HR News - ATS Media

Be sure to check HR News often to stay on top of the latest trends, information, and analysis on a variety of topics. See what HR professionals are talking about and become part of the conversation!

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

December 19, 2024

It’s well known that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 was amended to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to “prohibit sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy” for employers with at least fifteen employees. Read more...

Skills-First Hiring

December 5, 2024

“Skills-first,” or “skills-based,” hiring is hiring based on the abilities of applicants to do the job, rather than the commonly required four-year college degree, which may or may not indicate actual skill level. Read more...

HR’s Role in Employee Engagement

November 20, 2024

Employees who are engaged, who feel invested in and committed to their work and their organization, who enjoy their job and therefore are most likely to stick around are an organization’s greatest asset. Read more...

Ageism at Work

November 7, 2024

Workplace ageism is discriminatory behavior directed at an employee because of a perception that the person is either too old or too young to be the best fit for the job. Read more...

How to Ensure Employee Retention

October 23, 2024

Retaining good employees has always been integral to an organization’s stability and success. Read more...

The Rise of Incivility at Work

October 10, 2024

This is the age of DEI and an emphasis on the importance of developing and maintaining a healthy workplace culture, yet workplace incivility—disrespect, insensitivity, and rudeness among those we interact with at work—is on the rise according to numerous employee polls. Read more...

HR Metrics

September 24, 2024

HR metrics are data- and statistics-driven measures of the effectiveness of initiatives and activities that fall under the purview of Human Resources. Read more...

Avoiding Political Conflict in the Workplace

September 5, 2024

When managers, supervisors, or coworkers differ politically, especially at a time when the country is so politically divided and a major election is approaching, tensions can rise and sparks can fly between people who are passionate about their beliefs, allegiances, and candidates. Read more...

The Class Ceiling

August 19, 2024

While employers and HR professionals have made great progress in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion in recent years, there’s an area in which DEI efforts have been lacking: social class. Read more...

The Neurodiverse Workplace

July 24, 2024

The term neurodiversity was coined twenty-five years ago to further the acceptance of autism as a natural variation in the way people’s brains process information, sensory perception, and social interaction. Read more...

Overtime Rule Changes on July 1, 2024 (Or Does It?)

July 8, 2024

The (FLSA) requires that when most U.S. employees work more than a 40-hour work week, they get paid more. Read more...

The Benefits of Shift Swapping

June 12, 2024

“Shift swapping” is simply the practice of allowing hourly employees to trade regular work shifts with one another... Read more...

Ethics at Work

May 30, 2024

We’re all presented with ethical choices—that is, those that require us to think about right and wrong—all the time in the course of doing our jobs. ... Read more...

Employee Marijuana Use and the Workplace

May 13, 2024

The federal government still considers marijuana a federally banned substance, but thirty-eight states have legalized it for medical use and twenty-four have legalized it for recreational use.. Read more...

Earth Day: An Opportunity to Help the Planet and Your Organization

April 18, 2024

Every April 22nd since 1970 we have come together as individuals and organizations to celebrate Earth Day and acknowledge our shared responsibility for the quality of our environment. Read more...

Is Paid Family Leave in Our Future?

April 10, 2024

While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires U.S. employers (with at least fifty employees) to allow their employees to take up to twelve weeks off, it doesn’t pay them while they do so, and many can’t afford to take advantage of it. Read more...

EEOC Update: The Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) Fiscal Years 2024–2028

March 25, 2024

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced its new Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2024 through 2028. Read more...

Women’s History Month Celebrates DEI in 2024 March 2024

March 11, 2024

Each March since 1995, by presidential proclamation, we’ve highlighted the often unsung contributions of women over the course of U.S. history during Women’s History Month. Read more...

Workplace Violence–Prevention Training: Are California State Mandates a Sign of Things to Come?

February 23, 2024

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, defines workplace violence as “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.” Read more...

Celebrate Black History Month at Work

February 12, 2024

Black History Month is an important annual observance that recognizes African American history and achievement. Read more...

“Proximity Bias”: It’s a Problem

January 24, 2024

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 27 percent of U.S. employees currently work from home. Read more...

New EEOC Harassment Guidelines Coming in 2024

January 17, 2024

It’s hard to believe, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hasn’t updated its enforcement guidance on workplace harassment since 1999. Read more...

Fostering Civility

December 27, 2023

The word “civility,” from the Latin for “citizen,” simply means being courteous, or polite. Read more...

Supporting Employee Mental Health During the Holiday Season

December 15, 2023

The Thanksgiving-through-New-Year’s holiday season, portrayed in the media as simply a joyful time of family gatherings and celebration, can also be, for many, one of stressful social expectations, financial strain, and perhaps even feelings of loneliness and letdown. Read more...

Is a Shorter Work Week in Our Future?

November 30, 2023

While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought remote working into the mainstream, the need for “work-life balance” is something American workers have long taken for granted, Read more...

Improve Your Office Day

October 3, 2023

Improve Your Office Day, celebrated annually on October 4, has rather obscure origins, but the day continues to be a helpful reminder for individuals and organizations to take stock of their work environments and make some positive changes. Read more...

National Hispanic Heritage Month

September 20, 2023

National Hispanic Heritage Month is a month-long celebration of Latino culture held from September 15 to October 15 in the United States every year since 1988. Read more...

Celebrate Labor Day!

September 4, 2023

The perfect time for organizations to acknowledge the hard work of their employees is Labor Day, the first Monday in September. Read more...

Women's Equity Day!

August 21, 2023

Since 1971, when Congress designated August 26th as Women’s Equality Day, an annual commemoration of the passage of women’s suffrage in the U.S. Read more...

The New Meaning of "Office Politics"

August 14, 2023

Let’s face it, we’re living in politically fraught, divisive, and often volatile times. Read more...

National Black Business Month

August 7, 2023

At a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that “from Reconstruction, to Jim Crow, to the present day, our economy has never worked fairly for Black Americans. Read more...

Working From Home: Employees and Childcare

July 20, 2023

Juggling work and family is always challenging, but doing it in the same space is especially so. Read more...

Generative AI: What Does It Mean for HR?

July 10, 2023

HR professionals are both excited and concerned about the advances in “generative artificial intelligence” (generative AI), especially the recently released chatbots ChatGPT, Bard, Jasper, and others. How could these futuristic tools impact their jobs and their industry? Read more...

Celebrating Juneteenth in the Workplace

June 14, 2023

In 2021, Juneteenth, a long-celebrated commemoration of the June 19, 1865, order to emancipate enslaved African Americans in Texas, became a national holiday. In 2023, it occurs on Monday June 19. Read more...

It’s Pride Month!

June 1, 2023

The month of June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) Pride Month, or, simply, Pride, a time to celebrate this diverse and vibrant community with parades, concerts, and educational events. Read more...

Empathy at Work

April 3, 2023

Empathy—the ability to put oneself in another person’s shoes and understand how they feel on an emotional level—is an important component of an emotionally intelligent and psychologically safe workplace that encourages communication and cooperation, conflict management, healthy bystander intervention, and inclusion. Read more...