HR STRATEGY

Illustration: Shannon May, Photos: Unsplash

No one wants to think about grief, but it’s a common part of life. The majority (61%) of working adults have experienced the death of a loved one while employed, according to a 2025 survey from the New York Life Foundation, and almost all (91%) consider coping with death as significant a life event as getting married or becoming a parent.

Grief can also lead to absenteeism and productivity loss, according to the American Psychiatric Association, costing companies $75 billion each year.

Loss and the subsequent grieving process is a universal experience, but many leaders are unaware of how they can help grieving employees, Patricia Bravo, a leadership development consultant and author of In the Room: When Grief Comes to Work, told HR Brew.

“Sometimes there’s a perspective gap around the actual emotional experience of [loss and grief],” Bravo said. “This is where I think grief literacy can really come in, in terms of helping professionals and organizations better understand what grief is.”

For more on what HR needs to know about grief literacy, keep reading here.—MC

      

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TOTAL REWARDS

Village of Healing

Color Health, a virtual cancer clinic partnering with employers and health plans, is now offering at-home tests for the human papillomavirus (HPV).

The announcement comes ahead of a federal mandate set to take effect next year that will require most private insurance plans to cover at-home HPV screening. The Food and Drug Administration approved several at-home HPV tests in 2024 and 2025.

“Having at-home options for patients is important because it removes a lot of barriers that typically prevent patients from doing what they need to do,” Dany Matar, COO of Color Health, told HR Brew.

A recent paper published in BMC Public Health shows most patients are open to using HPV self-collection tests, and in many cases prefer it.

For more on this new offering from Color Health, and what more convenient HPV testing might mean for HR, keep reading here.—CV

      

Sponsored By Paradox, a Workday Company

Don’t be a “try harder.” Paradox partnered with John Vlastelica (formerly of Amazon and Expedia) to sponsor Try Harder Is Not a Strategy. This podcast brings real strategy and cutting-edge tools to high-volume hiring and explores the benefits of tracking observable, role-relevant behaviors to get actual data on hiring success. Listen here.

TECH

Brittany Holloway-Brown

It’s a tough time to be in talent acquisition.

Yes, these professionals have more tools at their fingertips than ever before. And sure, they’re able to put those tools to use in what’s currently an employer’s market. But for all the ways in which AI has supported recruitment strategy, it has also made it that much more challenging to actually execute on it.

AI has changed the way job postings surface in search results, and the ease with which applicants can submit their résumés. It’s reduced some biases, while reinforcing others. And it’s dizzied those tasked with ensuring compliance with lagging legislation and regulations.

For more on these and other challenges facing talent acquisition teams, and how they can find a path forward, keep reading here.—PM, AD

Sponsored By Workforce Edge

Hiring from within. Struggling to fill specific roles? The talent your organization needs may already be working on your team. We teamed up with Workforce Edge to learn how education benefits can help improve retention, move current employees into high-value roles, and prepare your organization for the future. Learn more.

work perks

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Nearly one in five (19%) job postings is a “ghost job,” and lawmakers in states across the US are now looking to address this ongoing challenge in the hiring landscape. (the Wall Street Journal)

Quote: “It gives you a snapshot of what people think employers want.”—Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who coauthored the paper “Time Travel on Professional Profiles,” exploring professionals retroactively updating their LinkedIn profiles and adding “AI skills” or other presently relevant keywords (CNBC)

Read: Some tech workers in the AI space are debating if the AI race is too important for PTO. (Business Insider)

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Brittany Holloway-Brown, Photos: Getty Images

In HR Brew’s recurring Business of Benefits series, Haven’s CEO explains why the childcare and fitness company shuts down company-wide twice a year—and why she considers it nonnegotiable for retention.