Why AI is now HR’s businessCould the AI revolution also herald a revolution in HR?
Generative AI is leaving many businesses in a fix.
On the one hand, the potential of the technology is strikingly obvious. Since ChatGPT debuted to the public in late 2022, AI has made extraordinary advances. Coding tools can spin up micro apps from a simple prompt. Chatbots can produce instantaneous research. Video models can create studio-grade clips. Tools like these can supercharge all kinds of work, whether it’s helping create a whole marketing campaign or simply assisting an individual reason through a thorny problem. One estimate sizes the corporate opportunity at $4.4 trillion globally.
Yet it can be bewilderingly hard for enterprises to realize those gains. Studies show that generative AI is having limited impact on productivity. Many organizations find themselves either stuck in pilot purgatory, or rolling out initiatives that fail to deliver ROI. Others don't even know where to start.
This issue is especially pronounced for smaller enterprises. In fact, research suggests that AI is seen as the number-one challenge by four out of five small business leaders in the UK. Small firms are half as likely to have implemented it compared to larger companies. And within the small companies that have adopted AI, usage is often uneven. Seventy three percent of senior managers use it at least once a month, compared with only 32 percent of entry-level employees. This creates what Kevin Fitzgerald, UK Managing Director of the all-in-one employment platform Employment Hero, calls the “AI advantage gap.”
“AI is only delivering productivity gains for some, and that’s a huge problem,” he says. “For technology to drive meaningful change, it needs to be in the hands of everyone.”
Human resources (HR) departments are uniquely positioned to help manage some of the challenges around AI adoption. That’s because taking full advantage of the new AI tools available to organizations is more than just an IT project. “AI is all about job redesign, new skills, new organization structures, and new roles for leaders,” says Josh Bersin, a respected HR industry analyst and CEO of HR consultancy The Josh Bersin Company. “HR people are essential as part of companies’ AI transformations.” In practice, this kind of project tends to be easier for smaller businesses, which have fewer employees and less organizational complexity to disrupt.
Bersin says that Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) now frequently lead AI-based organizational redesigns. Going further, almost two thirds of IT decision-makers expect their HR and IT teams to merge in the next five years, according to a recent survey. This is already happening at companies such as Moderna, the biotech firm with more than 5,000 employees, which now has a single leader covering both.
“HR has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the future of work,” says Fitzgerald. “And it’s important to get this right. Bad AI rollouts can slash personal productivity in half.”
So what does HR-led transformation look like in practice? Here we spotlight three ways HR leaders can set their organization up for AI success…
1. HR as pioneers
Leading on AI transformation means deeply understanding training needs, integration challenges, employee resistance and—fundamentally—how and where AI offers value. This means HR professionals need real experience of those things themselves.
There are many HR tasks to which both traditional machine learning and generative AI is well suited. Much of the press buzz is around recruitment—using AI to source candidates, screen CVs, and automate parts of the application process—but its impact can be much broader. The creative and communication side of the job is a natural fit for the capabilities of large language models (LLMs), which excel both in summarizing and expressing information. Whether it’s drafting job descriptions, communicating complicated policies in plain language, or managing the team’s internal knowledge, there’s plenty that an LLM can help with (so long as it offers appropriate privacy assurances). There are a range of options for deployment, from buying tools that package up an LLM for delivering on a specific use case—such as offering AI training programs or building FAQ chatbots—to simply subscribing to a frontier AI assistant like ChatGPT.
The most immediate benefit is the potential gains for the HR team itself. Handing off repetitive tasks to AI can free up time. But it’s also the baseline for any HR team that is planning on leading the way in a business’ AI transformation, because credibility will be vital.
That’s not to say that it should only be HR leading the charge on AI—Bersin says that more often than not having a dedicated committee with representatives from HR, legal, and IT is most effective—but it’s a necessary criterion for playing a central role. “It’s about leading by example,” says Fitzgerald. “People don’t want technology forced on them—they want to see its benefits, and be given the freedom and encouragement to explore it.”
Of course, much of HR’s AI usage will be internally facing, so there’s a comms job to be done. “My advice to the HR leader would therefore be: share,” says Fitzgerald. “Share the wins that you've had, and actually put them out there to the broader business.”
