Not-so-secret (AI) agent

An employee at an office desk with mouse clicker arrows pointing in different directions with highlighted text boxes. Credit: Illustration: Anna Kim, Photo: Getty Images

Anna Kim

The world of agents is already diverse: Travel agents help us plan dream vacations. Insurance agents (sometimes) test our patience and our faith in humanity. Secret agents [REDACTED]. Literary agents are still working on publishing my first novel…But in the world of business, AI agents are the next hot new tech.

AI has already reshaped the workplace. AI-powered copilots can handle employee inquiries. Recruitment platforms can filter through thousands of résumés. AI tools can populate professional development coursework for employees looking to grow specific skills, and much more. Now as agentic AI solutions begin to emerge, workplace tools are beginning to act independently, make decisions, and execute complex workflows with minimal human input.

What makes an agent? Tech Brew reported last month that many top tech companies such as IBM and Amazon would consider tech that is “able to interact with other tools and plan and execute workflows on their own” as agents. “These offerings, potentially some of them, they were not possible a few months ago or a year ago,” said Chano Fernandez, co-CEO of the AI-powered recruiting tool Eightfold. “You can decide which ones of them are to augment work in combination with your teams and which ones are not.”

For more on how agentic AI will affect HR, keep reading here.—AD

Presented By AbsenceSoft

Ace your workplace accommodations

Laws pertaining to pregnant and postpartum workers can have some complexity. And that complexity prompts important questions, such as:

What’s the difference between the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
How can I train my managers to properly handle accommodation requests?
How can I make the accommodation request process more efficient and straightforward for employees?

Thankfully, AbsenceSoft created a free PWFA toolkit to help answer those questions. In it, you’ll find a PWFA reference guide, webinar recordings that review best practices and org readiness, and strategies for accommodating employees with pregnancy-related conditions.

Check out the toolkit to access answers and start enhancing the way your team handles PWFA processes.

COMPLIANCE

Legislative lowdown

Francis Scialabba

Arkansas is the latest state to regulate earned-wage access (EWA), a benefit that allows workers to tap into money they’ve earned ahead of their scheduled payday.

The legislation, which was signed into law by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Mar. 20, applies to EWA providers, but not the employers that work with them. It requires EWA providers to offer at least one option at no cost, disclose all fees associated with their services, and allow consumers to cancel the services without being charged.

EWA providers are also barred from sharing any portion of fees, tips, or gratuities with employers under the Arkansas law.

Benefit draws regulatory scrutiny. Some 12% of employers offer EWA, according to a 2023–2024 report from Sapient Insights Group, with organizations such as the Nashville Predators and Dayforce touting the benefit. Supporters of the benefit have suggested it can have positive effects on the workforce, boosting businesses’ ability to recruit and retain talent, as well as foster loyalty among workers.

For more on EWA and its regulation, keep reading here.—CV

DEI

The latest

Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photo: Getty Images

Retailers and Big Four accounting firms aren’t the only ones rolling back their DEI programs this year: Some of the nation’s largest banks are doing so as well. In February, Citi said it would reverse a policy of requiring a diverse slate of job candidates and removed DEI from the name of its DEI and talent function, rebranding it the “Talent Management and Engagement” team. And Goldman Sachs discontinued a policy of only working with public companies that had two or more diverse board members.

JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, has now joined its peers in revamping its DEI programs. In a memo to employees seen by Reuters, COO Jenn Piepszak said the bank would change the name of its DEI program to DOI, or “diversity, opportunity, and inclusion.” Some functions that once fell under the DEI team would now be relegated to the HR or corporate responsibility teams, she wrote.

“This means some activities, councils or chapters may be consolidated to streamline our process and engagement strategy,” she noted.

For more on JPMorgan’s approach to DEI, keep reading on CFO Brew.—CV

Together With Noom

Easy as GLP-1, 2, 3. It’s never been easier or more affordable to make GLP-1s part of your benefit strategy. Noom Med with SmartRX offers flexible cost sharing, allows employees to access GLP-1s at the lowest possible price, and helps them make sustainable lifestyle changes for long-term results.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: The bottom 10% of US wage earners saw their earnings grow by 15.3% between 2019 and 2024, stronger than any other business cycle since 1979. (Economic Policy Institute)

Quote: “This information is highly valuable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that Russia and China and other organizations—criminal syndicates for instance—would be aggressively recruiting government employees.”—Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer under President George W. Bush, on why outgoing federal employees are targets for adversaries looking to recruit informants (CBS News)

Read: A Ford sales executive kept a running list of his colleagues’ linguistic blunders over his 32-career with the automaker. (the Wall Street Journal)

Become a PWFA pro: Workplace accommodations? Compliance? Eligibility? Make it easy for your team to master the ins and outs of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act with this toolkit from AbsenceSoft (aka the accommodation pros).*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

JOBS

Looking for a job where your values and skills are understood? CollabWORK links you with roles curated within trusted communities, from niche Slack workspaces to industry newsletters like HR Brew. Discover new roles without the job-board fatigue—join CollabWORK today, or click here to browse jobs chosen for HR Brew readers.

Recruitment Advisor at Randstad Enterprise (in person)
Talent Acquisition Consultant at Shirley Parsons (in person)
Regional Human Resources Manager at EōS Fitness (hybrid)

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