States and cities are as busy as ever passing new workplace regulations throughout the calendar year. Here is our mid-year report summarizing the notable labor and employment laws that take effect from roughly July through October.
Washington state has the most new laws taking effect this summer, ranging from fingerprint-based background checks for certain employees working in home care and long-term care to expansion of the state's paid sick leave benefits. A number of other states and cities also have expanded paid and unpaid leave benefits, including Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, New York City, Oregon, and Vermont. Other common themes include pay transparency laws, as well as further limitations on noncompete agreements in the healthcare industry.
This article provides a general snapshot of generally applicable labor and employment laws taking effect soon. Please note that while some of the laws listed below are industry-specific, this article is not meant to be all-inclusive. In addition, many state legislatures are still active, so new laws are taking effect on a near-daily basis. Littler monitors federal, state and local legislation, executive orders, and administrative regulations and other agency activity that impact the labor and employment landscape. Employers that want to keep abreast of new laws in the jurisdictions in which they operate can learn more here.
This article also does not address new minimum wages taking effect during this period. For information on wage-related laws and regulations taking effect this summer, see Littler's Semi-Annual Rates Update for Minimum Wage, Tips, and Exempt Pay Increases on July 1, 2025 (and Other Developments).
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Alaska Measure 1 | Paid Sick Leave | Requires up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year for employers with 15 or fewer employees and up to 56 hours of paid sick leave for larger employers. Sick leave carries over to the next year. | 7/1/2025 |
| Alaska Measure 1 | Captive Audience; Prohibition | Prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend meetings regarding political or religious matters unrelated to their work. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Arizona HB 2032 | Workers' Compensation | Provides exceptions for assigning a workers' compensation risk plan. | 7/26/2025 |
| Wage and Hour | Increases the maximum amount of unpaid wages an employee may seek to recover through a claim filed with the state labor department. | 7/25/2025 | |
| Arizona: Tempe Heat Safety Standards Ordinance | Workplace Safety | Requires employers contracting with the city to implement written heat safety plans and provide breaks and heat safety training for employees working outdoors. | 7/9/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Background Checks | Authorizes an employer to disclose substantiated allegations of sexual abuse or harassment by a current or former employee to a prospective employer upon written consent from the current or former employee. | 8/4/2025 | |
| Arkansas SB 139 | Healthcare Noncompete Agreements | Provides that a noncompete agreement that restricts the right of a physician to practice within the physician's scope of practice is unenforceable. | 8/4/2025 |
| Arkansas HB 1854 | Home Caregiver Training | Exempts home caregivers from home caregiver training if they provide documentation of having previously completed the training. | 8/4/2025 |
| Unpaid Wages | Provides that the Director of Labor has one year from the entry of the final order in an unpaid wage claim to initiate legal action to recover the unpaid wages, and that the assessment period is two years preceding the filing of the complaint. | 8/4/2025 | |
| Arkansas SB 497 | Workplace Posters | Requires employers with 50 or more employees to display a poster concerning veterans' services. | 8/4/2025 |
| Employee Definition | Amends the definition of "the employee" under wage and hour, workers' compensation, unemployment, and wage discrimination laws. | 8/4/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Predictive Scheduling | Requires large retail employers to provide employees with a good-faith estimate of their work schedules, to post notice of work schedules in advance, and provide predictability pay for schedule changes. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| FMLA | Extends the duration of paid family and medical leave for serious pregnancy complications or to care for a child receiving inpatient NICU care; changes the premium amounts that employees and employers pay to help finance FAMLI program benefits through calendar year 2026. | 8/6/2025 | |
| Wage and Hour | Modifies the definition of "employer" under state wage and hour laws to align with that set forth in the FLSA; authorizes the state labor department to suspend an employer's business license for certain violations; sets penalties for misclassification; prohibits retaliation for asserting rights under the wage and hour laws; prohibits an employer from using an individual's immigration status as a method of coercion related to legal rights. | 8/6/2025 | |
| Colorado HB 1130 | Privacy and Data Security | Allows an employer to collect biometric data from employees to be used for limited purposes after providing required disclosures. | 7/1/2025 |
| Colorado HB 1239 | Discrimination and Harassment | Amends penalties for certain discrimination and civil rights violations. | 8/6/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Connecticut SB 1221 | Benefits | Includes personal care attendants in the definition of "covered employee" for purposes of the Connecticut Retirement Security Program; provides for civil penalties if an employer fails to enroll covered employees in the program. | 7/1/2025 |
| Connecticut SB 1455 | Unemployment Compensation | Amends the reporting requirements for employers under the state's unemployment compensation laws. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Georgia HB 339 | App-Based Workers | Exempts rideshare network services from liability for actions of drivers in certain instances. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Hawaii SB 855 (HB 847) | Benefits | Clarifies the definition of "covered employer" under the Hawaii Retirement Savings Act; requires covered employers to automatically enroll covered employees into the program unless the employee chooses to opt out. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Idaho HB 64 | Workers' Compensation | Provides that members of limited liability companies may be criminally liable for a failure to secure workers' compensation. | 7/1/2025 |
