The HR Specialist

04/06/2026

The 2026 Benefits Insights Report highlights a shift from “personalization” to what it calls “anticipatory intelligence.” The idea: Instead of responding after problems arise, HR teams can use real-time data and AI to identify confusion, risk and cost drivers earlier.

04/06/2026

There’s something inherently suspicious about following up a valid charge of discrimination or harassment with an almost immediate employment action against the employee who filed the initial claim. That smacks of retaliation.

04/06/2026

Employers are required to provide disabled workers reasonable accommodations that allow them to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Sometimes, that means allowing the employee to telework when their disability makes it difficult or impossible to perform their work onsite. An employer has paid a high price for refusing to allow a disabled employee to telework.

04/06/2026

One of the effects will be to discourage U.S. employers from using H-1B visas to hire entry-level workers, leaving those positions open for American workers seeking those jobs.

04/06/2026

Federal contractors will have to do more than certify that they don’t engage in racial discrimination. They must also show how they reached that conclusion, as they may need to conduct an EEO analysis to confirm they found no pattern or practice of disparate treatment or proxy discrimination based on race.

03/30/2026

Employers shouldn’t expect a mass worker exodus anytime soon. Interim census data show that new business formation fell 3.2% in February 2026 compared to February 2025.