Labor & Employment Law Update

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By: Amundsen Davis

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Heather A. Bailey
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Peter E. Hansen
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Kevin Kleine
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Terence P. Smith
Vic Peterson
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Elizabeth S. Cortez
Blake Stark
Craig T. Papka
Timm W. Schowalter
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Latest from Labor & Employment Law Update

New DOJ Opinion Changes Hiring Discrimination Rules for U.S. Employers

DiscriminationA new legal opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is reshaping how employment discrimination claims based on unequal outcomes may be handled. On June 9, 2026, the U.S. DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a formal legal opinion concluding that the EEOC’s approach to disparate-impact liability is unconstitutional. While this theory of discrimination still exists, the opinion narrows it and raises the bar for employees who

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Continue Reading New DOJ Opinion Changes Hiring Discrimination Rules for U.S. Employers

On June 4, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new National Enforcement Plan (NEP), effective immediately, replacing the Biden-era Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP). The NEP realigns federal enforcement around the current administration’s priorities and signals a significant shift in how workplace discrimination claims will be investigated and litigated. For employers, the change reshapes where federal risk will change and diverge from state law obligations.EEOC Deprioritizes Disparate Impact
EEOCWhere the SEP prioritized adverse/disproportionate impact, the NEP (using…
Continue Reading New EEOC Enforcement Plan Immediately Reshapes Employer Compliance Risks

Significant changes to federal contracting rules are reshaping how businesses interact with the U.S. government, particularly when it comes to compliance, workforce policies, and pricing strategies.

These changes stem largely from Executive Order 14173 (EO 14173), signed in January 2025, which revokes long‑standing affirmative action requirements and introduces new certification obligations for contractors.

For companies that rely on federal funding or work on federally supported projects, understanding the new expectations is critical to staying compliant and minimizing risk.

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Continue Reading New Rules for Government Contractors: Compliance Changes for the Construction Industry

Employers operating in Columbus, Ohio, have approximately six months left to prepare for a significant change in hiring practices.

Effective January 1, 2027, the City of Columbus will begin enforcing its pay transparency requirements under Ordinance 2898-2025, which will require covered employers to include a “reasonable salary range or scale” in employment postings.

While some employers may view this as a simple change to job advertisements, the reality is that pay transparency laws often expose broader compensation, equity, and…
Continue Reading The Countdown to Columbus Pay Transparency: What Employers Should Be Doing Now

Employers that rely on transportation workers, delivery drivers, and gig drivers may face significantly increased litigation risk following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. In Flowers Foods v. Brock, the Court ruled that “last mile” local delivery drivers qualify for the Federal Arbitration Act’s exemption for “transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce,” even if the drivers do not cross state lines. As a result, some transportation workers and gig drivers now have the green light to pursue their disputes…
Continue Reading ‘Last Mile’ Drivers Are NOT Covered by Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

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Although they may not realize it, even non-union employers face risk under the National Labor Relations Act. Everyday workplace decisions can trigger scrutiny and while the enforcement climate is shifting, the underlying risk remains. For employers, this is no longer a niche legal issue. It’s a legitimate business risk.

Business owners used to lose sleep over ordinary problems: rising costs, staffing shortages, difficult customers, and whether anyone in the office can operate the printer without filing a support ticket.
Continue Reading Inside the NLRB: What Non-Union Employers Need to Know About NLRA Risk in 2026

FMLA family medical leave act symbol. Concept words FMLA family medical leave act on wooden blocks on beautiful wooden background. Medical FMLA family medical leave act concept.
FMLA family medical leave act symbol. Concept words FMLA family medical leave act on wooden blocks on beautiful wooden background. Medical FMLA family medical leave act concept.

When a key employee takes FMLA leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), staying in touch may feel necessary to keep business operations running. But what many employers underestimate is that liability under the FMLA extends well beyond denying leave for an unlawful reason. It can arise from everyday decisions about communication, workload, and expectations during that leave.

Courts across the country continue to see a steady stream of litigation from employees who claim their employers

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Continue Reading OOTO but Not Out of the Woods: Legal Risks for Employers During and After FMLA Leave

If your business has more than 16 employees in Illinois, a new law—the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act—requires you to provide additional job-protected leave for parents with a newborn or newly adopted child in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

The Illinois Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (NICLA) takes effect June 1, 2026. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is NICLA?
NICLA is a new Illinois law that gives employees the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave…
Continue Reading Understanding the New Illinois Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (NICLA)

Register Now for Breakfast Brieifing: Workplace Whodunit – Internal Investigations That Hold Up in Court

Workplace complaints can arise at any time—and how employers respond can significantly impact legal risk, employee trust, and organizational culture. Even well-intentioned actions can create exposure if investigations are not handled properly from the start.