2. HR as culture definers
Establishing the right culture around AI is vital. “It’s the missing link in AI adoption,” says Deepali Vyas, Global Head of Data & AI at global talent advisory firm ZRG.
There are two crucial reasons for this.
The first is that when a company chooses to roll out AI, it can create ill feelings. People can fear it’s a prelude to cost cutting and job losses. Of course, an organization may be planning to downsize—but equally it could be planning to do more with the same number of people. Whatever the plan, be transparent. If nobody needs to worry about their jobs, tell them. If a restructure is likely, fair dealing and honesty can go a long way to attenuating resentment. HR has the authority and the skills to lead on conveying this information in the most effective and appropriate way.
The second reason concerns “shadow AI.” This is where employees use AI tools of their own without telling management, either because they fear for their jobs or because they view AI as a shortcut and don’t want to pull back the curtain on how they get things done. Shadow AI is already widespread; the security firm Varonis estimates that up to 98 percent of employees use shadow AI or shadow IT in some capacity, with employees hiding their AI use out of fear of their employer's reaction.
While the primary risks of shadow AI are to do with security and privacy, there is also a more systemic drawback. Top-down AI tool implementation can be important, but companies that don’t also tap into the wisdom of the crowd will miss out on AI opportunities. Generative chatbots are general-purpose tools with the most open-ended interface possible: there are countless different ways to use them, and the people best placed to figure out how this kind of AI can help your business are the people who work there. But you can’t enjoy the fruits of their experiments if they are unwilling to share how they’re using it and what they’re discovering as a result.
“You really need to bring shadow AI use to the surface,” Vyas says. “In any case, banning or ignoring shadow AI is not going to make it disappear. It's only going to drive it further underground.” Bringing it out into the light is, again, a question of culture. If IT owns guardrails and platforms, and the C-suite owns vision and accountability, HR owns the people and behaviors piece. In addition to quelling fears that revealing AI usage will jeopardize jobs, HR needs to create forums to encourage sharing across all teams. This could take the form of workshops and hackathons or simply dedicated channels on Slack. There should also be incentives, so that individuals who come up with approaches that create meaningful value are well remunerated for their contributions.
“There's a lot of fear versus empowerment,” says Vyas. “HR’s cultural mandate is building a culture of AI fluency, normalizing AI as a partner in work and to build trust around its use.”
3. HR as organization designers
AI transformation is not just about rolling out the tools. You need teams with AI literacy, skills and mindsets—teams that are open to new ways of working and to reimagining workflows that have perhaps remained unchanged for decades. You may also need to create new roles like a Chief AI Officer, or hire specialist software developers.
“It's about building that future-ready workforce,” says Vyas. HR’s expertise in recruitment and training will be crucial in this effort—only half of employees in SMEs believe their company has done a good job instilling technological know-how—and AI itself can play a powerful role in making a success of it. Forward-thinking organizations weave AI into workforce management, from how workers move internally to how they train and learn, Vyas says. “There’s personalized learning journeys, there's internal mobility recommendations, there's workforce planning tied to all of these business scenarios.”
As they scale, companies may wish to rethink their org charts in light of AI. The traditional triangular org chart has been a mainstay since Brigadier General Daniel McCallum unveiled the first example in 1855. But many commentators believe that new architectures will coalesce to reflect how people work best with AI. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index Annual Report 2025 argues that the org chart will be replaced with a “Work Chart,” which it describes as “a dynamic, outcome-driven model where teams form around goals, not functions, powered by [AI] agents that expand employee scope and enable faster, more impactful ways of working.” In practice this means a flatter, more flexible operating model. Firms that have harnessed AI in this way report having more satisfied, more optimistic employees.
HR will need to play a pivotal role in managing any such transformation. “That’s not only because most savvy HR leaders are also very good at change enablement,” says Bersin, “but also because this clearly would have implications for pay models, reward systems, and leadership pipeline.” What’s more, Microsoft argues that in a Work Chart world, orchestrating the interplay between humans and AI agents—and getting the balance right—is going to be an emerging area of responsibility for HR. In discharging this duty, they will need to collaborate more closely than ever with technical teams.
