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2026 Legislative & State Law Updates

A comprehensive guide to upcoming labor law changes effective January 2026. (Strictly for LFV clients and partners).

States Covered: Alabama | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Illinois | Indiana | Kentucky | Maryland | Minnesota | Montana | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | Texas | Washington.

Alabama

  • SB 86—Independent Contractor/Employee Benefits
  • Allows independent contractors to open and contribute to tax deductible “portable benefits accounts” to fund benefit plans.

Effective: Dec. 31, 2025

California

Health & Employee Benefits

  • AB 260 — Reproductive Health: Prohibits prosecution of medical professionals for furnishing medication abortion drugs; prohibits insurance exclusion of mifepristone.
  • SB 590 — Paid Family/Medical Leave: Permits employees to use paid family leave to care for a “designated person” (beginning July 1, 2028).
  • SB 596 — Healthcare: Defines “on-call list” of nurses for determining administrative penalties for ratio violations.

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Artificial Intelligence & Privacy

  • AB 316 — Artificial Intelligence (AI): Prohibits defendants from claiming AI autonomously caused harm as a legal defense.
  • SB 446 — Privacy and Data Security: Requires businesses to disclose data security breaches to consumers and the attorney general within 30 days.
  • CPPA — Final Regulations: Mandates cybersecurity audits and risk assessments; creates opt-out rights for automated decision-making technologies (ADMT).

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Labor Claims, Wages & Transparency

  • AB 288 — Labor Law Claims: Allows employees to petition the PERB if the NLRB fails to act within six months.
  • AB 578 — Food Delivery Platforms/Tips: Prohibits platforms from using tips to offset base pay; requires itemized pay breakdowns.
  • SB 261 — Wage Payment Judgments: Imposes penalties of up to 3x the outstanding amount for unsatisfied wage judgments after 180 days.
  • SB 464 — Pay Data Reporting: Increases job categories for reporting and requires separate storage of demographic data.
  • SB 642 — Pay Transparency: Revises “pay scale” definitions and extends the look-back period for calculating damages.
  • SB 648 — Tips: Authorizes the Labor Commissioner to investigate unlawfully withheld gratuities.

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Employment Contracts & Personnel Rights

  • AB 692 — Employment Contracts: Prohibits contracts requiring workers to repay employers for debt when employment ends.
  • AB 774 — Garnishments: Requires employers to provide additional information during employee wage garnishment.
  • SB 294 — Notice Requirements: Mandates annual labor rights notices and emergency contact notification if an employee is arrested at work.
  • SB 513 — Personnel Files: Expands employee rights to inspect education and training records within personnel files.

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Leave, Safety & Training

  • AB 406 — Paid Sick Leave/Crime Victims: Permits leave usage for judicial proceedings if an employee or family member is a crime victim.
  • AB 592 — Employee Training (Hospitality): Requires annual pest prevention training for all restaurant employees.
  • SB 303 — Discrimination and Harassment: Bias mitigation training acknowledgments do not constitute unlawful discrimination.
  • SB 412 — Home Health Care: Requires aides to have dementia care training before providing services (beginning Jan. 1, 2027).
  • SB 617 — Reductions in Force (RIFs/WARN): Expands required notice information for mass layoffs or relocations under Cal-WARN.

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Specific Industries

  • AB 858 — Recall and Reinstatement: Extends recall rights for employees laid off due to COVID-19 until Jan. 1, 2027.
  • AB 1340 — Union Organization (Rideshare): Allows eligible rideshare drivers to unionize and collectively bargain.

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Colorado

  • SB 25-144 — Paid Family/Medical Leave 
  • Provides up to an additional 12 weeks of leave for any parent with a child receiving care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and slightly reduces premiums. 

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026 

Connecticut

  • SB 5005 — Paid Sick Leave
  • Employers covered by law expanded to include those with 11 or more employees. 

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026 

Delaware

  • SB 1 (2022) — Paid Family/Medical Leave 
  • Provides up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave, 6 weeks of paid family caregiver leave, or 6 weeks of paid medical leave in an application year. 

