.  For those over 65, there are certain physical and mental risks to regular cannabis use, Stanford Medicine experts warn. These include increased risk of heart disease and certain cancers, as well as the possibility of addiction and exacerbation of age-related cognitive issues. Cannabis can also interfere with certain medications. Finally, legal cannabis is much stronger than the street pot of decades ago, meaning accidental over-consumption is more likely.  With Baby boomers staying in the workforce longer coupled with an increasing sandwich generation, it is another issue for HR to monitor.  Source: Kiplinger Retirement Report10/29/25, Stanford Medicine 10/7/25