Retailer The Body Shop will start "open hiring," a recruiting process that does not require applicants to submit to background checks or drug screens and hires them on a first-come, first-served basis. The model, pioneered by a bakery in New York, aims to eliminate barriers to employment and reduce turnover.

Younger workers, often coming from colleges or high schools where they received accommodations for mental health issues, are asking employers to provide work accommodations -- and are bringing more lawsuits against employers who fail to deliver. Employers must take care not to violate Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and there is no one-size-fits-all accommodation solution.

Companies that integrate HR and payroll networks can increase compliance, collaboration and communication while creating opportunities for self-service employee tools, writes Paul Bartlett. "Freeing up the tedium associated with disparate systems, HR and payroll professionals offload the process-heavy tasks and focus more on meaningful initiatives -- reinvigorating their roles and responsibilities and bringing inspiration and innovation to the organization," he writes.

Chatbots answer HR-related questions and can handle a variety of other functions. "If you are applying for a mortgage and want an employment verification letter, you can request the letter in the chatbot and will receive an email with the attachment," says Shantanu Jha, vice president of HR transformation and operations at IBM.

Technology that can recover cellphone, computer and video data can be vital in legal cases involving workplace harassment, notes attorney Peter Janci. He examines the use of technology for gathering evidence and addresses digital forensics software such as EnCase, which can recover documents and images that have been deleted.