How much for the 12 Days of Christmas? The cost of celebrating Christmas is climbing again. Now in its 42nd year, the PNC Christmas Price Index® (PNC CPI) reveals that the cost of the gifts from the classic holiday carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" has risen 4.5% compared to last year, outpacing the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (BLS CPI) October year-over-year reading of 3.0%.  Data is compiled by PNC's Investment Office using sources from across the country, including dance and theatre companies, hatcheries, pet stores and others. Overall, the 12 gifts that comprise the PNC CPI increased to a tree-topping $51,476.12 this year. Purchasing all 364 gifts is really going to hit the wallet this year – the "True Cost of Christmas," that is buying the gifts with verses repeated – is 4.4% higher at a whopping $218,542.98. Tech-savvy Santas might avoid long lines and parking lot adventures by shopping online with its lower inflation rate of 3.1%, but the total shopping bill remains higher at $55,748.05. The convenience of shopping from home is still impacted by elevated shipping and packaging costs. Gold was the big driver at 32.5% increases, but those Nine Ladies Dancing, Ten Lords-a-Leaping, Eleven Pipers Piping, and Twelve Drummers Drumming costs rose 5.4%, down from 7.9% last year, but still higher than inflation.  Job hugging does have its benefits for gift purchases. Source: PNC

SHRM hit for discrimination at the tune of $11.5 million: A Colorado federal jury Friday found that the Society of Human Resources (SHRM) racially discriminated against a Black Egyptian former employee and retaliated against her for criticizing her manager's favoritism toward white workers, awarding her a total of $11.5 million in damages. The nine-person jury awarded Mohamed $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.  Mohamed had claimed her supervisor micromanaged her and treated white coworkers differently and eventually began excluding her from meetings and advancement opportunities after she complained to the association's managers and human resources department about her supervisor. Three months later, SHRM fired her, Mohamed said. SHRM had said the association terminated Mohamed for failing to complete two projects on time despite receiving multiple extensions on both, although Mohamed alleged that the association had prepared her termination paperwork before the deadline for her projects had passed. District Judge Gordon Gallagher found Mohamed's supervisor imposed the project deadlines on her shortly after the supervisor became visibly upset about Mohamed's bias complaints and that SHRM started drafting termination documents the same day that she complained about retaliation. Judge Gallagher also found Mohamed in fact completed the projects ahead of the deadline, casting significant doubt on SHRM's stated rationale for terminating her, the order says. Source: Law360 12/5/25

Should AI be used in performance reviews? AI is creeping into one of the most sensitive duties a boss can undertake: delivering year-end performance reviews. Some large employers, including Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have given supervisors the green light to draft evaluation writeups with help from AI. Other companies are still wrestling with how much of the process can — or should — be automated. Bringing AI into annual assessments can save managers time and even result in more useful feedback than employees get from human bosses alone, executives and management experts say. Yet they caution that outsourcing too much could turn reviews into AI workslop. (At any rate, bot-written reviews are already out there whether employers bless them or not, with many managers making up their own rules.) Bosses, like all humans, are prone to bias and faulty memory and may put too much weight on the recent past when reviewing a longer period, said Peter Cappelli, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and director of its Center for Human Resources. Cappelli said AI often can provide a more objective assessment than one you get from a human manager. That said, employees may consider a review to have less credibility if they know AI was involved.  Source: Bloomberg 11/13/25

End of year, are you burned out? Workplace burnout among U.S. employees has escalated to a six-year high, according a new report. At the same time, employee expectations about how an organization can reduce their stress are evolving, with a renewed focus on the four-day workweek. The 15th annual WorkForces Report found that 72% of U.S. employees say they face “moderate to very high stress at work.” Gen Z has surpassed millennials as the most burned-out generation, with 74% experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout, compared to 66% of millennials in 2025. Among the potential stress-relief efforts, employees report spiking interest in a four-day workweek. 40% of employees say shortening the workweek would be an effective way to address burnout, up from 28% last year. While employees are craving more time off, work location flexibility is also highly valued. Hybrid employees report the highest overall satisfaction with their working arrangements and express greater satisfaction with key aspects of their jobs, including relationships with colleagues and opportunities for collaboration. Source: HR Executive 10/27/25

California expands its paid family leave: Following California’s 2023 expansion of job-protected, unpaid family medical leave and paid sick and safe time and its 2025 expansion of job-protected, unpaid leave for victims of violence to include use for a “designated person,” Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 590 on October 13, 2025, which broadens eligibility for the state’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) law.  As a result of the change, PFL wage replacement benefits claims filed on or after July 1, 2028 will be available for employees who take time off work to care for a “designated person” with a serious illness, which the law defines as any care recipient related by blood or whose association with the individual is the equivalent of a family relationship. Employees will have to identify their “designated person” at the time they request benefits and attest under penalty of perjury to either: (1) how the individual is related by blood to the designated person; or (2) how the individual’s association with the designated person is the equivalent of a family relationship.  Employers can expect the Employment Development Department (EDD) to provide further guidance ahead of the July 1, 2028, operative date for the PFL changes. Source: Littler 10/28/25

Affirmative Action may be dead, but compliance reporting is not: Don’t forget to plan (and budget if necessary) for the various reporting the employer may have to do depending on the states and localities in which they are situated.  Federal contractors still have Veteran and Disabled AAPs as well as VETS 4212 reports to complete, and many employers still have EEO-1 obligations. Depending on the locations situated, employers may have to file California Pay Data Reporting, Minnesota Annual Compliance Report and Equal Pay Certificate, Illinois Equal Pay Registration Certificate, Massachusetts Workforce Data Reporting, and more.  ASE can assist with all reporting requirements.  Contact Anthony Kaylin at 248-223-8012 or akaylin@aseonline.org for more information.