Compliance Stuff

Employers are increasingly using artificial intelligence and other algorithmic tools to support workplace decisions, including recruiting, screening, interviewing, promotion, workforce planning, and performance management. These tools can improve efficiency and consistency, but they also introduce important compliance, reputational, and employee-relations considerations. Two concepts that often arise in AI governance are bias audits and validation testing. Although related, they serve different purposes. A bias audit generally evaluates whether the use of a tool is associated with materially different outcomes across protected or demographic groups. Depending on the jurisdiction and the tool at issue, a bias audit may be legally required before use. For example, New York City’s automated employment decision tool law requires certain employers and employment agencies to obtain a bias audit within one year before using covered tools and to provide related notices and disclosures . And o...

Similar to many changes in administration, the 2025 labor and employment landscape was defined by fragmentation followed by realignment . Federal agency authority faced significant constitutional challenges, while states and cities accelerated their own legislation on pay transparency, paid leave, and hiring practices. This year-end update provides insight into the most consequential developments for employers, focusing on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) shifting authority, new standards for employer liability, heightened scrutiny of artificial intelligence (AI), and a wave of new state and local mandates. Employers with multijurisdictional footprints should address these changes to refine and update compliance roadmaps for 2026. NLRB Authority and Leadership in Flux A divided D.C. Circuit panel held in Wilcox v. Trump, et al. , No. 25-5057 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 5, 2025) that statutory “for-cause” removal protections for NLRB members are unconstitutional because the Board exerci...

KEY TAKEAWAYS: The federal government seeks to embrace the Artificial Intelligence revolution, de-regulate the industry, and solicit significant investment to spur exponential growth The federal government’s hands-off approach with respect to regulation and enforcement has led states, like New York, to enact their own regulations and restrictions for AI New York City made the first attempt to regulate AI in the employment context, which the State of New York hopes to build upon and strengthen in all facets of daily life As 2025 ends, employers and business owners may claim that the Trump Administration’s embrace of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution was a major focal point of the administration’s first-year agenda. Indeed, the Trump Administration views AI as a tool to spur economic growth and competitiveness, which, in turn, requires little regulation for industry to thrive . Recently, t he topic of federalism has entered public conversation: should the federal government re...

  As 2026 approaches, employers may want to assess the following wage-and-hour compliance issues: rising salary thresholds for overtime exemptions, widening gaps between federal and state minimum wage amounts, and increasingly complex state-specific duties tests and exemption standards. Each can present operational risk if job classifications and pay practices are not carefully aligned with both the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and stricter state laws. Employers can benefit from ensuring they have updated pay rates and job descriptions to align with the new and changing standards explained below. Quick Hits Employers may want to prepare for 2026 by mapping exempt roles in Alaska, California, Maine, New York, and Washington to new salary thresholds and implementing adjustments aligned with effective dates. To avoid salary compression, employers may want to reconcile pay bands in the thirty-one states with higher minimum wages than federal law and ensure that any threshold multipl...

KEY TAKEAWAYS In  Hunter v. Debmar-Mercury , the Second Circuit clarified the scope of marital status discrimination under the New York City Human Rights Law Marital status discrimination refers to discrimination based on an employee’s status as married, unmarried, or divorced, and not on an employee’s relationship to a specific person Employers should be mindful not to discriminate when making employment decisions, regardless of an employee’s marital status The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on April 8, 2025, clarified the scope of “marital status” discrimination under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) . In  Hunter v. Debmar-Mercury LLC, et al. , the Second Circuit held that discrimination based on “marital status” refers to discrimination based on an individual’s status as married, or not, and does not extend to employment decisions based on an individual’s relationship to a particular person. In  Hunter , the plaintiff served as the executive pr...

Real World Impact : Effective July 2, 2025, New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will amend its implementing rules to the City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act to include the City’s own version of New York State’s paid prenatal leave (“PPL”) obligations for employers. Much of the City’s rules will merely duplicate the requirements already mandated by State law. However, employers should be aware that the City’s version will impose some additional responsibilities. New Reporting Obligations: Unlike the State’s PPL requirements, the City’s rules will require employers to furnish specific written payroll disclosures to their employees. Specifically, for each pay period that an employee uses PPL, the employer will need to inform the employee on either (a) a pay stub or (b) a separate written document, of two things: (1) the amount of PPL used during that pay period; and (2) the total remaining balance of PPL available for use out of the twenty hours allotted per 52...

  The federal government made headlines last week by rolling back a slew of workplace obligations, but employers should be prepared for heightened requirements at the state and local level . Indeed, blue states are expected to up their game this year in resistance to the Republican trifecta in the White House, Senate, and House – and pay transparency will continue to be one of the hottest topics. This trend has already impacted many businesses in various locations across the country, and we think more employers will be grappling with new compliance obligations by the end of the year. Here’s what you need to know about pay transparency laws and five tips for compliance.  1. Keep Up with the Patchwork of New State Laws In addition to rules on equal pay for equal work, many states are now requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in job listings and for promotional opportunities . Pay transparency affects all aspects of workplace relationships – including hiring, recruitment...