When crafting return-to-office policies, some companies have been more prescriptive than others. Google and Amazon, for example, have both mandated that corporate employees work from a physical office three days a week, and indicated there may be consequences for workers who don’t comply.

For Ernst & Young (EY), a Big Four consulting firm that employs nearly 400,000 employees worldwide—95,000 of whom are in the Americas—a top-down RTO mandate would have been tricky to pull off.

“We can’t have a one-size-fits-all to how we execute,” Frank Giampietro, EY’s chief well-being officer for the Americas, said of the firm’s approach to hybrid work. “But we can have a strong set of principles. And we can educate people as to why we believe that [a] balanced model is the right model.”

Giampietro spoke with HR Brew about EY’s “hybrid-first model,” and how the firm has used financial benefits as an incentive for employees to spend time in the office.

Keep reading here.—CV

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Earlier this month, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have made the state the first in the US to explicitly ban discrimination based on caste.

Background. Caste is defined in Senate Bill 403, the bill under consideration by Newsom, as “an individual’s perceived position in a system of social stratification on the basis of inherited status.” The caste system has existed for thousands of years across South Asia. India outlawed caste discrimination in 1948, although reports indicate that it’s still prevalent in the country.

In recent years, there have been claims of caste-based discrimination at Silicon Valley companies, including a lawsuit alleging that supervisors at Cisco harassed an employee belonging to the Dalit caste. In April, the California Civil Rights Department dismissed the case against the individual engineers, but the case against the company is ongoing, according to CBS News.

“When it comes to the allegations that have come forward in these tech companies, we hear about people asking these sorts of coded questions like, ‘Where is your family from? What did they do?’” Sonia Paul, a journalist specializing in caste, told WBUR.

Legislation. Earlier this year, Seattle became the first city in the US to ban caste discrimination. California’s State Senate passed similar legislation in May, but the bill, which was brought to the floor by civil rights advocates and Democratic Senator Aisha Wahab, was vetoed on October 8 by Governor Newsom, who called it “unnecessary”; opponents to the bill have said it could potentially cause discrimination against South Asian communities.

Keep reading here.—KP

You don’t have to be Simon Cowell to be able to spot talent, but more talent leaders are finding themselves under an America’s Got Talent-like spotlight as other leaders in their company increasingly rely on the talent function to drive business needs.

As companies continue to grapple with Covid-19, hot and cold labor markets, and tumultuous RTO plans, more CEOs are leaning on CHROs than before the pandemic. During a recent RHR International webinar, three talent leaders shared how they think their role has changed.

They upped the talent ante. A head of talent’s job is very different today compared to just five years ago, said Tapaswee Chandele, global VP of talent and development at The Coca-Cola Company.

As the labor market cools, Chandele said talent leaders need to remember it’s still a “market for talent,” and continue focusing on recruitment and retention that align with better work-life balance, a trend in recent years that will continue.

Keep reading here.—MC

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Three-quarters of women report being burnt out at work, as compared to 58% of men. (Aflac)

Quote: “While I’m confident we will get to a point where virtual workspaces are as engaging, collaborative, and productive as physical spaces, we aren’t there yet.”—David Baszucki, founder and CEO of Roblox, on why the company will require all employees to be in the office three days a week in 2024 (Insider)

Read: A top law firm has rescinded at least one of three job offers to law school students because of their apparent association with pro-Palestinian on-campus groups. (the New York Times)

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