In our latest national state law update, we review state laws that have gone into effect or were enacted in 2026. Below is a non-exhaustive summary of major state laws that have gone into effect so far in 2026. Employers should be mindful of and continue to follow their state and local laws.

California

  • California criminalizes threats of violence in the workplace – Senate Bill 19 (S.B. 19) makes it a crime for a person to willfully threaten acts of violence at a workplace, daycare, school, university, house of worship, or medical facility with specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out.

This applies if the threat on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person or persons threatened a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and if that threat causes a person or persons to reasonably be in sustained fear for their own safety or the safety of others at these locations.

  • Assembly Bill 288 (A.B. 288) gives qualifying employees the right to petition California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to protect and enforce certain rights, including to ask PERB to:
  1. process any representation petition previously filed with the federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB);
  2. to promptly certify an exclusive bargaining representative that has previously been certified by another state or federal agency, or that has been selected by a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit through an election, through other legal processes recognized by PERB or the NLRB at that time the selection is made, or through a written designation; and
  3. to decide an unfair labor practice case for cases where the NLRB:
  • does not issue a certification, complaint or decision; or
  • when there are processing delays resulting in the worker’s case remaining pending before the NLRB for more than six months without the issuance of a complaint or certification of an election, or remaining pending more than six months after a complaint has been issued without the issuance of a decision by an administrative law judge or without the issuance of a decision about the certification by the NLRB.

*****Update: in December 2025, a California Federal Court enjoined the State of California from enforcing this law *****

  • Senate Bill 294 (S.B. 294) enacts the state’s Workplace Know Your Rights Act, which requires employers to provide a notice of worker rights regarding topics such as workers’ compensation benefits, immigration agency inspections, unfair immigration-related practices, union organizing or engaging in concerted activities, and constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace.

The notice must be given to employees by Feb. 1, 2026, and annually thereafter; new employees upon hire; and any collective bargaining representatives annually. The state will provide a template notice by Jan. 1, 2026 that employers can use to comply with the requirement. Additionally, employers must keep records of their compliance with the requirement for three years.

The legislation also requires an employer to notify the designated emergency contact of employees who are arrested or detained on the employer’s worksite, if they provided advance notice that they wanted their contact to be notified in that event. If the arrest or detention occurs off-site, during work hours or while they are performing their job duties, the employer must notify their contact only if it has actual knowledge of their arrest or detention. The employer must give employees the opportunity to name an emergency contact by March 30, 2026, or at the time of hire for new employees hired after that date.

  • Assembly Bill 316 (A.B. 316) prohibits employers from asserting as a defense in any action against an employer who developed, modified, or used artificial intelligence that is alleged to have caused a harm to the plaintiff, that the Artificial intelligence (“AI”) autonomously caused the harm to the plaintiff.

