Attention New York Employers: Statewide Employment Credit Check Ban Now Effective—Update your Compliance Checklist Now
Effective as of April 18, 2026, S3072—signed into law December 2025—amends the New York Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit employers from requesting or relying on an applicant’s or employee’s consumer credit history to make employment-related decisions, with limited exceptions. Since 2015, New York City employers have been subject to credit check restrictions under the New […]
Attention Employers: DEI Legal Development Spotlight
This installment of DEI Legal Developments Spotlight continues our discussion of recent DEI-related updates impacting the private sector and public sector developments that may provide insight into similar issues in the private sector. Recent developmental highlights include focuses on: For links to our past timelines, see HERE. For our last edition of DEI Legal Developments Spotlight, see HERE. KEY DEVELOPMENTS […]
Attention Employers: U.S. Department of Labor’s Proposed Independent Contractor Rule Returns to Pro-business “Economic” Reality Test
On February 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule for determining employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). If adopted, the proposed rule would rescind the DOL’s 2024 Rule—which utilizes a complex six-factor “totality of the circumstances” test—and replace it with an “economic reality” test […]
Attention California Employers: PAGA 3.0—What you need to know about the LWDA’s Proposed PAGA Regulations
On February 6, 2026, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) released proposed regulations to implement changes under the 2024 Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) reform. Among other things, the proposed regulations would standardize the filing process, require factual specificity in PAGA notices, implement safeguards to deter abusive filing practices, increase settlement oversight, and provide greater transparency on […]
Attention Employers: NLRB Formally Reinstates Narrow 2020 Joint-Employer Standard—Here’s How We Got Here and What This Means Now
On February 26, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its Final Rule for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. Effective as of February 27, 2026, the final rule rescinds the NLRB’s 2023 rule and formally reinstates the employer-friendly 2020 standard. Under this standard, a company will be deemed a joint employer […]
Attention California Employers: CA Supreme Court Holds “Illegible” Arbitration Agreement Not Automatically Invalid but Warrants Heightened Substantive Scrutiny
In Fuentes v. Empire Nissan, Inc., the California Supreme Court held that an illegible arbitration agreement does not automatically invalidate the agreement. The Court explained that while “illegibility” may create procedural unconscionability (unfair contract formation), a court must also find substantive unconscionability (unfair contract terms) to invalidate an agreement. However, the Court noted that agreements involving […]
Attention Employers: DEI Legal Developments Spotlight
Our DEI Legal Developments Spotlight discusses recent DEI-related updates impacting the private sector and federal sector developments that may provide insight into courts’ and agencies’ positions on similar issues in the private sector. While there is no shortage of developments, there still is no concrete guidance on what constitutes lawful or unlawful DEI. However, recent developments indicate […]
Attention New York Employers: NYC Unleashes Avalanche of Earned Safe and Sick Time Act Developments, Including Updated FAQs and New Notice of Employee Rights
Rivaling Mother Nature’s winter fury, New York City unleashed a flurry of developments surrounding recent amendments to New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA). As a brief recap, amendments to the ESSTA took effect on February 22, 2026. Before the effective date, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) released […]
Attention New York Employers: Proposed Rules Issued on Recent Amendments to NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act
As we reported HERE, effective February 22, 2026, amendments to the NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) expand qualifying reasons for leave, broaden leave entitlements, and transfer obligations under the Temporary Schedule Change Act to the ESSTA. Ahead of the effective date, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection issued proposed rules […]
Attention New Jersey Employers: NJ Executive Order Freezes Adoption of NJDOL Proposals on Independent Contract Classification and NJ Pay Transparency Act
On January 23, 2026, Governor Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order No. 7 (EO) initiating a 90-day regulatory freeze on new and pending regulations to allow the administration to review the proposed rules and confirm they align with the Administration’s policies and priorities. The freeze affects, among others, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s […]