This shift may seem radical. But, as the aphorism has it, it's easy to underestimate the long-term effects of new technologies. Vyas believes this kind of business architecture will just be “the new normal—and sooner than we might think”.
原文:https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/employment-hero-why-ai-is-now-hrs-business/
资讯
2025年11月28日
资讯
加州雇主血泪教训:HR 必看 2025 最新 Meal & Rest Break 合规指南加州的餐休法律极为严格,一次违规可能触发三重惩罚:罚金工资、工资单违规与等待时间罚金。根据第226.7条,只要未能提供合规的餐休或休息,雇主就必须支付一小时罚金工资。而法院已明确此类罚金属于工资,因此若工资单未列出,将触发第226条的工资单责任;若员工离职未结清,则触发第203条的等待时间罚金。Ferra 案裁定,罚金工资的“常规薪酬率”必须依照加班费标准计算,包括奖金、佣金与差额补贴,并具有追溯效力。
一个价值1.72亿美元的教训
在*Savaglio v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.*案中,沃尔玛因餐休违规问题面临了高达1.72亿美元的惊人判决,该案影响了近116,000名员工。这并非个案。许多用心良苦的雇主,由于对加州复杂且严格的餐休和休息法律存在误解,常常在不知不觉中陷入代价高昂的法律陷阱。一次看似微不足道的时间记录错误,可能会像滚雪球一样,演变成一场财务灾难。本文旨在揭示加州餐休法律中最具冲击力且最易被误解的关键点,帮助每一位人力资源专业人士避免类似的灾难性后果。
1. 陷阱一:一次违规,连锁反应引发三重惩罚
在加州,一次未提供的餐休不仅仅是一次性的罚金问题,它会像多米诺骨牌一样,引发一系列连锁的法律责任。
初始罚金 (Initial Penalty): 根据《加州劳动法》第226.7条,最基本的处罚是罚金工资 (premium pay)。如果雇主未能提供合规的餐休,则必须为该工作日支付员工额外一小时的工资。同样,如果未能提供合规的工间休息,也需支付额外一小时的工资。每天的罚金工资上限为两小时。
工资定性引发的连锁诉讼 (Chain Litigation Triggered by Wage Classification): 加州法院明确裁定,这种罚金工资被视为工资 (wages),而非罚款 (penalty)。这一法律定性是关键,因为它会触发至少另外两项重大的法律风险:
工资单违规 (Inaccurate Wage Statements): 由于罚金工资是工资的一部分,若未能将其清晰地列在员工的工资单上,就构成了对《劳动法》第226条的违反,这将导致另一套独立的罚款。
等待时间罚金 (Waiting Time Penalties): 如果员工离职,任何未支付的罚金工资都将被视为未结清的工资。根据《劳动法》第203条,雇主若故意不在员工离职时结清所有应付工资,将面临最高长达30天工资的“等待时间罚金”。
PAGA诉讼的“核”威胁 (The "Nuclear" Threat of PAGA Lawsuits): 《私人总检察长法案》(PAGA)允许任何一名“受害”员工代表州政府,为所有其他受影响的员工提起诉讼。由于餐休违规问题往往是系统性的,而非孤立事件,它们成为了PAGA诉讼的重灾区。这意味着,一个原本看似微小的问题,可能会迅速演变成一场波及全公司、索赔金额高达数百万美元的集体诉讼。
2. 陷阱二:“加班费率”才是罚金的真正计算标准
许多雇主在计算餐休罚金工资时会犯一个常见且代价高昂的错误:他们错误地认为罚金工资仅按员工的基本时薪计算。
加州最高法院在Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC一案中的裁决彻底颠覆了这一观念。法院明确指出,用于计算罚金工资的“常规薪酬率”(regular rate of compensation)与用于计算加班费的“常规薪酬率”(regular rate of pay)是同义的。
这意味着,在计算罚金时,必须包含以下所有非酌情性报酬:
基本时薪 (Hourly wages)
非酌情奖金 (Non-discretionary bonuses)
佣金 (Commissions)
计件工资 (Piece-rate pay)
轮班补助 (Shift differential pay)
最关键的一点是,正如 Ferra 案裁决所强调的,这一规定具有追溯效力:
It is important for employers to note that this definition of “regular rate of compensation” and this decision apply retroactively.
