Sixteen women -- nine who were once recruits -- have filed a lawsuit against the FBI for gender discrimination. The women claim they were exposed to inappropriate comments and sexual harassment by male instructors during their academy training.

Companies are having trouble hiring for blue-collar jobs because of a lack of training programs, increased college enrollment and an enduring stigma surrounding such professions. "The image of these jobs as being hard and 'dirty' often discourages people from applying," says Aparna Mathur of the American Enterprise Institute.

Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont are mulling legislation to boost the minimum wage, and paid-leave bills are on the docket in several states. Meanwhile, at the federal level, attorneys general from 15 states are considering whether to mount a legal challenge of proposed overtime rules.

A new artificial-intelligence tool called Textio can help HR professionals write better job postings and analyze them for unconscious bias, writes David Creelman, CEO of Creelman Research. He predicts that such tools will get more advanced over time and suggests that HR professionals become familiar with new technologies to understand their benefits and limitations.

HR should help management and employees aim for the same goals, says Evangeline Chua, chief people officer for the Government Technology Agency of Singapore. "How does HR create the 'burning' platform for people to harmonize their fears and partner management to address them?" she says.