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
A federal appeals court has invalidated a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) standard that eased a union’s path to recognition. On March 6, 2026, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the NLRB overstepped its authority when it created a new framework for issuing bargaining orders in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC. For employers in the Sixth Circuit (Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee), this ruling limits the NLRB’s ability to impose bargaining orders under the Cemex standard.
Continue Reading Federal Court Blocks NLRB Rule That Made Union Recognition Easier
A proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), published Feb. 26, could once again change how employers classify workers as employees or as independent contractors. With the constantly shifting tests and rules, every change, including the presently proposed DOL rule, creates the risk of mistakes that may expose businesses to audits, investigations, and lawsuits, potentially resulting in years of back pay and liquidated damages liability.
Continue Reading Understanding the New DOL Proposed Rule on Independent Contractor
Classification
Ensuring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and state-level disability laws, which require covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so imposes undue hardship, remains a critical employer obligation. Despite decades of established guidance, ADA accommodation issues continue to drive a significant volume of claims and enforcement actions from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state agencies. These disputes often arise not because employers refuse or are unable to provide
Continue Reading Mistakes Employers Make During the ADA Accommodation Process and How toAvoid Them
Despite a new administration in D.C. and a push by the executive branch to reign in federal worker unions, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics finally released figures showing that the percentage amongst all U.S. workers who were part of a labor union ticked up ever so slightly from 9.9 percent in 2024, to 10 percent in 2025. With respect to the private workforce, that percentage held at 5.9 percent (same as 2024).
Highlights from the 2025 data include:
Continue Reading Union Membership Rate in U.S. Held Steady in 2025
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination and guarantees persons with disabilities have equal access to purchase goods and services. Title II of the ADA governs places of “public accommodation,” which includes residential home builders sales offices. Although single family and model homes are not considered places of public accommodation, ADA complexities arise when home builders use some or part of a model home as a sales office.
In these common situations, Title II may apply, triggering accessibility
Continue Reading ADA Compliance for Model Home Sales Offices: Solutions for Residential Home
Builders
Join labor & employment partners Ann Hanneman and Stephanie Cantrell for a practical Breakfast Briefing focused on preventing retaliation and discrimination claims before they arise. This session will provide employers with guidance on identifying risk areas, responding appropriately to employee complaints, and implementing best practices that reduce exposure.
Continue Reading Register Today for Breakfast Briefing Series: Retaliation & Discrimination
Claims: Prevention, Risk, and Best Practices for Employers
There is a growing circuit split between the Third and Fifth circuits over whether employers can block National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proceedings while raising constitutional challenges. The disagreement centers on the Norris-LaGuardia Act (NLGA), a nearly century-old law designed to keep federal courts out of labor disputes, which is driving one of the biggest fights in labor and employment law at the moment. With two circuits now at odds, Supreme Court review is increasingly likely and the question
A new wave of litigation under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has emerged, zeroing in on a technology many employers now routinely use: AI-powered meeting transcription and note-taking tools. In recent months, plaintiffs have filed class actions alleging that vendors like Fireflies.AI collect and store “voiceprints”—unique biometric identifiers derived from speech—without providing the written notice, informed consent, or transparent retention and destruction policies BIPA demands.
Continue Reading Employers Beware: Uptick in BIPA Lawsuits Targeting AI Note-Taking Software
JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, and Charles Schwab have already announced they will match the federal government’s $1,000 seed contribution to Trump accounts for their employees’ children. But for most employers, the question is whether the regulatory landscape is clear enough to make an informed decision.
In December, the IRS released Notice 2025-68, providing the first substantive guidance on Trump accounts, the new tax-advantaged savings vehicles for minors
Continue Reading Trump Accounts: A New Player in the Employee Benefits Lineup
In Wisconsin, negligent supervision claims are only available when there is an employer-employee relationship.
Independent contractor (“IC”) or agency relationships do not suffice and, crucially, the individual must be an IC in practice, not just on paper.
This is one of many reasons it is important to actively review and manage your independent contractor relationships to ensure they don’t unwittingly morph into employees.
Wisconsin Appellate Court Clarifies Limits on Negligent Supervision Claims
In 2021, a customer was tragically shot
Effective January 1, 2026, Senate Bill 464 (SB 464) has fundamentally transformed California’s annual pay data reporting framework for employers. The Civil Rights Department (CRD), California’s enforcement agency, now has the authority to levy mandatory fines without judicial discretion.
Penalties have increased significantly—starting at $100 per employee for a first violation and $200 per employee for subsequent failures—which can easily exceed $50,000 in the aggregate for mid-sized organizations.
The law also introduces new technical requirements, including the immediate separation
Continue Reading SB 464 Guide: California’s New Mandatory Pay Data Penalties for 2026
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security finalized a new rule implementing a weighted selection process for H-1B petitions. Effective February 27, 2026, the rule introduces a weighted selection process that prioritizes H-1B registrations based on the offered wage. This new framework will apply for the upcoming H-1B cap season and may impact your business’s immigration strategy.
How the Previous H-1B Selection Process Worked
Previously, a company was given one chance for selection per potential employee submitted. The lottery was
Continue Reading DHS Finalizes New Weighted Selection Rule for H-1B Petitions: WhatEmployers Need to Know for the March 2027 Lottery
This week, consumer advocate lawyers filed a nationwide class action lawsuit against a California-based tech company, Eightfold AI, in California state court.
In a new approach to going after the use of AI in employment decisions, the two named plaintiffs and the proposed class allege Eightfold violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) by not giving job applicants notice of the use of AI in the application process nor giving them a chance to dispute any errors.
On January 1, 2026, Minnesota officially launched its state-administered Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, triggering an immediate surge of over 25,000 benefit applications in the first two weeks alone. As many Minnesotan employers are quickly discovering, the post-PFML workplace poses significant operational challenges. As the legal landscape continues to evolve in Minnesota (and those benefit applications keep rolling in), employers must become intimately familiar not only with administering the program but also with the variety of pitfalls
Continue Reading Thousands Apply for Minnesota PFML: What Employers Should Do Now
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently released a new set of opinion letters addressing recurring questions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
While opinion letters are based on specific fact patterns, they provide valuable insight into how the DOL analyzes common compliance questions and foreshadow DOL enforcement priorities, and they are often relied upon by courts and investigators.
The latest batch addresses employee classification, overtime calculations, collective bargaining agreements,