The fight between business leaders and workers who refuse to comply with return-to-office mandates is nothing new. But the battle has a new buzzword: “hushed hybrid.”

According to TikToks, LinkedIn posts, and coverage from outlets like Inc, Business Insider, and Fox Business, some managers are allowing “hushed hybrid” work arrangements and disobeying top-down return-to-office orders. Instead, these supervisors are secretly allowing direct reports to set their own work arrangements.

“Hushed hybrid” follows a string of catchphrases about workers circumventing office attendance expectations, including “quiet vacationing” and “coffee badging.” It’s unclear how widespread “hushed hybrid” is—Joe Galvin, chief research officer at executive coaching organization Vistage, told Inc the trend highlights an emerging behavior in hybrid cultures but is not too common. But this new phrase and all of its predecessors may shine a spotlight on serious organizational dysfunction that can happen when RTO decisions are poorly executed and communicated, HR leaders and workplace experts told HR Brew.

Strict top-down office attendance policies can create an “us-versus-them” mentality between executives and staffers, prompting the latter to get the flexibility they want in secret.

Keep reading here.—PM

AI can be super helpful for automating tedious tasks, combing through mountains of data, and…giving you some odd answers to seemingly simple questions?

Okay, so AI isn’t perfect, but it can still lend a helping hand in sooo many of your HR and recruiting processes. The trick is knowing what to ask—which is why ClearCompany created a list of 18 AI prompt templates to help you get the right answer from your AI tools.

These templates help you ask better questions and get better answers. Customize the prompts to fit your needs and then sit back, relax, and let AI have your back on:

• writing comprehensive job descriptions
• strategizing recruitment marketing campaigns
• improving candidate communication
• streamlining interview processes

And that’s just the beginning. Start asking the right questions.

Illinois employees can’t be disciplined for skipping meetings hosted by their employer to discuss union organizing under a law signed by Gov. J. B. Pritzker on July 31.

The law takes aim at so-called “captive audience” meetings, which are typically held by employers during labor organizing campaigns to discuss what joining a union would mean for their workforces. While management-side attorneys say such meetings give employers an opportunity to discuss issues such as union dues or the collective bargaining process, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is scrutinizing the practice, the Society for Human Resource Management reported last year. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo in April 2022 indicating mandatory captive audience meetings are coercive, and thus in violation of federal labor law.

A number of states, including Connecticut, New York, and Washington, already have laws on the books limiting captive audience meetings, though some are being challenged in court.

Zoom out. With this law, Illinois is joining more than a dozen states that are considering or have enacted laws allowing workers to opt out of workplace speech that’s considered to be coercive, according to tracking by the Economic Policy Institute. A similar law in Hawaii went into effect on July 2.

Keep reading here.—CV

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If you shopped at Comics To Astonish in Columbia, Maryland, between 1999 and 2002, you might’ve been rung up at the register by Michael Wiles.

That assistant manager gig was Wiles’ first foray into the workforce, and an experience that would remain relevant throughout his career in HR. Today, he’s an employee relations business partner at edtech company 2U.

“Working with the public, you’re meeting different people all the time. Working in a shop, you’re meeting, also, the same people over and over. You’re working with your regular customers, which is very analogous to working in human resources,” Wiles told HR Brew.

He reminiscenced with HR Brew about the people lessons he picked up managing a comic-book store.

Keep reading here.—MC

Caring for the caregivers. Supporting your employees means supporting them as parents. 1 in 5 teens suffers from a mental health disorder, and many parents report challenges in accessing mental healthcare for their families. Join Headspace and Aon on August 28 to learn how employers can support families through a comprehensive system of care. RSVP here.

From professional development to employee recognition to retention, HR Brew sits down with Working Not Working to chat about the innovative tech platform that could be the key to better growth in all of the above. Save your virtual seat to hear these insights. Register now.