Results from a March of Dimes study found that paid family leave policies have improved retention rates for female employees by 20% within the baby's first year and by 50% within five years. However, paid family leave is not available to the majority of American employees.

Build a company culture that encourages employees to ask for what they need, writes Wayne Baker, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "Asking for help is an essential ingredient in starting the exchange of resources across our personal, business and professional networks because it initiates the process of giving and receiving," he writes.

Companies should consider formal employee engagement frameworks that start by listening to employee concerns and getting executive buy-in, writes Sarah Fister Gale. The framework becomes reality when companies show managers how to be coaches, communicate regularly about engagement efforts to employees and conduct surveys to measure results, she writes.

Employee wellness, soft skills training, the use of artificial intelligence and helping employees and robots work together are some of the areas HR should focus on, writes Jeanne Meister, a partner with Future Workplace. "More companies are piloting skills based hiring, or the practice of setting specific skills and competency requirements for a job rather than only looking at a candidate's credentials," Meister writes.

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday considered how individuals might prevail in litigation alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, with the case at hand involving a Veterans Affairs Department employee who was in her 50s when she filed her lawsuit. According to records, Chief Justice John Roberts used the phrase "OK, Boomer" for the first time in the court's history when he offered a hypothetical scenario for an age-discrimination lawsuit.