HR intelligence to lead, innovate & grow.
Want to get your daily slice of HR knowledge to your inbox? Sign up now
Human Times helps you stay ahead of the latest news and trends that impact the HR industry. Every weekday, our unique blend of AI and team of expert HR and employment editors and researchers monitor 100,000s of articles, and social posts to create summaries of the most relevant and useful content to help you lead, innovate and grow. The award winning Human Times newsletter has four geographical editions with news tailored to your region.
From HR leadership to diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, organisational data, performance management, and retention strategies, Human Times is the only trusted free online news source dedicated to covering the most up to date headlines, articles, reports and interviews to make sure you’re abreast of changes in the HR industry.
You’re all signed up for the Human Times
Thank you for your interest in our service.
Watch out for a confirmation email from our subscriptions team. Once you have confirmed you will join the worldwide community of over 30,000 subscribers who are receiving daily HR intelligence to lead, innovate and grow.
Note: Due to the nature of this message you may find this in your "promotions" or "spam" folders, please check there. If nothing arrives within a few minutes let us know. If you do not receive this email we will be happy to help get you set up.
Adding the email address [email protected], will help to ensure all newsletters arrive directly to your inbox.
Of all the newsletters I receive a month, Human Times has been easily the most valuable and a real pleasure to read.
I share it with my department, I excerpt it for other members of the C-Suite. And – we shook our heads trying to understand what the source organization is and what ultimately funds it.
“Although I’m a recent subscriber I really enjoy taking a few minutes to read through the selection of articles.
In terms of how I use it – I use it to stay informed on the range of human centred topics that the newsletter covers. I wouldn’t change anything – it’s extremely useful as-is.
Thoroughly enjoy this daily summary of news and tidbits.
We’ve used to start new conversations or dialogue on matters we are in process but getting differing viewpoints. The strategy and the technology sections are always very useful.
I find it very helpful for the busy executive who doesn't always have the time to read the newspaper or go online.
Being delivered to my In-Box gives me the opportunity to review when/where I can throughout the day.
Recent Editions
Human Times
North America
U.S. law enforcement is probing allegations from former Meta Platforms contractors suggesting that company personnel have gained access to WhatsApp messages, contradicting the company's assertions that the service hosts private and encrypted communications. The claims, which highlight alleged “unfettered” access to chats, are being investigated by special agents from the U.S. Department of Commerce, and echo similar allegations raised in a 2024 whistleblower complaint to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The ongoing inquiry has not been publicly disclosed until now.
Full Issue
Human Times
UK
Asda has confirmed that 53,000 staff were underpaid after errors in its payroll system caused by a flawed IT upgrade. The issue affected holiday and sick pay calculations between February 2024 and May 2025 following the rollout of "Project Future IT." Executive chairman Allan Leighton said the supermarket had identified the mistakes during a system review. Asda will repay all affected current and former employees, with interest, and return money previously clawed back from overpaid staff. The problems followed the retailer’s complex separation of IT systems from former owner Walmart, which was marked by delays and technical failures. Asda has linked the disruption to weaker trading performance and said external experts have since validated fixes to prevent a repeat.
Full Issue
Human Times
Europe
The economic wing of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), has criticised what it calls "lifestyle part-time" - a reference to "not people who need to reduce their hours to take care of children, or sick relatives or pursue education. It's about people who just want more free time," MIT spokeswoman Juliane Berndt explained to Deutsche Welle. "With a four-day week and an exaggerated work-life balance, prosperity cannot be maintained," Merz said in early January. He also complained that Germans call in sick for work too often, and suffer from a lack of work ethic.
Full Issue
Human Times
Middle East
The General Federation of Workers of the Sultanate of Oman (GFOW) has initiated field visits to labour unions and private companies to boost union membership and enhance workplace dialogue. This programme, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, began in North Al Batinah Governorate. Ibrahim Al Ghuraibi, acting director of the federation's Union and Labour Services Department, said: "The goal is to engage workers on the ground and explain how labour unions protect rights." The initiative also aims to provide legal support for establishing unions and addressing labour-related queries.
Full Issue
Read the latest HR highlights
How HR is Tackling Long Covid?
Fingers remain tightly crossed around the world that the rampant hospitalization and fatality stage of the Covid-19 pandemic has generally peaked. Vaccination programmes are accelerating, and restrictions are gradually being lifted...
Discover
ESG Is Not Just Another Name For CSR
Back in the distant 1980s if you wanted to demonstrate your environmental and ethical credentials it was sufficient to shop at or purchase shares in retailer The Body Shop. The charismatic Anita Roddick, founder of the “hippy” tinged retail chain, heralded a new age of environmental concern, caring capitalism and corporate awareness that evolved into what became known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR was much talked about and lauded, but in reality often ended up being a lot of a hot air (excuse the pun) and often never progressed much beyond a footnote in the annual report.
Discover
Have Older Workers Paid The Highest COVID-19 Price?
Across the world the pandemic is slowly but surely moving into its next phase. Recovery beckons. As furlough schemes across the U.S. and U.K. are being wound down, restrictions eased or lifted, and workforces moving back up the gears, early signs indicate that older employees are more likely to be casualties of the pandemic aftermath than their younger colleagues. Here at the we have witnessed an increasing number of stories supporting the growing belief that older workers are disproportionately paying the highest Covid-19 price.
Discover
Bosses. What's not to like? Plenty, say employees
“You’ll never have another boss like me, someone who’s basically a chilled-out entertainer”
So said, David Brent, the fictional manager of Slough-based paper merchant Wernham Hogg in the seminal TV comedy The Office. Ricky Gervais’s portrayal of Brent as a flawed, narcissistic, incompetent, and deluded manager was so well observed that many (including me) believed it was a genuine fly-on-the-wall documentary when they alighted accidentally on the first ever episode.
Rolling with the Payroll
To mark National Payroll Week the team at the Human Times has provided some insight into the industry that we hope you’ll find useful.
Discover