这意味着,所有HR专业人士必须立即采取行动:审查公司过去支付的所有餐休罚金,并调整薪酬系统,确保未来的计算完全符合Ferra案的规定,以避免进一步的法律风险。
3. 陷阱三:仅仅“提供”休息是不够的
在Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court一案中,加州最高法院澄清,雇主的责任不是强迫员工去休息。然而,这绝不意味着雇主可以采取消极被动的态度。雇主必须主动创造一个让员工能够不受打扰地享受休息的条件。
雇主的法律义务包括:
必须完全解除员工的所有工作职责 (Must relieve employees of all duty)。
必须放弃对员工活动的控制 (Must relinquish control over their activities)。
必须允许员工有合理的机会享受不受打扰的30分钟休息时间 (Must permit them a reasonable opportunity to take an uninterrupted 30-minute break)。
不得以任何方式阻碍或不鼓励员工休息 (Must not impede or discourage employees from taking their meal period)。
以下是一些雇主可能非法“阻碍或不鼓励”员工休息的具体例子:
人员配备不足 (Understaffing): 导致员工实际上无法离开自己的岗位。
工作量过大 (Excessive Workload): 安排的工作任务过多,使得员工没有时间休息。
企业文化压力 (Cultural Pressure): 营造一种“拼命三郎”的文化氛围,将不休息视为对公司的奉献,从而给选择休息的员工施加无形压力。
4. 陷阱四:休息豁免协议并非“万能挡箭牌”
虽然法律允许员工在特定情况下放弃餐休,但这些豁免协议的适用范围非常狭窄,且常常被误用。
只有在以下两种情况下,雇主和员工才能通过双方自愿同意,合法地豁免餐休:
如果每日总工时不超过6小时,可以豁免第一次餐休。
如果每日总工时不超过12小时,且第一次餐休没有被豁免,可以豁免第二次餐休。
雇主必须确保这些豁免协议是员工在没有任何压力的情况下自愿签署的。
对于“在岗”餐休(on-duty meal periods)的要求则更为严格,必须同时满足两个条件:
工作的性质确实使员工无法完全脱离所有职责。这是一个客观标准,不能由雇主主观决定。
雇主和雇员之间必须有书面协议,并且协议中必须声明雇员可以随时以书面形式撤销该协议。
在现实中,我们看到一些行业(如医院)形成了放弃第二次餐休的“文化惯例”,以便员工能早些下班。然而,当这种做法演变成一种默认的期望或事实上的要求时,就产生了巨大的法律风险。这种无形的文化压力可能导致豁免协议的“自愿”性质受到质疑,从而使整个豁免安排变得非法。
化被动为主动,拆除合规“定时炸弹”
如我们所见,一个简单的时间记录失误完全有可能演变成一场涉及多重罚款和PAGA集体诉讼的重大财务危机。与其被动地等待诉讼上门,不如主动采取措施,建立一个坚不可摧的合规体系。
以下是HR专业人士应立即采取的主动合规策略:
制定清晰的书面政策: 明确规定公司的餐休和休息政策,确保所有员工和管理人员都理解其内容。
采用精准的计时系统: 使用自动化工具准确记录休息时间的开始和结束。禁止四舍五入或自动扣除休息时间等不准确的做法。
强化经理责任: 培训管理人员,让他们明白其职责不仅是安排休息,更是要确保员工能够不受阻碍地享受合规的休息。
定期进行内部审计: 定期审查休息记录和罚金支付计算,特别要确保罚金工资的计算方法符合Ferra案规定的“常规薪酬率”标准。
请记住,当诉讼发生时,您的计时记录会是您最有力的辩护,还是最致命的负债?
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本文内容基于公开资料、加州劳动法(California Labor Code)、IWC Wage Orders 与 DLSE 指南进行整理,仅供一般性信息参考,不构成法律建议。具体用工情形因职位、行业、合同条款与实际操作差异而不同。如您的企业面临潜在餐休违规风险、用工纠纷、PAGA 暴露或其他劳动法相关问题,建议咨询具有加州劳动法执照的专业律师,以获取针对性的法律意见与最新适用法规。
401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2026 has increased to $24,500, up from $23,500 for 2025.
