EEO-1 reporting is scheduled to open May 20th: The portal is scheduled to open on May 20, 2025, and companies will have until June 24, 2025, to submit their reports. On April 15, 2025, in response to Executive Order 14168, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, the EEOC filed an Information Collection Request (ICR) with OMB requesting what it classified as a non-substantive change to remove the option for employers to voluntarily report non-binary data for those in their workforce. In past years, the EEO-1 reporting instructions allowed respondents to provide non-binary data in a narrative form in the comment box of the report.  EEOC believes this voluntary option must be removed to comply with Executive Order 14168. Additionally, the ICR is not seeking any changes beyond the current data collection approval period which runs through 2026.  Source: Jackson Lewis 4/22/25, Littler 4/24/25

Is HR understaffed, and is that the future of HR?  HR staffers are overworked. SHRM’s recently released 2025 State of the Workplace report showed: 62% of professionals said they’d been working beyond their capacity last year, and 57% said their department was understaffed.  Still, more than half of HR professionals and 70% of HR execs said that HR function strategy and management was “effective or very effective” last year. Meanwhile, only 41% of employees felt HR had been “effective or very effective” last year. SHRM noted this was predictable given workers’ “limited insight into the internal operations of the HR function.”  Unsurprisingly, the HR teams that described themselves as understaffed were less likely to say they were effective, compared to those who didn’t describe themselves as understaffed: 66% vs. 76%, respectively.  Source: HR Dive 3/13/25

Middle managers are flailing at their jobs: Middle managers have become the unsung heroes of the workplace after steering the ship through the disruption of the pandemic and the culture changes brought on by shifts in remote work. However, HR leaders must be aware that they are increasingly becoming the most vulnerable workforce population. Far from the glamorous leadership roles portrayed in corporate narratives, today’s managers are navigating an unprecedented scene of challenges that threaten their professional effectiveness—and their very wellbeing.  Most training is long-term, but many needs are immediate.  When faced with urgent challenges—like preparing for a critical meeting the next day—leaders are often directed to generic solutions: Watch a video, sign up for a training program months away, or consult a coach—if they even have access to one. A July 2024 Gartner survey of nearly 500 HR leaders found that 73% reported employee fatigue from constant change, while 74% said managers are unprepared to lead it effectively. To improve change effectiveness and minimize disruption, Gartner researchers say that HR leaders should focus on identifying transformation hot spots, collaborating early with business leaders to ease buy-in, and leveraging key employees embedded in the process to drive engagement and adoption. Source: HR Executive 4/3/25

Another court ruled that ADA applies to websites: Courts around the country are split on the issue of whether a “place of public accommodation” subject to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act must have a physical location where it serves the public.  A federal trial court in Minnesota recently denied a web-only business’s motion to dismiss, ruling that web-only businesses are covered by Title III, siding with the courts that have concluded that no physical place is required. Recognizing the disagreement among federal appellate and trial courts on this issue, as well as the fact that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (within which the District of Minnesota sits) has not opined on the issue, the Court went to great lengths to justify its decision that a “public accommodation” does not have to be a physical place. The bottom line is that the Court found the exclusion of online-only businesses from the ADA’s coverage inconsistent with the ADA’s mandate to ensure equal access for individuals with disabilities to businesses’ goods and services, noting that shopping via retail websites is not meaningfully different from shopping at physical stores. Source: Seyfarth Shaw 3/24/25

Does your work music drive you crazy? In a new study, researchers found that when background music at a workplace is out of sync with what workers need to do their jobs, it can affect their energy, mood – and even performance.  “Music that doesn’t fit what an employee needs to feel energized, manage emotions, and focus on task can have a real negative impact,” said Kathleen Keeler, co-lead author of the study and assistant professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.  “We found that a music misfit can lead employees to feel more fatigued, have trouble focusing, and not really enjoy being at work. And that in turns prompts them to engage in behaviors that can harm the organization.” The problem is worse for people who have difficulty screening out background noise from their environment, the study found.  It is an understudied issue, Keeler said.  About 13.5 million people work in occupations where background music is common. But the music is often chosen with only customers in mind.  It is a mistake for managers to assume that music doesn’t affect employees,” Keeler said. The study was published online recently in the Journal of Applied Psychology.  Must be why Ohio State keeps losing to Michigan.  Hail to the Victors! Source: Ohio State News 4/7/25