SUMMER READING TIME IS HERE, INCLUDING HR LAW
There are many tempting times to curl up with a good book or article, of course, but one of them (to quote singer Nat King Cole) is during those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer. As the warm spring weather turns hot, dive into these suggestions and recommendations (in addition to the Parsons Behle & Latimer Employment Law Updates, of course) for good human resource (HR) law reads while you are relaxing at the beach or chilling under the air conditioner.
AN HR RENAISSANCE? My good friend Jathan Janove is publishing what may be one of the most interesting HR summer reads of 2025 The HR Renaissance. Jathan is what I like to call a “recovering lawyer.” He quite capably practiced employment law for many years before becoming an executive coach and an expert on workplace culture and employee engagement. He has now blended his lawyer and coach experiences into an intriguing new book called The HR Renaissance, available now. An excerpt and some glowing reviews are here. Jathan fears that HR has gone too far in dealing with the potential employment law litigation landscape. He writes, “The game became compliance, claim prevention, and claim defense. Knowledge of employment law was paramount. Lost was humanity. Every employee became a potential plaintiff, someone to protect the company against.” His proposed remedy? He says it right in his new book: “The primary objective of this book is to persuade organization leaders to change the prevailing HR compliance paradigm into one of culture stewardship and human capital maximization. By investing time and energy in your HR function to convert it from Compliance Cop to Culture Coach, you will be able to create and preserve a healthy culture that maximizes human talent and energy aligned with what your organization needs to prosper.” Over the years and over beers and nachos, Jathan and I have often debated the pros and cons of his approach, but that discussion is for another day. I have no doubt that HR professionals will find Jathan’s ideas both interesting and provocative. His new book is worth a look.
TRACKING TRUMP: In office for less than half a year, President Donald Trump has already issued a record number of new executive orders. The courts have enjoined some of the orders, such as orders directing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate various law firms. Others, such as those expressing the new administration’s viewpoints on important workplace issues like DEI initiatives, have had significant impacts, including on the EEOC’s policies and guidance. There are many court battles pending about these orders. Keeping track of these orders is a lot! National SHRM has developed an Executive Order Impact Zone website page that “provides HR professionals with critical insights into how executive actions influence workplace policy, compliance and employee well-being. This page focuses on the real-time impact of executive orders on labor regulations, workplace safety, DEI initiatives, immigration and employee rights.” These orders are widely impacting everyone, and SHRM’s page is a great resource to keep track of what’s going on.
MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS AT WORK: Many of the calls I get from clients these days include questions about how to minimize legal risks while dealing with employee mental health conditions. This is a tricky area, an intersection point of many laws which sometimes have conflicting requirements. In national SHRM’s Employee Mental Health in 2024 Research Series, 30% of survey respondents said they are stressed, 26% said they feel overwhelmed, and 22% are anxious. SHRM recently published an article in its monthly HR Quarterly that may help. Titled “How to Support Employees with Mental Health Struggles,” the article includes some practical tips about managing legal risks and showing compassion. Other interesting articles in the current issue discuss managing conflict, how to deal with incivility and how COVID-19 changed the workplace.
LOCAL UTAH HR NEWS…LAWSUITS! The recent pages of The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper include several articles with valuable lessons for employers everywhere. In a new lawsuit involving an alleged statement that “girls shouldn’t be driving that equipment,” The Tribune says a “former city maintenance worker is suing St. George in federal court, alleging she was subjected to gender discrimination and retaliation from supervisors and staff over a nine-month period that culminated in her firing.” According to the Tribune, in one recent case a “federal agency is suing the owner of more than 20 Utah Subway franchises, saying the company failed to prevent a male manager of several of its sandwich shops from sexually harassing and assaulting a 16-year-old male employee.” By the way, this is one of those rare occasions when the EEOC has filed a lawsuit in Utah. In another new case, “a vocal Utah conservative is suing his former employer in federal court for alleged sexual and racial discrimination, again with the support of an advocacy group started by a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.”
Have a wonderful summer, and happy HR law reading!
