On February 26, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Andrea Lucas issued a letter to the chief executive officers, general counsel, and board chairs of 500 of the largest employers. These companies employ over 30 million workers and exert significant influence over the livelihood of millions of Americans. 

As organizations navigate ongoing talent shortages and shifting workforce expectations, many are facing two challenges at once. Experienced employees are nearing retirement, and mid-career professionals are stepping away due to caregiving demands. Flextirement offers a structured way to address both.

When it comes to attracting the best talent, writing inclusive job descriptions is one of the simplest and most effective changes an organization can make. Yet many job ads unintentionally exclude neurodivergent candidates including people with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and other neurological differences because they’re written without considering different ways people process information.

Laws around employment background checks are constantly in motion. Employers must stay up to date with the changes, especially when they work in multiple states. What you can do in one state, and sometimes in one county, is not allowed in another state or county.

Paid family leave pays off: A new survey of more than 250 human resources decision-makers reveals that 88% of companies offer standalone employer-sponsored paid family leave (PFL) and/or paid parental leave (PPL), including 46% that offer both. Almost 21% offer one or both to all part-timers, and 62% provide immediate coverage eligibility upon hire.

For the past five years, the "virtual-first" hiring model was hailed as the ultimate efficiency win for HR. However, as generative AI tools have evolved from simple resume builders to real-time interview copilots, the digital veneer of the hiring process is cracking. To outsmart the surge in AI-assisted fraud and "bot-optimized" candidates, companies are increasingly dusting off the physical conference room and returning to the in-person interview.

Loneliness has increasingly become a workplace crisis. Roughly 60% of employees with fewer than five years of work experience report feeling lonely all or most of the time. In a world of remote and hybrid work, that isolation has real consequences for both employees and the organizations they work for.

Every organization has one. The project that started with enthusiasm, buy-in, a great launch meeting, and a well-designed slide deck, but then months go by, and years later, it is still tagging along with no clear purpose. No one remembers why it started, and no one wants to admit it might not be working. Welcome to the world of the zombie project, the initiative that refuses to die.

For many organizations, hiring still happens in reaction to immediate needs. A key employee leaves, a project ramps up, or a new initiative begins, and suddenly HR is racing to fill a position. This reactive approach often leads to rushed decisions, long vacancies, and hires who may not be the best long-term fit.

With the anti-DEI focus by the current administration and with a renewed focus on meritocracy, the current EEOC has taken up the torch to concentrate on merit-based discrimination, especially to restore equal opportunity for all workers, and in particular white males.  On December 17, 2025, Chair Lucas tweeted on X:

 

Expanding leave programs in the next few years: Nearly three-quarters of U.S. companies plan to expand their leave programs in the next two years, according to research released by WTW, a global advisory, broking and solutions company. These investments are driven by a focus on improving employee experience (67%) and upping attraction and retention (60%), WTW found. 

Terminations can become more complicated when an employee, during or after offboarding, claims the decision was based on a disability. These claims may involve cognitive conditions, such as autism or ADHD, or physical conditions, such as chronic pain or medical disorders. While these situations can feel high-risk, the legal framework for evaluating them is consistent and manageable when employers follow sound practices.

On February 27, 2026, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a proposed rule to update the independent contractor rule and to rescind the previous administration’s rule.  The definition of an independent contractor has been long argued since the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was first passed in the 1930s.  The courts found that the FLSA never defined an independent contractor (IC) and as a result, a variety of court and federal administrative...

A troubling pattern is emerging in today’s workplace: change fatigue. It shows up as frustration, apathy, and resistance when employees are asked to absorb constant, overlapping changes. At its core, change fatigue happens when the pace or volume of transformation exceeds people’s capacity to adapt. As McKinsey & Company describes it, we are now living in “the age of perpetual organizational upheaval.”

Millennials now represent the largest segment of the U.S. workforce at 36%, and they have become the largest generation in management roles. Yet new survey data suggests many are quietly questioning their career paths. According to research from ELVTR, 55% of millennials feel unsettled in their careers or say they are still figuring them out. Even more alarming, 59% admit they are hoping for an external reason, such as a layoff, to leave a job they no longer enjoy.