HR Brew // Morning Brew // Update

TOTAL REWARDS

Getty Images

We’ll spare you from a cheeky one-liner about periods…

Roughly 1.8 million people worldwide menstruate each month, and 10% experience period pain that prevents them from performing daily activities for one to three days. Many companies have expanded their leave policies in recent years to include time off for menstruation, HR Brew previously reported in 2022, and some countries have passed legislation to ensure menstruation leave access.

Yet most companies (63%) don’t offer employees free period products, according to a recent report from Reproductive and Maternal Health Compass (RMH Compass). And only one-fifth of menstruating people feel comfortable talking about these health needs with their manager.

Many leaders don’t menstruate, Claire Coder, founder and CEO of period product supplier Aunt Flow, told HR Brew. So, she said, it may not occur to them to offer period products in bathrooms. HR can educate them about why period products are “a necessity versus an amenity.”

For more on how HR can support menstruating employees, keep reading here.—MC

Sponsored By EasyLlama

Spot compliance risks before they cost you

Think you’re compliant? You might want to check.

Turns out, most organizations don’t struggle with access to compliance training; they struggle with knowing what’s actually required.

And just *one* missed compliance training puts your entire org at risk. Unfortunately, these missing training requirements aren’t always obvious, so by the time you catch them, it might already be too late.

Want to see where you stand right now? EasyLlama can help. Their Compliance Grader gives you a personalized report in two minutes, with a clear picture of what training your org is legally required to have and what’s recommended.

Answer a few questions to see what training you need.

DEI

Not ready yet

a globe with symbols of office life floating above

Morning Brew

Employers in Canada may want to review their disability accommodations policies, or see if they have any, according to a new white paper from the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW).

Where in the world? The report is part of CCRW’s Disability Confident Employers campaign, which aims to have 50 employers in Canada pledge to improve workplace accessibility and create better experiences for job applicants and employees.

Roughly half (49%) of business leaders surveyed by CCRW said that disability adjustments are not “actively promoted or consistently provided” to those with disabilities. Since 1977, the Canadian Human Rights Act has mandated that employers provide workers with accommodations, as long as they don’t cause “undue hardship” to the company.

Satellite view. In the US, 60% of disabled workers have requested accommodations at work; 26.8% of those requests have been denied, according to a report from Disability Solutions.

For more workplace accessibility around the world, keep reading here.—KP

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Move fast and break ~~things~~ morale

Morning Brew, Inc.

Meta’s CTO admitted in an internal memo this week that the company did an “atrocious job” rolling out its AI reorg, per a new Wired report—leading morale to tank. And the planned fixes essentially amount to more social events and better snacks. Meta is the year’s starkest example of a firm trying to transform into a leaner, AI-first workforce, and it’s showing us the biggest hurdle: keeping its remaining employees from revolting.

While conceding that it botched its explanation of the AI shift, the company has largely stood by the shakeup itself. To recap: In April, the firm announced it would lay off 8,000 people, and then soon after said it would reassign 7,000 more. That reshuffle fed a new division called Applied AI, where staff weren’t recruited so much as conscripted. And the work itself—generating coding puzzles and training data to sharpen Meta’s models—is reportedly so mind-numbing that one worker called Applied AI “literally the gulag.”

The morale-boosting fixes the company has proposed so far: capping managers at about 20 direct reports (down from 50), better “microkitchens” in the office, beefed-up event and travel budgets, and letting Applied AI engineers apply for other Meta roles. (The employee keystroke-and-click tracking, though, is mostly still on.)—WK

For more on the state of morale at Meta, keep reading on Tech Brew.—WK

Sponsored By WebMD Health Services

Midyear wellness needs backup. Halfway through the year, HR teams can check whether well-being is reaching employees or just haunting the benefits folder. WebMD Health Services’ summer 2026 calendar gives leaders timely observances, easy activities, and small engagement moments to help teams feel supported, energized, and connected. Download the calendar now.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Nearly all (96%) HR leaders say that, in the next five years, entry-level employees will be responsible for monitoring AI systems. (Cognizant)

Quote: “Officers are increasingly asking H-1B applicants some variation of ‘Why can’t an American do this job?’ or ‘What makes you so specialized that an American cannot do your job?’”—Morgan Bailey, a partner at Mayer Brown and a former official at the Department of Homeland Security, on the questions immigration officers are now asking employers that want to hire foreign workers (Newsweek)

Read: State Farm is changing the terms of its employment contracts with sales agents, citing AI-related disruptions to the insurance industry as the reason. (the Wall Street Journal)

Steer clear of risk: Staying compliant can be hard, but EasyLlama wants to help make it a little easier. Their Compliance Grader gives you a clear picture of what compliance training your org is legally required to have.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

SHARE THE BREW

Share the Brew, watch your referral count climb, and unlock brag-worthy swag.

Your friends get smarter. You get rewarded. Win-win.

Your referral count: 0

Click to Share

Or copy & paste your referral link to others:
hr-brew.com/r/?kid=12b4b9db

Written by Mikaela Cohen, Kristen Parisi, and Whizy Kim

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Get smarter in just 5 minutes

Business News: Morning Brew
Tech & AI News: Tech Brew
Markets News: Brew Markets
Real Estate News: The Playbook
Money & Career: Bossy

Take The Brew to work

Interested in podcasts?

Check out People Person on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

ADVERTISE // CAREERS // SHOP // FAQ

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe .
View our privacy policy .

Copyright © 2026 Morning Brew Inc. All rights reserved.
22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011

☕️ Period policy