U.S. Employment Laws & Major Employment Law Updates in 2026

Federal Employment Law Updates

  • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidance updates
  • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interpretation updates
  • Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) enforcement expansion
  • AI and automated hiring enforcement initiatives (EEOC/DOL/FTC/DOJ)
  • Proposed H-1B prevailing wage rule changes
  • Proposed PERM labor certification wage updates
  • Home healthcare worker overtime exemption proposal updates
  • Joint employer enforcement guidance updates
  • Independent contractor classification enforcement activity
  • OSHA workplace heat and safety guidance initiatives
  • EEOC harassment and discrimination enforcement priorities updates
  • Federal contractor DEI compliance and reporting changes
  • National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) policy and enforcement updates
  • Worker surveillance and electronic monitoring guidance
  • Wage theft enforcement initiatives

State Employment Law Updates in 2026

Pay Transparency Laws

  • California pay transparency updates
  • Colorado pay transparency updates
  • Illinois pay transparency updates
  • Minnesota pay transparency updates
  • New York pay transparency updates
  • Washington pay transparency updates
  • New Jersey pay transparency updates
  • Massachusetts pay transparency updates
  • Hawaii pay transparency updates
  • Vermont pay transparency updates
  • Maryland pay transparency updates

Paid Family & Medical Leave Laws

  • Minnesota Paid Family & Medical Leave implementation
  • Maine Paid Family & Medical Leave updates
  • Delaware Paid Leave implementation
  • Maryland Paid Family Leave implementation updates
  • Oregon Paid Leave updates
  • Colorado Paid Family Leave updates
  • Washington Paid Family Leave updates

Minimum Wage & Salary Threshold Increases

  • California minimum wage increase
  • New York minimum wage increase
  • Washington minimum wage increase
  • Colorado minimum wage increase
  • Oregon minimum wage increase
  • Illinois minimum wage increase
  • Rhode Island minimum wage increase
  • Maine minimum wage increase
  • Exempt salary threshold increases in multiple states

AI Hiring & Automated Decision-Making Laws

  • Illinois AI hiring regulation updates
  • New York AI bias audit requirements
  • California AI employment regulation proposals
  • Colorado AI discrimination protections
  • Maryland AI interview technology restrictions

Noncompete & Restrictive Covenant Laws

  • California noncompete enforcement expansion
  • Colorado restrictive covenant limitations
  • Illinois noncompete threshold updates
  • Minnesota noncompete restrictions
  • Washington noncompete compensation threshold updates
  • Oregon restrictive covenant updates

Worker Classification & Gig Worker Laws

  • California worker classification enforcement updates
  • New Jersey independent contractor enforcement initiatives
  • Massachusetts gig worker classification litigation updates
  • Illinois freelance worker protections
  • New York delivery worker protections

Anti-Discrimination & Harassment Law Updates

  • New York disparate impact discrimination law expansion
  • CROWN Act hairstyle discrimination expansions
  • Gender identity and reproductive health protections
  • Family responsibility discrimination protections
  • Algorithmic discrimination protections
  • Pregnancy accommodation expansions
  • Domestic violence victim employment protections

Personnel File & Employee Privacy Laws

  • Washington personnel file access expansion
  • California employee privacy updates
  • Electronic monitoring disclosure laws
  • Biometric privacy law enforcement updates
  • Employee data retention and access updates

Workplace Safety Laws

  • California indoor heat illness prevention rules
  • Warehouse quota laws and enforcement
  • Workplace violence prevention requirements
  • Healthcare worker safety standards
  • OSHA-aligned state workplace safety initiatives

WARN Act / Layoff Notification Laws

  • Washington Mini-WARN Act expansion
  • State mass layoff notification law updates
  • Severance and closure notice requirement expansions

Hiring & Recruitment Law Updates

  • Salary history ban expansions
  • Job posting disclosure requirements
  • Credit check restriction expansions
  • Cannabis testing and off-duty use protections
  • Fair chance hiring / ban-the-box expansions

Leave Law Expansions

  • Paid sick leave expansions
  • Bereavement leave laws
  • Reproductive loss leave laws
  • Organ donor and bone marrow donor leave updates
  • Domestic violence and safe leave expansions
  • School activity leave expansions
  • Jury duty and civic participation leave protections

Other Major Employment Law Trends & Updates

  • Remote work reimbursement requirements
  • Freelance worker protection laws
  • Warehouse worker productivity quota laws
  • Employee scheduling and predictive scheduling laws
  • Captive audience meeting restrictions
  • Union organizing protection expansions
  • Workplace retaliation enforcement initiatives
  • Labor trafficking and child labor enforcement initiatives