***California employers should consult experienced labor and employment counsel about the use of AI in the workplace***

  • Senate Bill 398 (S.B. 398) makes it a crime, punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to three years, or both, for a person to knowingly or willfully pay or offer to pay money or other valuable consideration to another person with the intent to induce the person to vote or to register to vote, or where the payment is contingent upon whether the person voted or the person’s voter registration status. However, this does not apply to an employer granting an employee time off to vote.
  • Assembly Bill 406 (A.B. 406) beginning January 1, 2026, California paid sick leave may be used for covered purposes, including certain court proceedings. Beginning January 1, 2026, employers may not discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a victim violence or a family member of a victim of violence for taking time off from work in order to attend judicial proceedings related to that crime.
  • Senate Bill 446 (S.B. 446) amends California’s security breach notification law by requiring employers to inform affected employees of a security breach within 30 days of its discovery. This timeframe can be extended if a delay is necessary to comply with a law enforcement investigation or to determine the scope of the breach. Additionally, the legislation requires employers to notify the State’s Attorney General of a security breach within 15 days of informing employees.
  • California Amends Pay Data Report Requirements – Senate Bill 464 (S.B. 464) requires an employer to collect and store separately from employees’ personnel records, any demographic information gathered by an employer or labor contractor for the purpose of submitting the employer’s annual pay data report.
  • Senate Bill 477 (S.B. 477) extends the tolling period for filing civil actions alleging unlawful employment practices and adds a definition for “group or class complaint.” It also extends the tolling period for the department to bring civil actions on behalf of an aggrieved party.
  • California Expands Employee Personnel File Retention Requirements – Senate bill 513 (S.B. 513) requires employers to include education and training records in an employee’s personnel file. The records must identify and include the name of the training, its duration and date the training or education occurred, the core competencies taught, and the resulting certification or qualification.
  • Assembly Bill 578 (A.B. 578) prohibits a food delivery platform from maintaining a payment model that uses any amount designated as tips or gratuity to offset the base pay to the person delivering the food or beverages. B. 578 requires a food delivery platform to prominently disclose to the person delivering the food or beverages an accurate, clearly identified, and itemized breakdown of the pay received for a delivery, including base pay, gratuity or tips, and any promotional bonuses.  A.B. 578 prohibits food delivery platforms from deducting gratuity paid to a delivery driver when refunding amounts paid to a customer, including if gratuity is refunded to the customer.
  • Assembly Bill 592 (A.B. 592) mandates new hospitality training for restaurant employees on pest prevention and vermin-free practices, requiring training upon hire and annually to reduce contamination risks, alongside new requirements for employee personnel records. This law updates health codes, making pest control a core competency for staff, impacting restaurant operations and HR compliance in 2026.
  • California WARN Act Amendments – Senate Bill 617 (S.B. 617) amends California’s WARN Act to require employers to include the following information in its notice:
  1. Whether or not the employer plans to coordinate services through the local workforce development board or another entity (If the employer chooses to coordinate services with the local workforce development board or another entity, the employer must arrange the services within 30 days from the date of the notice);
  2. Regardless of whether the employer chooses to coordinate services with the local workforce development board or another entity, the employer shall include in the notice a functioning email and telephone number of the local workforce development board and a description of the rapid response activities offered by the local workforce development board;
  3. A description of the statewide food assistance program known as CalFresh, along with its benefits helpline and a link to its website; and
  4. The employer’s contact information.
  • Pay Transparency Amendments – Senate Bill 642 (S.B. 642) amends California’s Equal Pay Act to extend the statute of limitations to recover wages to three years (previously two years) for claims asserting a violation of the Act. The amendments provide that an employee is entitled to obtain relief for the entire period of time in which a violation occurred, not to exceed six years.
  1. 642 also amends California’s Equal Pay Act to prohibit an employer from paying employees wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of “another sex” instead of the “opposite sex,” and amends several other key definitions under the Act, including “pay scale”, “wages,” “wage rates,” and “sex.”  The term “pay scale” now means “a good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire.”
  • Assembly Bill 692 (A.B. 692) makes it unlawful to include in any employment contract, or to require an employee or prospective employee to execute as a condition of employment or a work relationship a contract that includes a provision requiring repayment of training and education expenses, relocation costs, or other hiring-related fees if the employee quits or is terminated. This applies to contracts entered into on or after Jan. 1, 2026. There are a number of exceptions to this prohibition under A.B. 692.
  • Assembly Bill 858 (A.B. 858) extends until January 1, 2027 the requirement that employers offer employees laid-off due to the COVID-19 pandemic information about job positions that become available for which the laid-off employees are qualified, and to offer positions to those laid-off employees based on a preference system, in accordance with specified timelines and procedures. A.B. 858 also extends the prohibitions preventing employers from taking adverse employment actions against a laid-off employee for seeking to enforce their rights.
  • Assembly Bill 1340 (A.B. 1340) establishes the Transportation Network Company Drivers Labor Relations Act, which allows transportation network company (TNC) drivers (aka GIG Workers) to form, join, and participate in the activities of TNC driver organizations, to bargain through representatives of their own choosing, to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and to refrain from such activities.
  • Assembly Bill 774 (A.B. 774) extends the time employers have to implement garnishment orders to 30 days from 10 days after the employer is served. The employer’s deadline may be extended to 45 days if the employee files an exemption claim with the levying officer and notifies the employer within 30 days of receiving the order. The legislation also requires employers to include in their returns to the levying officer: the date they provided the garnishment order and its accompanying notice to the employee, the name and title of the individual who provided them, and a description of how they were provided.

Colorado

  • Senate Bill 25-144 (S.B. 25-144) amends Colorado’s family and medical leave insurance program to permit employees who have a child receiving inpatient care in a neonatal intensive care unit up to an additional 12 weeks of leave.

Connecticut

  • Senate Bill 5005 (S.B. 5005) effective January 1, 2026, Connecticut’s paid sick leave law requires employers with 11 or more employees in the state to provide covered employees with paid sick leave.