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Illinois

Discrimination & Workplace Training

  • HB 1278 — Discrimination (Electronic Devices): Prohibits retaliation for using employer-provided devices to record acts of violence।
  • HB 3773 — Discrimination (Artificial Intelligence): Prohibits AI use that results in discrimination; requires employee notification of AI use।
  • SB 1288 & SB 1422 — Mandatory Training: Includes celiac disease training for food managers and human trafficking recognition for restaurant/truck stop employers।
  • SB 2487 — Discrimination and Harassment: Fact-finding conferences are now discretionary; introduces per-violation penalties

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Leave, Benefits & Technology

  • HB 1616 — Blood and Organ Donation Leave: Expands eligibility to part-time employees।
  • SB 212 — Paid Lactation Breaks: Requires compensation for lactation breaks at the regular rate।
  • HB 3178 — Technology (Digital Replica): Provides specific rules for digital replicas in professional service contracts।
  • HB 3638 — Labor Law/Contracts: Prohibits agreements restricting employees from concerted activities।

Effective Date: Jan. 1, 2026।

Indiana

  • HB 1125 — Wage and Hour 
  • Creates the Indiana Earned Wage Access Act, which allows consumers to access their earned but unpaid wages, salary, or compensation before their scheduled pay date, and provides regulations for provider compliance. 

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • SB 5 — Privacy and Data Security 
  • Creates a new consumer data privacy protection law that provides consumers with rights regarding the processing and protection of their personal data. 

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Kentucky

  • HB 15 — Privacy and Data Security 
  • Provides requirements for businesses that control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers regarding the protection of personal data, including a notice and consent requirement. 

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Maryland

  • HB 861 (SB 1018) — Wage and Hour/App-Based Workers 
  • Requires transportation network companies (TNC) to provide operators with weekly fare and earnings summaries; requires annual reports of certain information to the Public Service Commission. 

Effective: Jan. 1, 2026 

Minnesota

  • Paid Family/Medical Leave (Final Rules) Employee may take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for their own serious health condition and up to 12 weeks of paid leave for bonding, family care, safety, or a qualifying exigency, but are limited to an aggregate of 20 weeks of paid leave in a benefit year. The final rules address various issues, including requirements for notifying employers of the need for leave and requests for leave changes. 
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • SF 17 — Meal/Rest Breaks Requires employers to allow employees a paid rest break of at least 15 minutes “or enough time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom, whichever is longer” within every four hours of consecutive work. Employees working for six or more consecutive hours must be provided a paid 30-minute meal break.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • Minneapolis Ordinance No. 2025-041 — Paid Sick Leave More closely aligns the Minneapolis paid sick and safe leave ordinance with the statewide law and modifies enforcement provisions.
    Effective: Dec. 31, 2025

  • St. Paul Ordinance No. 25-55 — Wage and Hour Amends the St. Paul minimum wage ordinance to delete the macro business category; Requires employers to provide all new employees with a wage notice and all employees with wage statements.
    Effective: Nov. 16, 2025

  • St. Paul Ordinance No. 25-56— Wage and Hour Penalties Amends the St. Paul wage theft ordinance to authorize the Labor Standards Division to obtain an administrative search warrant if an employer fails to produce wage records.
    Effective: Nov. 26, 2025

  • St. Paul Ordinance No. 25-57 — Paid Sick Leave More closely aligns the St. Paul paid sick and safe leave ordinance with the statewide law.
    Effective: Nov. 16, 2025

Montana

  • HB 211 (LC885) — App-Based Workers 
  • Allows retail licensees, such as grocery stores, to use third-party delivery services to deliver beer and wine, with strict requirements, including training.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Nevada

  • SB 260 — Workplace Safety
  • Provides actions certain employers must take to reduce employee exposure to poor air quality from wildfire smoke.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

New Hampshire

  • HB 2 — Unpaid Family/Medical Leave
  • Requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide 25 hours of unpaid leave for one year after childbirth to attend medical appointments related to childbirth, postpartum care, and infant pediatric needs.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • HB 225 (LSR 216) — Military/Spouse Employment Protection
    Provides employment protections to the spouses of military service members involuntarily mobilized due to war, national emergency, or contingency operations.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

New Jersey

  • AB 4429 — Labor Management Relations
  • Amends the state’s captive audience law to modify the definition of “political matters” to expressly include the decision to join or support a labor organization; clarifies exceptions to the law.
    Effective: Dec. 2, 2025

New York

  • Budget Amendments to Healthy Terminals Act — Wages, Benefits, and Leaves
  • Provides that wage, benefit, and leave obligations for covered airport workers at JFK and LaGuardia Airports will be tied to the federal Service Contract Act framework as designated by the New York State Department of Labor.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • NYC Int. No. 0780-2024 — Paid Sick Leave/Unpaid Sick Leave/Paid Prenatal Leave/Scheduling
  • Expands the permissible uses for paid sick and safe time; requires employers to provide an additional bank of 32 hours of unpaid sick and safe time, officially incorporates additional bank of 20 hours of state paid prenatal leave into local ordinance, and clarifies employers’ obligations in responding to requests for temporary schedule changes.
    Effective: Feb. 22, 2026