The IRS today also issued technical guidance regarding all cost‑of‑living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2026 in Notice 2025-67 PDF, posted today on IRS.gov.
Highlights of changes for 2026
The annual contribution limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan is increased to $24,500, up from $23,500 for 2025.
The limit on annual contributions to an IRA is increased to $7,500 from $7,000. The IRA catch‑up contribution limit for individuals aged 50 and over was amended under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) to include an annual cost‑of‑living adjustment is increased to $1,100, up from $1,000 for 2025.
The catch-up contribution limit that generally applies for employees aged 50 and over who participate in most 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan is increased to $8,000, up from $7,500 for 2025. Therefore, participants in most 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457 plans and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan who are 50 and older generally can contribute up to $32,500 each year, starting in 2026. Under a change made in SECURE 2.0, a higher catch-up contribution limit applies for employees aged 60, 61, 62 and 63 who participate in these plans. For 2026, this higher catch-up contribution limit remains $11,250 instead of the $8,000 noted above.
The income ranges for determining eligibility to make deductible contributions to traditional Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), to contribute to Roth IRAs and to claim the Saver’s Credit all increased for 2026.
Taxpayers can deduct contributions to a traditional IRA if they meet certain conditions. If during the year either the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse was covered by a retirement plan at work, the deduction may be reduced, or phased out, until it is eliminated, depending on filing status and income. (If neither the taxpayer nor the spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work, the phase-outs of the deduction do not apply.) Here are the phase‑out ranges for 2026:
For single taxpayers covered by a workplace retirement plan, the phase-out range is increased to between $81,000 and $91,000, up from between $79,000 and $89,000 for 2025.
For married couples filing jointly, if the spouse making the IRA contribution is covered by a workplace retirement plan, the phase-out range is increased to between $129,000 and $149,000, up from between $126,000 and $146,000 for 2025.
For an IRA contributor who is not covered by a workplace retirement plan and is married to someone who is covered, the phase-out range is increased to between $242,000 and $252,000, up from between $236,000 and $246,000 for 2025.
For a married individual filing a separate return who is covered by a workplace retirement plan, the phase-out range is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains between $0 and $10,000.
Other phase-out ranges and limitations
The notice also provides limitations for 2026 for Roth IRAs, the Saver’s Credit and SIMPLE retirement accounts.
The income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is increased to between $153,000 and $168,000 for singles and heads of household, up from between $150,000 and $165,000 for 2025. For married couples filing jointly, the income phase-out range is increased to between $242,000 and $252,000, up from between $236,000 and $246,000 for 2025. The phase-out range for a married individual filing a separate return who makes contributions to a Roth IRA is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains between $0 and $10,000.
The income limit for the Saver’s Credit (also known as the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit) for low- and moderate-income workers is $80,500 for married couples filing jointly, up from $79,000 for 2025; $60,375 for heads of household, up from $59,250 for 2025; and $40,250 for singles and married individuals filing separately, up from $39,500 for 2025.
The amount individuals can generally contribute to their SIMPLE retirement accounts is increased to $17,000, up from $16,500 for 2025. Pursuant to a change made in SECURE 2.0, individuals can contribute a higher amount to certain applicable SIMPLE retirement accounts. For 2026, this higher amount is increased to $18,100, up from $17,600 for 2025.
The catch-up contribution limit that generally applies for employees aged 50 and over who participate in most SIMPLE plans is increased to $4,000, up from $3,500 for 2025. Under a change made in SECURE 2.0, a different catch-up limit applies for employees aged 50 and over who participate in certain applicable SIMPLE plans, which remains $3,850. Under a change made in SECURE 2.0, a higher catch-up contribution limit applies for employees aged 60, 61, 62 and 63 who participate in SIMPLE plans, which remains $5,250.
Details on these and other retirement-related cost-of-living adjustments for 2026 are in Notice 2025-67, available on IRS.gov.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500