HR departments often play a key role in helping management respond to unionization efforts at their companies. When management takes a strong anti-union stance, talks between management and unionized workers can turn adversarial, putting HR pros in a tough spot.

But recent data from Payscale suggests HR has a more positive view of unions than executive leadership overall. A survey of HR and compensation professionals conducted in November and December of last year found 62% of those whose organizations bargain with unions believe their HR leadership views unions positively. By contrast, just 38% reported executive leadership views unions positively.

Why HR views unions positively. John Frehse, a senior managing director at consulting firm Ankura, wasn’t surprised to see HR leaders were perceived as being more favorable toward unions in the Payscale survey.

Keep reading here.—CV

High costs of living are driving up candidates’ salary expectations, but recruiting budgets and strategies can’t keep up. For obvious reasons, that’s causing some friction in the hiring process.

We teamed up with CareerBuilder to survey HR Brew readers about the challenges HR professionals are facing in 2024. And boy, did Brew readers deliver. Check out their responses in our latest article.

We dug into what’s going on in the compensation world, how it’s affecting candidates, and how businesses can respond effectively. In the article, you’ll learn about:

• hiring budgets
• differing salary expectations
• which businesses are hiring (+ for how many roles)

Read on here.

The Supreme Court just made it harder for employers to transfer employees to different roles against their will, widening the path for affected workers to sue for discrimination.

In a rare unanimous decision, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, finding the city violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Jatonya Muldrow was an officer with the St. Louis Police Department, where she served in the intelligence division for nine years. When a new commander joined her division in 2017, he transferred Muldrow to a different department and replaced her with a man, Reuters reported. While the new role overseeing patrol officers paid the same, it was less prestigious and involved weekend shifts, which her previous role didn’t require. Muldrow sued the city for discrimination but lost in lower courts; a federal appeals court claimed she hadn’t proved enough of an employment disadvantage, according to the New York Times.

The main question for the Supreme Court was whether the law protects against all discriminatory job transfers, and not just ones that cause significant harm.

Keep reading here.—KP

Remote jobs and flexible work arrangements may be decreasing, but Singapore just introduced legislation giving workers a greater chance for flexibility.

Where in the world? By the end of the year, workers in Singapore will be entitled to request flexible work arrangements, including four-day workweeks, remote work, and flexible hours, according to a press release from the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices, under the Ministry of Manpower, which developed the legislation.

Under the new law, employers will be required to have a formal request process (including an explanation of how requests will be processed) and response time of less than two months. Employers won’t be required to provide flexible arrangements if they would impede business operations.

Satellite view. Singapore has referenced existing models to craft its legislation. Europe has largely led the way on flexible work laws; Finland, the UK, and Ireland all have country-wide policies requiring employers to provide flexibility when possible.

Keep reading here.—KP

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