Delaware

  • Effective January 1, 2026, the Healthy Delaware Families Act requires covered employers to provide eligible employees up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave and up to 6 weeks of paid medical leave for an employee’s own serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

Illinois

  • House Bill 1278 (H.B. 1278) prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees for using company-issued equipment to record acts or incidents of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or any other crime of violence committed against the employee or a family or household member of the employee.
  • House Bill 1616 (H.B. 1616) amends the Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act to allow part-time employees to use up to 10 days of leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor.
  • House Bill 3638 (H.B. 3868) amends the Workplace Transparency Act to provide current, former, and prospective employees with greater rights and protections when executing employment agreements with an employer.

Requires employers to provide employees with separate consideration in exchange for an employee promising to not make disclosures related to alleged unlawful employment practices, and adds new protections for employees governing the choice of law and venue selected for adjudicating unlawful employment practice claims.  Provides new legal remedies for employees who successfully allege violations of the Act or who successfully defend against an employer’s claim that the employee breached their confidentiality obligations under an agreement.

  • House Bill 3773 (H.B. 3773) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit employment discrimination with respect to an employer’s use of AI tools in hiring and employment decisions, if such AI tools have a discriminatory effect, and makes it a civil rights violation for employers to use AI tools or generative AI with respect to employment decisions that effectively discriminate against applicants or employees based on protected classifications or zip codes as a proxy for protected classes.

The legislation also requires employers to notify applicants and employees whenever they use AI with respect to employment decisions, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or the terms, privileges, or conditions of employment.

  • Senate Bill 212 (S.B. 212) requires employers to provide nursing mothers with paid lactation breaks, and compensate the employee at the employee’s regular rate of compensation during the break time. Employers may not require a nursing mother to use paid leave during lactation breaks or reduce an employee’s compensation during the break time.
  • House Bill 3200 (H.B. 3200) amends the Unemployment Insurance Act to allow individuals who are unable to perform their job for certified mental health reasons to qualify for unemployment benefits if the employer is unable to accommodate the individual in their job, and includes measures for identifying fraudulent claims. The legislation also allows courts to enjoin employers from operating who refuse or fail to file new hire reports or report wages paid to employees.
  • Senate Bill 1288 (S.B. 1288) amends the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act to require that each food handler covered by the Act, whether or not employed by a restaurant, to complete a training program on celiac disease and the safe handling of gluten-free foods. Provides that the training program must include the following topics: (1) the nature and symptoms of celiac disease; (2) the importance of gluten-free food handling for individuals with celiac disease; (3) methods to prevent cross-contamination with gluten-containing foods; (4) the proper cleaning and sanitizing procedures to remove gluten residues from food preparation surfaces and equipment; and (5) the labeling and identification of gluten-free products.
  • Senate Bill 1422 (S.B. 1422) requires restaurant and truck stop employers to provide employees with human trafficking recognition training.
  • Senate Bill 2487 (S.B. 2487) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to impose new civil penalties for per violation for each specific act constituting a civil rights violation. The legislation also amends the Act to no longer require the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) to conduct mandatory fact finding conferences when charges of discrimination are filed with the department, and instead makes fact finding conferences discretionary if both the complainant and respond submit a written request for a fact finding conference within 90 days from the date the charge is filed with the IDHR.
  • House Bill 3094 (H.B. 3094) amends the Transportation Benefits Program Act to provide that the Act does not apply to a covered employer in the construction industry with respect to employees covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement. The legislation also expands coverage under the Act to include any person employed by a covered employer, including part-time employees.

Indiana

  • Effective July 1, 2026, Senate Bill 76 (S.B. 76) makes it unlawful for an employer to knowingly or intentionally recruit, hire, or continue to employ an unauthorized alien. The law allows the State’s Attorney General to bring an enforcement action against an employer if probable cause exists that the employer has violated certain recruitment and hiring restrictions concerning an unauthorized alien. The law also prohibits an employer from discharging or discriminating against an employee because the employee communicated or cooperated with the attorney general.

Maine

  • Effective July 14, 2026, House Paper 25 (H.P. 25 / L.D. 61) prohibits employers from using surveillance on employees unless employees are notified before surveillance begins. The legislation also prohibits employers from using audiovisual monitoring in an employee’s residence, personal vehicle, or personal property, unless the surveillance is required for the employee’s job duties. In addition, employees may decline an employer’s request to install data-collection or transmission applications on a personal device for surveillance purposes. The legislation also requires employers to disclose their surveillance to prospective employees and to provide written notice of such surveillance to current employees at least once per calendar year.

