Compliance Stuff

October will bring vibrant foliage, cooler temperatures, and a heap of new workplace laws. From California to Connecticut, employers across the country will be impacted by state and local requirements taking effect next month. Some trends this fall include pay transparency, paid sick leave, and data privacy protections. Here’s your employer cheat sheet to the laws taking effect in October 2025. Note : All laws listed here will take effect on  October 1  unless otherwise noted. California Regulation of AI Use in Employment Decisions.  The California Civil Council of the Civil Rights Department adopted  regulations  earlier this year that protect against employment discrimination as a result of the use of artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms , and other automated-decision systems. For a closer look at the new rules, check out our prior FP coverage  here .  Colorado New Data Privacy Rules for Businesses.  New privacy rules will refine protections...

As employers move into the second half of 2025, pay transparency continues to expand across the states. And, perhaps, enforcement is starting to keep pace with legislative activity. Quick Hits Multistate employers may want to review their pay transparency compliance requirements as they move into the second half of 2025 since such laws are being actively enforced in states like New Jersey and Illinois. Colorado’s rigorous enforcement of pay transparency laws has resulted in significant fines for employers, highlighting the importance of including accurate compensation information and meeting all posting requirements. New pay transparency laws in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Cleveland, Ohio, will take effect in late 2025, mandating salary disclosures in job postings and imposing penalties for noncompliance. New Jersey and Illinois Begin Enforcement: Key Coverage Clarifications Notably, both the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Illinois Department of Labor ...

On April 28, 2025, the Cleveland, Ohio City Council adopted Ordinance 104-2025, which requires employers with at least 15 employees in Cleveland to include salary ranges in job postings and prohibits inquiring about an applicant’s salary history. The ordinance, which will take effect on October 27, 2025, builds on a nationwide trend of state and municipal laws aimed at pay transparency and salary history inquiries. The ordinance marks a seismic shift for Cleveland employers, which will be prohibited from asking applicants about their current or prior salary, relying solely on an applicant’s salary history to offer employment, or retaliating against an applicant who refuses to disclose salary history. Salary, defined broadly in the ordinance, includes wages, commissions, hourly earnings, other monetary earnings, and benefits. But it excludes objective measures of an applicant’s productivity, such as revenue, sales, and other production measures. The ordinance permits discussing salary e...