Join labor & employment senior counsel, Joey Wright, and partner, Peter Hansen, for an interactive Breakfast Briefing that walks through a real-world investigation scenario from start to finish. Using

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Continue Reading Internal Investigations That Hold Up in Court

Wisconsin’s Unreasonable Refusal to Rehire Statute: A Costly Trap for Employers

All Wisconsin employers know the basics of the state’s workers’ compensation statute. If an employee is hurt on the job, they may be entitled to benefits under workers’ compensation insurance.
WisconsinHowever, many don’t realize that if they fail to bring the employee back to work when suitable employment is available, the employer may be exposed to liability in the form of paying the employee up to one year

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Continue Reading Wisconsin’s Unreasonable Refusal to Rehire Statute: A Costly Trap for
Employers

Several changes impacting employers in jurisdictions across the nation are summarized below in our latest blog post.Map of the U.S.

Connecticut
  • On February 25, 2026, Connecticut’s Attorney General’s office issued a memorandum clarifying that the state’s anti-discrimination law applies to discrimination resulting from employers’ use of artificial intelligence.

Iowa

  • Effective May 10, 2026 – Senate File 579 (S.F. 579) prohibits Iowa cities and local governments from enacting ordinances or other laws that are broader or have different categories of unfair or discriminatory

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Continue Reading National State Employment Law Update

Are Your Federal Construction Projects Now Subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage? What Contractors Must Know

Federal and state prevailing wage mandates are colliding on construction projects in Illinois, exposing owners, developers, and contractors to conflicting compliance obligations and increased project costs. Construction hard hat and high-vis vestWith the enactment of Illinois HB 1189, projects that long fell exclusively under the federal prevailing wage law (Davis-Bacon) may now also be subject to the state’s prevailing wage law mandates.
While the Illinois Department of Labor

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Continue Reading Are Your Federal Construction Projects Now Subject to the Illinois
Prevailing Wage? What Contractors Must Know

Why the Compliance Answer You’re Getting May Not Be the Answer You Need

If your company offers health benefits, someone has probably asked about GLP‑1 coverage in the last six months. The drugs work, employees want access, and the sticker price through traditional pharmacy channels can run north of $1,000 per month per employee.

Direct‑to‑consumer platforms like TrumpRx.gov, Hims, Lilly Direct, and NovoCare now offer the same medications between $149 and $449 per month, cash pay. The obvious question:

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Continue Reading GLP‑1s, Direct‑to‑Consumer Pricing, and the HRA Opportunity Most EmployersAre Missing

FMLA family medical leave act symbol. Concept words FMLA family medical leave act on wooden blocks on beautiful wooden background. Medical FMLA family medical leave act concept.
FMLA family medical leave act symbol. Concept words FMLA family medical leave act on wooden blocks on beautiful wooden background. Medical FMLA family medical leave act concept.

On April 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule that would set a single standard for joint employer status under the FLSA, FMLA, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (“MSPA”).

The proposed rule would offer clarity for employers around when multiple employers are jointly responsible for protecting employee wages and other rights.

Many will recall that during the first Trump administration, the DOL issued a similar final rule on this very…
Continue Reading DOL Issues Proposed Rule on Joint Employer Status Under FLSA and FMLA

OSHA Revises Heat Enforcement Program, Signaling Continued Enforcement Instead of a Federal Heat Rule

The U.S. Department of Labor has revised OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards, signaling that OSHA will continue enforcing heat safety through inspections rather than the rollout of a new federal heat standard. Computer screen reading "OSHA"
The updated NEP, which takes effect immediately and continues through April 10, 2031, refines how OSHA targets employers for heat-related inspections when the heat index is expected

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Continue Reading OSHA Revises Heat Enforcement Program, Signaling Continued Enforcement
Instead of a Federal Heat Rule

Contract of employment
A fountain pen placed on a contract of employment.

In the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Muldrow v. City of St. Louis decision, the Court expanded the legal standard for what qualifies as an “adverse employment action” by pivoting from asking whether a change to an employee’s terms or conditions of employment was “material” to whether  the change left the employee worse off in those terms or conditions. Unsurprisingly, employers saw a surge of challenges to everyday management decisions in the immediate aftermath.

The First Circuit’s recent decision in

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Continue Reading Federal Court Draws the Line on PIPS After Muldrow: A Win for Employers in Walsh v. HNTB