Minnesota

  • Minnesota’s Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program went into effect on January 1, 2026, providing employees with up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement for medical reasons and family-related reasons—including bonding, caring for ill relatives, or addressing personal safety issues—capped at 20 combined weeks per year.
  • Senate File 17 (S.F. 17), amends the State’s meal and rest break laws to require employers to allow employees to take a rest break of at least 15 minutes or enough time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom, whichever is longer, within every consecutive four (4) hours worked. Employers must also allow employees working for six (6) or more consecutive hours to take a meal break of at least 30 minutes.

The legislation also clarifies the State’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law, by providing that employers are permitted to advance earned sick and safe time to an employee based on the number of hours the employee is anticipated to work for the remaining portion of an accrual year. If the advanced amount is less than the amount the employee would have accrued based on the actual hours worked, the employer must provide additional earned sick and safe time to make up the difference.

New Jersey

  • Assembly Bill 4750 (A.B. 4750) expands the State’s new-hire reporting requirements to include entities that employ or contract with individuals for financial compensation, including ride-sharing and delivery service technology platforms. It also extends the requirements to cover new hires who are paid earnings or other financial compensation and those to whom an employer anticipates paying other financial compensation. In addition, the legislation clarifies that the 20-day reporting deadline also applies to the date of contracting with a person.
  • Assembly Bill 4429 (A.B. 4429) expands protections for employees concerning the right to perform the duties of their jobs instead of listening to an employer’s speech on “political matters”. Specifically, the legislation expands coverage to prohibit mandatory employee attendance at an employer-sponsored meeting (aka “Captive Audience Meeting”) or participate in any communications with the employer or its agents or representatives, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters, including labor organization or association with a labor organization.
  • Effective April 21, 2026, Assembly Bill 5358 (A.B. 5358) amends New Jersey’s Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program to reduces the employee threshold that triggers the requirement to participate in the program from 25 to 10 employees. It also shifts the requirement for the provision of materials about the program from the employer to the program itself. It allows enrollees to request to change their contribution level at any time and employers must implement the change no less than once a calendar quarter, subject to the rules and regulations promulgated by the program. If an enrollee exercises the right to opt out, the employer must implement this change as soon as administratively practicable.
  • Effective July 17, 2026, Assembly Bill 3451 (A.B. 3451) reduces the employee threshold from 30 employees to 15 employees under the State’s family leave law, expands eligibility for family-leave insurance benefits and protects employees’ use of temporary disability benefits. The legislation loosens eligibility requirements by allowing employees to receive family-leave benefits if they work for an employer with at least 15 employees, have been employed for at least three months, and have at least 250 hours of employment during the immediately preceding 12-month period.

The 15-employee threshold will be further reduced to 10 employees one year after the bill’s effective date. Additionally, the legislation requires employers to reinstate employees who take temporary disability benefits to either the position they held when leave commenced or an equivalent position, and allows eligible employees to choose the order in which they take earned sick leave and temporary disability benefits.

  • Senate Bill 3800 (S.B. 3800) amends New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination to prohibit employment discrimination based on military service. The law makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers to deny reemployment to employees who take leave for military service.

New York

  • Effective June 10, 2026, Senate Bill 5922 (S.B. 5922) requires employers covered by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act to include an opioid antagonist, such as Naloxone or Narcan, in their first aid supplies, which must be readily available to employees.
  • New York General Business Law Article 43, registration recently opened for the State’s Secure Choice Savings Program, which creates new retirement savings requirements for covered employers. Employers are required to register or certify their exemption by certain deadlines:
    • March 18, 2026: Employers with 30 or more employees
    • May 15, 2026: Employers with 15 to 29 employees
    • July 15, 2026: Employers with 10-14 employees

Nevada

  • Senate Bill 260 (S.B. 260) requires employers to take measures to reduce employee exposure to poor air quality from wildfire smoke where the air quality index is above a certain limit, including providing training, monitoring air quality and implementing a communication system for reporting air quality and health symptoms.

North Carolina

  • House Bill 805 (H.B. 805) provides various definitions to clarify that an individual’s biological sex means either male or female without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender, and provides that the definitions apply to all administrative rules, regulations, or public policies adopted by the State of North Carolina or its political subdivisions.

North Dakota

  • Senate Bill 2047 (S.B. 2047) an employer may not, for income tax purposes, withhold or deduct tax from military pay wages received by a taxpayer as a member of the armed forces of the United States on federal active duty, member of the national guard or reserve member of the armed forces of the United States, to the extent that military pay is included in North Dakota taxable income of the taxpayer. For purposes of this subdivision, “military pay” includes all federal pay for training, education, mobilization, and bonuses and state pay when called to support an emergency on state active duty.

