California and other states are investigating the use of "no-poach" agreements that may prevent employers from hiring one another's workers. Data from Bloomberg Law suggests that at least 29 states -- including California -- have passed laws restricting the use of noncompete contracts and no-poach agreements.

Employers should make the hiring of formerly incarcerated people part of their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and treat these new employees like any other, say Benjamin Cumming, director of communications at Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, and Ashley Furst, who served time in federal prison and is now a manager for the organization. They suggest employers contact nonprofit groups that can help find and screen people who are out of prison and looking for work.

Passive aggressive routes to termination sow doubt and fear among employees, says HR executive Andrea Bartlett, who urges employers to identify and handle underperformance. "If you're not delivering feedback early and often and you're waiting instead for a monthly or a quarterly or an annual review, you're much more likely to find yourself in a situation where you might be quietly firing people," Bartlett notes.

Remote workers engage in more exercise, socialization and sleep and spend less time working, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Time spent commuting to work has decreased by 60 million hours daily, says David Dam, a former research analyst at the New York Fed, who notes that "cutting the commute enables people to spend their time on other activities, such as child care or leisure," and that remote work "will be an important consideration for the future of flexible work arrangements."

Companies whose employees don't share positive anecdotes about how the company treats them haven't created the authenticity employees seek, and retention is likely to shrink dramatically, says Bryan Adams, CEO of brand agency Ph.Creative. The hiring world has turned upside down and is less about employers hiring based on a worker's skills and more about workers seeking values-oriented benefits, Adams adds.