Picture this: You open your mailbox, and sandwiched between the bills and flyers is a postcard addressed to you. Cue the warm and fuzzy feeling of getting snail mail. Fewer things make that nostalgia fade faster than discovering the postcard is actually a jury duty summons.

Each year, some 11 million Americans report for in-person for jury duty. The majority will only spend a few days in court, or even less if they’re dismissed during voir dire. But the prospect of missing any amount of work can be a major stressor, particularly if their employer doesn’t offer paid jury duty leave. In fact, of the 9.2% of Americans who admit to lying to get out of jury duty, half said they did so to avoid financial inconvenience, while one-fifth fibbed because they feared consequences from their employer, a 2023 Bar Prep Hero survey found.

While 57% of private sector workers reported having access to paid jury duty leave in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s unclear how many employers currently provide paid jury duty leave beyond what’s required of the jurisdictions in which they operate.

The legal landscape around jury duty leave is complex.

For more on what HR needs to know about jury duty compliance, keep reading here.—PM

For 90 years, Supreme Court precedent has held that presidents can’t fire independent heads of federal agencies without cause.

That precedent was tested when President Donald Trump fired a number of federal officials after taking office in January, including Gwynne Wilcox, a member and chair of the National Labor Relations Board.

The Supreme Court now looks likely to overturn the 90-year precedent and allow the president to fire agency heads at-will. The decision, which is expected next year, is likely to affect a number of federal agencies, including those tasked with protecting US workers.

For more on the precedent, why it’s being challenged, and what it might mean for labor and employment agencies, keep reading here.—CV

The cybersecurity industry is wrestling with a thorny issue as we enter 2026: a significant skills shortage.

According to a recent ISC2 study, 63% of organizations reported having a slight or significant cybersecurity staff shortage at their organization, down from 68% in 2024. But while organizations are getting better at solving their headcount problems, they have issues with finding employees with the right expertise: More than half (59%) of surveyed professionals said they currently have a critical or significant skills need, up 44% YOY. (The study is based on a survey of 16,029 cybersecurity professionals in North America, Latin America, EMEA, and the Asia–Pacific region.)

Three in 10 organizations say they can’t find talent with the right skills, while another 29% blame not having a large enough budget to hire enough cybersecurity pros. Almost one-quarter (23%) of organizations say they have a retention problem with skilled talent.

For more on the cybersecurity skills shortage, keep reading on IT Brew.—BM

More focus, less fluff. CollabWORK filters out the noise and delivers jobs that actually match what HR Brew readers are looking for. Click here to see the full board of curated roles.

• Human Resources Director at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of North Alabama
• Director, People & Culture at Advanced Energy
• HR Manager at Post Holdings, Inc.
• Business Development Manager at Ace Hardware
• Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition at BWX Technologies, Inc.