Oregon

  • Senate Bill 1108 (S.B. 1108) allows eligible employees to use leave, earned under the state’s sick time law, to donate blood through a voluntary program approved or accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks or the American Red Cross.
  • Senate Bill 906 (S.B. 906) requires employers to provide new employees with a written explanation of earnings and deductions listed on itemized wage statements. This explanation, which may be delivered digitally, must include details on the regular pay period, types of pay rates, benefit deductions and contributions, applicable deductions and their purposes, any allowances claimed toward minimum wage, any employer-provided benefits shown on the statement, and all payroll codes used. Employers that violate the law may face civil penalties of up to $500.
  • Senate Bill 916 (S.B. 916), allows public and private employees to receive unemployment benefits during a strike or lockout.
  • Senate Bill 537 (S.B. 537) requires health care employers to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention and protection program developed that includes a workplace violence prevention and response plan.
  • Senate Bill 858 (S.B. 858) provides that employees may not receive paid family and medical leave insurance benefits in any week in which the employee is eligible to receive workers’ compensation time loss benefits or unemployment benefits.

Rhode Island

  • House Bill 5679 (H.B. 5679) requires employers to provide newly hired employees with a written notice identifying certain essential terms and conditions of employment, including the rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, the Employer’s policy on sick, vacation, personal leave, holidays and hours, the employee’s employment status and whether the employee is exempt from minimum wage and/or overtime, etc.
  • House Bill 5563 (H.B. 5563) provides that every employee of a hotel and every operator of a short-term rental property must receive human trafficking awareness training, and requires records of the training to be maintained by hotel and short-term rental property operators.
  • House Bill 6065 (H.B. 6065) allows employees to use temporary caregiver benefits to participate as a bone marrow transplant donor or a living organ donor. Benefits cover time needed for any procedures, medical tests, and surgeries related to the donation, including no more than five (5) business days of recovery from a bone marrow transplant or no more than thirty (30) business days recovery from a living organ donor transplant.

Texas

  • House Bill 149 (H.B. 149) prohibits employers from developing or deploying an artificial intelligence system with the intent to unlawfully discriminate against a protected class in violation of state or federal law. The act does not include a private right of action; however, the Texas Office of the Attorney General has enforcement authority, including the power to investigate complaints, issue civil investigative demands, and seek civil penalties and injunctive relief.

Penalties range from $10,000 to $12,000 per curable violation; $80,000 to $200,000 per uncurable violation; and $2,000 to $40,000 per day for continuing violations. A sixty-day cure period is provided before enforcement action, and compliance with recognized AI risk management frameworks (such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may establish a rebuttable presumption of reasonable care. And, in some circumstances, state agencies may impose additional sanctions, including license suspension or monetary penalties, upon recommendation by the attorney general.

Washington

  • House Bill 1162 (H.B. 1162) requires health care employers to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan to prevent violence and protect employees from violence in health care settings. The plan must outline strategies aimed at addressing security considerations and factors that may contribute to or prevent the risk of violence.
  • House Bill 1524 (H.B. 1524) establishes new safety standards and training requirements for “isolated employees” and their managers in the janitorial, hospitality, retail, and security industries. Every hotel, motel, retail, or security guard entity, or property services contractor, who employs an isolated employee, must adopt a sexual harassment policy and provide mandatory annual sexual assault and sexual discrimination and harassment training to all managers, supervisors and isolated employees. The legislation also requires employers to provide panic buttons to isolated employees.
  • Senate Bill 5101 (S.B. 5101) amends Washington’s Domestic Violence Leave Act (DVLA) to expand protections for employees who are victims of “hate crimes”, including to request and obtain a leave of absence and reasonable accommodations.
  • Senate Bill 5041 (S.B. 5041) allows workers affected by labor disputes to obtain unemployment benefits during strikes or lockouts.
  • Senate Bill 5291 significantly amends the laws governing the WA Cares program to expand rights and clarify obligations for employees or self-employed individuals who move out of state, and improve the structure and operational efficiency of the long-term services and supports program.
  • House Bill 1213 (H.B. 1213) provides employment restoration protections for employees returning from family or medical leave and imposes new notice requirements on employers.
  • House Bill 1879 (H.B. 1879) allows hospital and health care workers to waive meal periods and/or the time an employee takes a meal or rest period, so long as the waiver is in writing. A waived meal or rest period does not constitute a missed meal or rest period for purposes of state laws governing such meal and rest periods.