Compliance Stuff

In 2026, managing employees can feel a bit like being an air traffic controller. Some employees are coming and going for medical appointments, others want to stay “in the clouds” working remotely, and employers are trying to keep everything moving without a collision. Two recent federal developments may not alter the entire flight plan but sharpen the rules of the runway by clarifying when travel time is protected leave and how telework should be evaluated as a potential accommodation.  On January 5, 2026, and February 11, 2026, respectively, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued an  opinion letter on Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) travel time , and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued  joint guidance regarding permitting telework as a disability accommodation . The guidance materials address different issues, under different laws, but both speak to the same reality: employers must be deliberate and di...

Just days before the first compliance deadline (April 24, 2026) for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) final regulation on website accessibility for state and local governments, the department has extended that deadline by one year, as well as the companion deadline for smaller governmental entities. 0:00 4:35 Quick Hits The DOJ extended the deadline for compliance with the rules on website accessibility for most state and local governments from April 24, 2026, to April 27, 2027 . HHS has not yet acted to provide an additional extension on its website compliance regulation for “recipients” subject to the Rehabilitation Act, but may yet extend that May 2026 deadline. The additional year also lengthens the implied “grace period” that state and local government websites had to conform to the website accessibility rule. In an  interim final rule  published on April 20, 2026, in the  Federal Register , the DOJ justified this deadline based on the significant burdens associ...