Compliance Stuff

A company hires workers and calls them independent contractors. They sign agreements. They get 1099s. Everyone is aligned with what they are. Until they’re not. That’s exactly what happened in  Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court —a case that reshaped how California looks at independent contractors and made one thing very clear:  You don’t get to decide classification. The law does. Here’s the problem. In California, classification is not about what you call someone. It is not about what’s written in the agreement. It is not about what the worker prefers. And it is definitely not about what “makes sense” for your business. Classification is about how the relationship actually functions. And California applies that analysis aggressively. Employers rarely get tripped up because of their bad intent. It’s speed. It’s trying to solve real business problems in real time. “We just need someone flexible—a contractor.” “They’re paid a salary—exempt.” “They’re learning—inter...

At a Glance This article provides an overview of the thousands of labor and employment-related bills introduced in the United States in the first quarter of the year and looks at trends that appear to be emerging. Ones To Watch is back with Littler’s fourth annual forecast of the year’s trendiest topics in federal and state labor and employment-related legislation. Three months into the year, with all but a handful of state legislatures currently in session, several trends have emerged for 2026. While we cannot know which of these will ultimately be enacted, the following themes stand out from the crowd. Immigration Just as in 2025, we see a significant amount of proposed legislation regarding immigration and employment at the state level. Many of these bills focus on the federal E-Verify program, which uses federal government records to confirm an employee’s authorization to work in the United States. While the program is voluntary, several states already require public employers and...

  Employers should be thinking about whether to address the following areas of workplace compliance in 2026. These items on the employer to-do list are not all for the month of January, but don’t forget to come back to them throughout the year. Routine Use of Artificial Intelligence.  Does your workplace have a policy on how employees  may use AI in performing their jobs ? D o you have a preferred platform, or do you require certain settings to be used when employees use AI? Does your confidentiality policy address how employees can engage with AI and still protect your data? Or do you pretend that employees don’t use AI at all? Training Managers to Understand Requests for Accommodation Under the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA).   This act has been in effect since June 27, 2023, and there have been a number of recent settlements, lawsuits, and charges against employers for failing to accommodate known limitations due to pregnancy. Recent EEOC enforcement exampl...

Companies often must determine whether to treat workers as employees or independent contractors.  Workers who are properly classified as independent contractors are not subject to wage and hour laws requiring overtime pay or tax withholding, among other differences between the classifications .  The rules governing how to classify workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) frequently change, making this a challenging inquiry for many companies.  Relevant to this issue, last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a $9.3 million verdict against Steadfast Medical Staffing, a healthcare staffing agency who had misclassified approximately 1100 nurses as independent contractors instead of employees under the FLSA.  The case,  Chavez-Deremer v. Med. Staffing of Am., LLC , No. 23-2176 (4th Cir. July 17, 2025), serves as a reminder to companies—especially staffing agencies—to review relationships with their independent contractor...