September 03, 2026

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Hello there! If you’re looking for a reality check this week, consider the fact that we’ve officially entered “the late 2020s,” at least according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

The 2030 deadline for those long-term goals in the strategic planning document are inching…startlingly closer? Let’s hold on to the late 2020s as long as we can.

In today’s edition:

✨ From teaching to turnaround

⚖️ Legislative lowdown

🔮 What the future holds

—Courtney Vinopal, Natasha Piñon

HR STRATEGY

Turnarounds by Brené Brown

Getty Images

“Rumble.”

“Clear is kind.”

“The Five Cs.”

Such concepts may sound unusual to a layperson, but for acolytes of Brené Brown, they’re practically gospel.

Some employees are now learning how to lead in the workplace through the frameworks of Brown, an academic with a background in social work whose teachings took off during the pandemic.

Since 2024, Brown has partnered with BetterUp to offer a curriculum through the coaching platform. The program, backed by an institute known as the Center for Daring Leadership, seeks to help leaders “build a culture of courage, connection, and high performance,” according to its website.

The telecom company Lumen Technologies is among the employers drawing on Brown’s work to help foster its employees through a transformation. The company was drawn to the Dare to Lead curriculum because “it gives you a common vernacular and a really good toolset that you can use to lead in a very different way, both at work and even how you operate in your personal life,” Chief People and AI Enablement Officer Ana White told HR Brew.

For more on how Lumen leaned on Brené Brown’s teaching to help manage a turnaround, keep reading here.—CV

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COMPLIANCE

Legislative lowdown

Francis Scialabba

Federal agencies recently issued guidance clarifying how they will enforce laws related to wellness programs, such as those aimed at incentivizing workers to quit smoking or lose weight.

Under federal law, employers can charge smokers up to 50% more for their health premiums.

But these practices have recently been subject to lawsuits alleging they violate the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Typically, employers remove tobacco surcharges after an employee meets a “reasonable alternative standard” satisfying the requirements of the program, such as a tobacco cessation course. Recent lawsuits have argued that employers should grant retroactive rewards as well, though, to account for any premium surcharges employees incurred before they completed this alternative standard requirement.

For more on the guidance, and what it means for HR, keep reading here.—CV

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

The best of times

Carmen Chan

Carmen Chan, who most recently served as managing director of Barclays, technically started her new gig as the CFO of online employment marketplace ZipRecruiter on August 17, but the work really kicked off weeks before that.

The personal upskilling required for the public-facing aspects of the CFO gig happened as soon as she joined the team at ZipRecruiter. “My first week was basically earnings,” she told CFO Brew, and she credits ZipRecruiter president and interim CFO David Travers for her relative ease transitioning into that environment.

Now that her first day has actually passed, she’s focused on those next 30, 60, and 90.

She’s coming to the company at an interesting time, to say the least. “We’re at an inflection point in terms of what the future of work looks like,” Chan said. “There has never been a better time to think about how we drive continued innovation and disruption for job seekers.”

For more on her POV on the state and future of work, keep reading on CFO Brew.—NP

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work perks

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Private healthcare and social assistance is among the sectors projected to see the most job growth over the next decade, with employers set to add 2.2 million jobs, accounting for 37% of all new US employment. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Quote: “When we bring our whole selves to this work, with care for one another and for the people we serve, there is no limit to the profound difference we can make.”—Tim Cook, Apple’s executive chair, struck an optimistic tone in his departing message to employees as the company’s CEO (9to5mac)

Read: As the Trump administration seeks to make it easier for 401(k) participants to invest in private markets, workers would be wise to ask HR for details on fees associated with their accounts. (ProPublica)

Wired to hire: LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant is an AI-powered partner designed to surface qualified candidates often otherwise missed. While standard tools rely on keywords and filters, Hiring Assistant uses real-time signals from over 1b members and 100m+ verified profiles.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

Jobs

More focus, less fluff. CollabWORK filters out the noise and delivers jobs that actually match what HR Brew readers are looking for. Click here to see the full board of curated roles.

EVENT

20/20 on total rewards

Morning Brew Inc.

Chelsea Kaden, Chief People Officer at Warby Parker, leads people strategy at a company that’s distributed more than 25 million pairs of glasses to people in need. She’ll bring that same clarity to The Total Rewards Equation on Sept. 17, live in New York or on the livestream.

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Written by Courtney Vinopal and Natasha Piñon

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