Workforce Bulletin

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday®: This week, we’re covering an uptick in state-level employment law activity, federal court decisions on “captive audience” bans, and Rhode Island's new menopause accommodation requirements.

State Legislative Activity Increases

California has introduced new laws on paid sick leave, artificial intelligence, pay equity, and protections for tipped workers. Meanwhile, other states are also rolling out new laws impacting employment practices.

Courts Clash Over “Captive Audience” Bans

Federal courts have issued conflicting rulings on state restrictions regarding employer-mandated meetings related to union organizing.

Rhode Island Enacts First-Ever Menopause Law

Through a new amendment to its Fair Employment Practices Act, Rhode Island has become the first state in the country to require employers with four or more employees to accommodate menopause symptoms.

On August 4, 2025, Plaintiff Arshon Harper (“Harper”) filed a class action complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan against Sirius XM Radio, LLC (“Sirius”) asserting claims of both unintentional and intentional racial discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Harper alleges that Sirius’ use of a commercial AI hiring tool that screens and analyzes resumes resulted in racial discrimination against him and other similarly situated African American applicants.

As year-end approaches, it is an opportune time for companies to run an internal audit of their nonqualified deferred compensation plans to flag any potential violations of IRC Section 409A (“Section 409A”). Generally, the sooner a potential violation of Section 409A is identified, the more options a company has to correct the potential violation.

The guidance provided by the IRS regarding correcting 409A failures provides additional flexibility if errors are corrected within the year in which they occur, which means that after December 31, 2025, it could be more difficult and more costly to fix a 409A failure that occurred in 2025.

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday®: A wave of changes to state-level family and medical leave laws, set to take effect in 2026 and beyond—along with recent expansions—is adding to the already-complex patchwork of family and medical leave regulations across the country.

In this episode of Employment Law This Week®, Epstein Becker Green attorney Eric I. Emanuelson, Jr., breaks down what’s changing and how employers can prepare.

Recent amendments to the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (WTA) (HB 3638) require changes to Illinois employment agreements and separation agreements, beginning as of January 1, 2026.

The WTA, first enacted in response to the #MeToo movement, imposes certain procedural requirements on employment-related contracts for Illinois employees. These amendments impose additional restrictions, the most significant of which involves confidentiality clauses in separation agreements.

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday®: This week, we’re covering the new H-1B visa fee, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) closure of disparate impact cases, and recent key labor appointments.

New Fee for H-1B Visas

Employers must now pay $100,000 for each first-time H-1B petition filed on or after September 21, 2025. Current visa holders are not affected. Exceptions may apply, but details are limited.

EEOC Shuts Down Disparate Impact Cases

The EEOC has closed nearly all disparate impact cases following a recent executive order. These claims can still be pursued in court. The agency will also dissolve its Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics, although EEO-1 reporting requirements appear unchanged.

Key Labor Roles Confirmed

The Senate has confirmed Daniel Aronowitz as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration. Additionally, the Senate has confirmed over 100 other labor-related appointments—including 11 top labor positions—restoring a quorum at both the EEOC and the Merit Systems Protection Board.

On September 19, 2025, President Trump signed a presidential proclamation titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers. The proclamation took effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 21, 2025, and is slated to remain in force for 12 months (until September 21, 2026), unless extended. The core of the proclamation is the imposition of a $100,000 supplemental fee on new H-1B petitions (i.e., petitions “submitted after” the effective date).

However, the proclamation is not yet a complete, fully operational rule. Many specifics remain ambiguous. Below is a breakdown of what is known, what is uncertain, and what stakeholders should plan.

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday®: This week, we examine the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) decisions to drop its appeal of a federal court ruling striking down its proposed non-compete ban and to issue warnings to health care employers about using unreasonable restrictive covenants in employment agreements.

Although the FTC’s decision to abandon its non-compete ban appeal may appear to favor employers, its recent warning letters to health care organizations make clear that regulatory scrutiny is far from over.

In this episode, Epstein Becker Green attorneys E. John Steren and David J. Clark discuss the FTC’s concerns for health care employers, offer guidance on revising non-compete agreements to withstand legal challenges, and explore alternative strategies to protect business interests.

The EEOC’s Shift Away from Disparate Impact Liability

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit employers from implementing facially neutral procedures that unintentionally discriminate against individuals based on their protected categories. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency tasked with investigating claims of unintentional discrimination, called disparate impact.

According to an internal memorandum obtained by Bloomberg Law, the EEOC plans on closing all pending disparate impact discrimination charges based at the end of September 2025. Once these charges are closed, the EEOC is expected to issue right-to-sue letters allowing claimants to file their case in federal court. Charges that involve claims of both disparate impact and disparate treatment are likely to remain with the EEOC in normal course.

Last year, Massachusetts joined the growing list of states with pay equity legislation by passing an Act Relative To Salary Range Transparency (the “Law”). As we previously reported, the pay data reporting requirements of the Law went into effect earlier this year, requiring most large private employers to submit annual wage data reports to the Commonwealth. Employers need to be prepared to comply with the Law’s pay range disclosure requirements going into effect next month.