Compliance Stuff

Key Points Virginia’s HB 636/SB 215 will bar employers from seeking or relying on wage or salary history and will require good-faith wage or salary ranges in all job postings beginning July 1, 2026.  SB 170 and HB 627/SB 128 will make noncompetes unenforceable after without-cause discharge absent disclosed severance and will sharply limit restrictive covenants for health care professionals as of July 1, 2026.  HB 1/SB 1 will raise Virginia’s minimum wage to $12.77, $13.75, and $15.00 per hour in annual steps through January 2029, with later increases set by the commissioner.  HB 238 will expand Virginia wage statutes by broadening the definitions of “employer” and “wages,” enhancing remedies and collective actions, and imposing new public-works recordkeeping and joint-and-several liability requirements.  HB 1207/SB 2 will create a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program effective April 1, 2028, requiring employer contributions to a state fund unless...

Key point: Louisiana becomes the 22nd state — and third this year — to enact a consumer data privacy law, adopting a law similar to Texas’ law. On May 29, 2026, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed the Louisiana Data Privacy Act ( SB 386 ) into law. Louisiana is the 22nd state to pass a broad consumer data privacy law. It is the third state — following Oklahoma and Alabama — to pass a law this year. The new law largely tracks Texas’ law but with some notable differences we identify below. Applicability Although the law generally follows the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, one of the notable ways in which it differs from that law — as well as other Washington Privacy Act model consumer data privacy laws — is its applicability standard. The law applies to controllers and processors that conduct business in Louisiana and satisfy one or more of the following thresholds: (1) have annual gross revenue in excess of $25 million; (2) annually buy, receive for the business’s commercial p...

On April 22, 2026, Virginia enacted legislation establishing a statewide paid family and medical leave (PFML) insurance program. T he program, which will be administered by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), will begin collecting payroll contributions on April 1, 2028 , and will begin accepting applications for benefits on December 1, 2028. The legislation significantly expands access to paid family and medical leave in the commonwealth and will impose new obligations on employers once it becomes effective. The statute creates the basic framework for the program, but many critical details will be established in regulations and guidance to be issued by the VEC before the program launches in 2028. Employers should begin familiarizing themselves with the new requirements now and develop a plan to ensure future compliance as additional guidance becomes available. Benefits Under the New Law Beginning December 1, 2028, covered individuals may apply for PFML benefits for certain qualif...

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has alleged an AI company’s chatbot engaged in the unauthorized practice of medicine. This lawsuit not only signals how state regulators are potentially evaluating AI-driven health interactions, but it could also have sweeping implications for health IT companies and their operational risk. Case Overview On May 1, Pennsylvania, acting through it’s State Board of Medicine within the Department of State, filed an action [1] against Character Technologies, Inc., alleging that the company’s AI chatbot engaged in the unauthorized practice of medicine in violation of the Pennsylvania Medical Practice Act. Character Technologies, Inc. owns and operates the website and mobile application Character.AI . Through Character.AI, millions of users regularly interact with unique chatbot characters. A state investigator allegedly created an account and engaged with a chatbot named “Emilie,” described as a “doctor of psychiatry,” and the investigator was told that “[y]...

On January 22, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted 2–1 to rescind its “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace” (guidance) , which was approved in 2024. [1]  At issue in the guidance was its definition of sex-based harassment under Title VII, which included “repeated and intentional use of a name or pronoun inconsistent with the individual’s known gender identity (misgendering); or the denial of access to a bathroom or other sex-segregated facility consistent with the individual’s gender identity.” [2] The rescission of this guidance is consistent with EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas’s vocal opposition to it dating back to 2024. She dissented from the guidance when it was first issued, criticizing the bathroom-access and pronoun portions based on her belief that they “eliminate single-sex workplace facilities” and “impinge on women’s (and indeed, all employees’) rights to freedom of speech and belief.” [3]  After President Donald Trump appoi...