  • General Business Law Article 43 — Retirement Benefits
  • New York’s Secure Choice Program is a state-run retirement program that mandates and facilitates the creation of Roth IRAs for private-sector employees who do not have access to a qualified retirement plan through their employers. Beginning in March of 2026, New York will require most private-sector employers to register for the Program or certify their exemption from the Program. *Employers with 30 or more employees must register by March 18, 2026; those with 15-29 must register by May 15, 2026; those with 10-14 employees must register by July 15, 2026.
    Effective: March 18, 2026

North Carolina

  • HB 805 — Gender Identity/Discrimination and Harassment
  • Provides that for purposes of any state law or rules and regulations, “sex” means a person’s biological sex, either male or female, at birth; adds provisions to prevent the sexual exploitation of women and minors.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

North Dakota

  • SB 2047 — Tax Withholding
  • Prohibits employers from withholding or deducting income taxes from wages without employee consent.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Oklahoma

  • SB 626 — Data Security
  • Amends the definitions of “personal information” and “reasonable safeguards” under the Security Breach Notification Act.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Oregon

  • SB 426 — Construction Industry/Unpaid Wages Imposes joint and several liability on both property owners and direct contractors for unpaid wages owed to employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • SB 537 — Healthcare/Workplace Violence Creates workplace violence prevention requirements for certain health care entities. Effective:
    Jan. 1, 2026
  • SB 858 — Paid Family/Medical Leave Employees cannot receive benefits while they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation or unemployment benefits. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • SB 906 — Wage Statements Requires employers to provide employees with an explanation of their wage statements at the time of hire. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • SB 916 — Unemployment/Labor Law Provides unemployment benefits to striking workers after two weeks of unemployment. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • SB 1108 — Paid Sick Leave Allows employees to use paid sick time to donate blood.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • SB 1168 — Home Health and Home Care/Wage and Hour Prohibits per-visit compensation for home health care and home hospice care staff.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Pennsylvania

  • Philadelphia Ordinance No. 250373 — Criminal Background Checks
  • Amends the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance to clarify and expand required procedures for individualized assessments and adverse action notices regarding criminal records in hiring decisions.
    Effective: Jan. 6, 2026

  • Pittsburgh Ordinance No. 2025-1736 — Paid Sick Leave
  • Modifies the accrual rate, use, and accrual caps for paid sick leave.
    Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Rhode Island

  • HB 5563/SB 549 — Workplace Training Requires hotel employees to receive human trafficking awareness training annually. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • HB 5679/SB 70 — Hiring/Onboarding Notices Requires employers to provide each employee with a written notice of specific conditions of employment upon hire. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • HB 6065/SB 829 — Paid Family/Medical Leave Provides that an employee may use temporary caregiver insurance benefits retroactive to January 1, 2025, to serve as a bone marrow transplant donor or a living organ donor. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • HB 6066/SB 974 — Disability Insurance/Paid Family/Medical Leave Increases the percent of wages used to determine temporary disability insurance benefits and amends duration period of caregiver benefits; extends temporary caregiver benefits eligibility to workers who are caring for a sibling. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Texas

  • HB 149 — Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulates the use of AI systems; establishes antidiscrimination and disclosure requirements for deployers of AI systems. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026
  • HB 3699 — Unemployment Changes the definition of “last work” for unemployment compensation purposes. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

Washington

  • HB 1162 — Workplace Violence/Healthcare Requires health care employers to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan; requires employers to investigate workplace violence incidents and submit an assessment report to the state. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • HB 1213 — Paid Family/Medical Leave Amends state paid family and medical leave program to expands employment restoration protections and requires employers to provide written notice regarding employment restoration. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • HB 1524 — Workplace Safety/Training Requires employers in specified industries to provide annual training to managers, supervisors, and isolated employees on sexual assault and sexual harassment. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • HB 1879 — Meal Period Waiver Provides that a health care worker may agree to waive certain meal periods if a written waiver is completed. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • SB 5041 — Unemployment Clarifies the requirements for unemployment benefits eligibility during a labor strike. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • SB 5101 — Victims of Violence Leave/Paid Sick Leave Expands access to domestic and sexual violence leave and safety accommodations to include workers who are victims of hate crimes, which also affects “safe” time reasons under separate paid sick and safe time law. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

  • SB 5291 — Long Term Care Insurance Introduces expanded participation options, new insurance frameworks, and streamlined qualification requirements for the Washington Cares long-term care insurance program. Effective: Jan. 1, 2026

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