Each year, ASE publishes Michigan’s most comprehensive compensation survey. The 2025 results are in, and they reveal a clear trend: wage growth is beginning to stabilize.

Imagine connecting with someone who caught your attention on a dating app.  You talk a couple of times over the phone, have a video conversation, and then they invite you to lunch.  You’re excited because you are really interested; and it sounds like they are, too. In preparation, you drop off a nice outfit at the cleaners, touch up your shoes, and visit your hair stylist.  You request half a vacation day that afternoon so you have plenty of time to talk. The day...

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) handed down its unanimous ruling in the case of Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. In this case the Plaintiff was a white heterosexual woman who alleged that the Ohio Department of Youth Services discriminated against her on the basis of sexual orientation and sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Ames was an employee of the Department and was demoted from her position as Administrator of the Prison Rape Elimination Act and...

In recent years, religion has played a growing role in civil rights enforcement. Cases like Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (584 U.S. 617, 2018) examined whether a business owner could refuse to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple based on religious beliefs, even though they were willing to sell other pre-made items. More recently, Groff v. DeJoy (No. 22-174, June 29, 2023) raised the standard for how far employers must go to accommodate religious...

Burnout doesn’t just stem from long hours or tight deadlines. More often, it’s a result of the emotional toll of working in a toxic environment. When toxic behaviors are ignored, or worse, normalized, burnout takes hold across teams and departments.

Do you hire just who you like? Bias in the hiring process has long confounded HR and business leaders. What combination of training and technology can drive recruiters and hiring managers to shelf their preconceived notions about what candidates look like or where they come from? 

In a world where the majority of workplace communication now happens through screens, chats, and email threads, understanding how we communicate is becoming just as important as what we communicate. The cues we once relied on in person such as eye contact, posture, and tone are often lost in the digital shuffle. Today many of us rely on digital body language.

More and more companies are starting to care less about college degrees and more about what skills people actually have. This change is making a big difference in how employers choose who to hire and how people prepare for jobs.

Last week, the administration unveiled the details of its proposal to slash around $163 billion in federal spending for the 2026 fiscal year which starts October 1st.  Unsurprisingly, many of the cuts hit agency staffing and activities.  The1,220-page document and agency blueprints show the extent of the administration’s push of a vast transformation in Washington. Although the administration, like previous administrations, would like their budget to go unscathed by...

Not too unexpectedly, the Trump Administration is bringing in Wage and Hour administrators that have a pro-business management background. While it is pretty well known that Andrew Rogers is nominated to head the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division and is awaiting Senate confirmation, other positions at the Wage and Hour Division are being filled by appointment.

June is National Employee Wellness Month – a dedicated time to recognize the vital role that employee health and well-being play in building thriving workplaces. As organizations adapt to evolving work environments, whether remote, hybrid, or in-person, prioritizing wellness is not just beneficial, it’s good business.

Do your employees steal from work? Two in three employees in the United States have confessed to committing at least one type of theft at their current workplace, according to a new survey.

Strategy is essential to any organization’s long-term success, but too often it becomes little more than a buzzword. Leaders invest time defining ambitious goals and crafting high-level visions, yet many of these strategies never move beyond a slide deck. The missing link? A real, actionable plan.

Change is not a matter of if but when. From mergers and acquisitions to digital transformations and cultural overhauls, organizations are continuously evolving to stay competitive. For HR professionals, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The ability to lead and manage change effectively has become a critical component of strategic HR leadership.

Incivility in the workplace is more than occasional rudeness; it's a persistent pattern of disrespect that can erode organizational culture and employee morale. As highlighted in a recent HR Bartender article, incivility is a cultural issue that requires deliberate and sustained efforts to address effectively.

Mercer Marsh Benefits' Health Trends Report surveyed 225 insurers in 55 markets and found that they are expecting half of employers will "want to reduce plan coverage to manage costs in the coming year."

Through the NLRB and other related federal agencies, the Trump Administration is reversing and dropping policy and legal positions that the Biden Administration took in support of unions and Big Labor.

DEI commitments by employers appear unchanging: Littler, a law firm focusing on labor, recently published a study showing that only about 8% of leading American companies have or intend to alter their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.

The EEO-1 portal opened yesterday, May 20, 2025, and covered employers will have until June 24, 2025, to submit their reports. The EEO-1 Component 1 report is a mandatory annual data collection that requires all private sector employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria to submit workforce demographic data, including data by job category, sex, and race or ethnicity to the EEOC.   

Many working parents today face a tough choice between staying home or paying high childcare costs. In some areas, options are limited, with long waitlists and high prices creating child-care deserts. The challenge is even greater for employees who’ve relocated and no longer have nearby family support. While maternity and pregnancy benefits have improved, the biggest barrier to staying in the workforce is access to affordable, reliable childcare. This is when the biggest drop-off...

There’s no shortage of headlines warning that AI is coming for your job. While that makes for dramatic reading, the truth is a little less scary. In most industries, AI isn’t poised to take over roles entirely. But it is reshaping how work gets done, and the professionals who understand how to use AI tools effectively are quickly gaining an edge.

ASE reviews numerous employee handbooks each year. We recommend that employers review their handbook at least annually to ensure it remains compliant and accurately reflects the organization’s current practices and policies.

As Michigan celebrates Professional Trades Month this May, the spotlight is on the skilled professionals who build and sustain our communities and on the next generation ready to join them. Among them are recent graduates like those with degrees in kinesiology and pre-med studies who are eager to bring their passion and skills into meaningful roles across Michigan’s diverse professional trades sectors.

Is AI taking your job? About 4 in 10 business leaders have laid off employees as a result of deploying AI.

A new trend is emerging in workplaces nationwide: unbossing. Gen Z is showing less interest in traditional leadership roles. At first glance, this might seem like a red flag for the future of business, but it’s actually an opportunity if we’re willing to evolve.