Fifty companies, including CBS, Google and Microsoft, have asked the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to deem a law that prohibits sex discrimination applicable to gay workers. The companies say in a legal brief more than 40% of gay workers report harassment.

Nearly 60% of job seekers say they have had a poor experience as a candidate, and 72% report sharing the experience with someone directly or online, according to a CareerArc survey. Employers must treat candidates as stakeholders and respect them to avoid public damage to the brand and to attract ideal employees, says Lian Shao of the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

Male supervisors who protect female workers from additional pressure with vague feedback might actually hurt women's professional growth and development, writes Sara Ross of the Institute for Health and Human Potential. Ross details three questions employers should ask themselves to determine whether "protector bias" keeps women from hearing feedback they need to progress.

Two conflicting studies are spotlighting the ongoing debate surrounding the gradual minimum wage increase to $15 per hour in Seattle, Wash. A recent report out of the University of Washington found that employers cut hours significantly to compensate for higher wages, while a study from the University of California at Berkeley found a much lower rate of worker displacement, which some experts say is the result of the city's economic boom, not adjustments to the minimum wage.

To improve the employee experience, focus on the culture, what technology helps workers do their jobs, and the physical environment, writes Jacob Morgan. "The experience that your organization can design is the overlap of the employee's needs, expectations, and wants, and your organization's ability to deliver on those needs, expectations, and wants," he writes.