One of our greatest responsibilities as Americans is fulfilling our civic duty when called upon. Sometimes, that means serving on a jury. Unfortunately, it’s hard to feel pride in that when many miss work, and as a result, chunks of their paycheck, for that constitutionally mandated obligation.

In some ways, jury duty can be a lose-lose situation for businesses and their employees. Businesses are down employees, impacting productivity, while employees risk missing critical income—at a time when people are living paycheck-to-paycheck to survive high costs of living —while work piles up during their absence.

In certain states, employers are required to pay for at least some portion of an employee’s jury duty leave, though how much employers have to pay, and for how many days, varies. As employers have looked to offer benefits that support employees’ well-being, establishing a consistent paid jury duty benefit has emerged as an option.

“I do think the trend is towards employee health and well-being and providing those sorts of benefits. And I see jury duty sort of in line with that,” Jen Passannante, senior counsel at Justworks, told HR Brew. “Certainly not all employers do it or can do it, but I think where possible, it is something that employers, when they can, try and be accommodating about.”

For more on how HR can craft a paid jury duty leave benefit, keep reading here.—PM

What do you call bamboo Down Under? We believe the fine Australians and New Zealanders in HR still call it bamboo, and soon, more people leaders in the region will have smoother access to BambooHR too.

People, payroll, and benefits platform BambooHR announced earlier this month a new payroll integration with Wellington-based Xero Payroll, a leading cloud accounting company in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK, as part of its ongoing global expansion efforts.

The partnership aims to help simplify international payroll for BambooHR clients and allow HR teams to sync employee data to country-specific payroll programs.

The expansion comes as more companies look overseas for global expansion in the era of AI dominance, according to recent surveying conducted by BambooHR. Some 79% of business and HR leaders report that they’re optimistic about their company’s growth prospects; 39% are already hiring internationally, and another 29% expect to enter new markets within the next year, the survey found.

For more on the partnership, and trend toward global expansion, keep reading here.—AD

Work culture in India has come under increased scrutiny recently. In late November, Narayan Murthy, CEO of Bengaluru-based Infosys, called for young employees to work at least 70 hours a week, and earlier this month, a video highlighting the pressure on workers in the country went viral. Now, the country is responding by considering new legislation.

Where in the world? India’s parliament is considering a right to disconnect bill, the Times of India reported. The bill would prohibit employers from penalizing employees who do not respond to work communications during off hours, and would establish an Employees’ Welfare Authority to ensure compliance. Workers would also be entitled to compensation for working outside of “official” hours.

The Right to Disconnect Bill 2025 was introduced in early December by Supriya Sule, a member of India’s Nationalist Congress Party. Sule introduced similar legislation in 2019 that did not pass. It’s unclear if the proposed bill will pass, but it “has drawn significant public attention,” according to the Independent.

Satellite view. Research has found that being “constantly on” and answering work calls and emails at all hours can lead to stress, sleep deprivation, and mental health issues. Overwork has become such a problem in many parts of the world that some governments have tried to address it with updated legislation.

For more on how governments around the world are addressing overwork, keep reading here.—KP

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