| Workplace Safety and Health | Expands the prohibition on requiring coronavirus vaccinations for employees and patrons to include specified medical interventions. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Indiana HB 1385 | Healthcare Background/Criminal Background Checks | Provides that a felony offense related to controlled substances does not automatically disqualify nurse aides or other unlicensed employees if they are a certified peer recovery coach with no pending controlled substances felony charges. | 7/1/2025 |
| Indiana HB 1416 | Workplace Posters | Requires gas stations to display human trafficking awareness posters. | 7/1/2025 |
| Indiana SB 405 | Government Contractors/ Labor Management Relations | Provides that government entities may not require that employees of a contracted private employer are members or nonmembers of a labor organization. | 7/1/2025 |
| Indiana SB 409 | Leave of Absence | Prohibits employers from taking adverse action against an employee if the employee was absent from work to attend a case conference committee meeting for the employee's child. | 7/1/2025 |
| Indiana SB 475 | Healthcare Noncompete Agreements | Prohibits noncompete agreements between a physician and an employer. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Employment Policies | Requires employers to treat employees who adopt a child the same as biological parents for purposes of employment policies, benefits, and protections. | 7/1/2025 | |
| Iowa SB 377 | Employment Classification | Prohibits the consideration of the deployment, implementation, or use of a motor carrier safety improvement when determining a person's employment status. | 7/1/2025 |
| Iowa SB 418 (HB583) | Gender Identity | Defines "sex," "female," "male," and related terms; removes gender identity from protected classifications. | 7/1/2025 |
| Iowa HB 767 (SB 110) | Drug Testing | Provides that notification of a positive drug test may be given in person or sent electronically. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Noncompete Agreements | Provides that restrictive covenants in certain types of business contracts are enforceable and not considered a restraint of trade. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Kentucky HB 398 | Workplace Safety and Health | Prohibits the state from adopting or enforcing any workplace safety or health measure not enacted at the federal level. | 6/29/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Louisiana SB 66 | Discrimination | Prohibits discrimination based on military status. | 8/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Maine LD 238 (SP 104) | Healthcare; Independent Contractor | Provides that the Maine Emergency Medical Services Act cannot be construed to prohibit a licensed emergency medical services person from rendering medical services as a volunteer or contractor. | 9/3/2025 |
| Maine LD 1157 (HP 762) | Unemployment | Provides for unemployment benefits during certain training periods; amends the unemployment reporting and payment requirements for employee leasing companies. | 9/30/2025 |
| Maine LD 894 (SP 383) | Leave of Absence | Clarifies intermittent leave requirements under the state's paid family and medical leave law; establishes penalties for delinquent contributions and successor employers who fail to make payments. | 9/30/2025 |
| Maine LD 1898 (HP 1269) | Discrimination | Adds seeking or receiving an order of protection as a protected class under the Maine Human Rights Act. | 9/30/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Retail | Alters the minimum age for employment in Allegany County with certain alcoholic beverages license holders from 16 to 18 years of age. | 7/1/2025 | |
| Privacy and Data Security | Establishes the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024; requires businesses that collect personal data to conduct a regular assessment of activities that present a heightened risk of harm to consumers, including automated decisions and algorithms. | 10/1/2025 | |
| Healthcare | Requires healthcare employers to notify the state when suspending, terminating, or accepting a voluntary resignation from a licensed physician for reasons that may be grounds for discipline or revocation of the healthcare provider's license. | 10/1/2025 | |
|
Military ⁄ Veteran Status |
Expands the definition of who may be given a hiring preference based on military status; modifies definition of "eligible service members" for leaves for themselves and their family members. | 10/1/2025 | |
| FMLA ⁄ State Equivalent | Amends the Parental Leave Act to exclude from coverage employers who are covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act for the current year. | 10/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Wage Transparency | Requires employers to disclose the pay range for specific positions in job postings and employment offers; requires covered employers to submit pay data to the state. | 10/29/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Montana SB 143 (LC2447) | Contracts | Amends the statute of limitations for any action regarding a contract, covenant, obligation, or liability founded on an instrument in writing from eight to six years. | 10/1/2025 |
| Emergency Responder Leave | Prohibits termination of volunteer emergency service providers who are absent or late to work while performing these services during an emergency. | 10/1/2025 | |
| Montana HB 226 (LC1663) | Immigration | Requires employers to verify all employees' legal ability to work in the United States prior to commencement of work. | 7/1/2025 |
| Workers' Compensation | Provides that whether an employer furnishes transportation or an employee receives reimbursement for costs of travel is not dispositive of whether the employee is covered by workers' compensation provisions. | 10/1/2025 | |
| Montana HB 428 | Workers' Compensation | Clarifies when an employer is an employer of a temporary worker for purposes of workers' compensation requirements. | 10/1/2025 |
| Montana HB 807 (LC2455) | Vaccinations | Prohibits employers from requiring vaccines allowed under an emergency use authorization or undergoing safety trials. | 10/1/2025 |
| Montana SB 163 (LC5) | Medical Privacy and Data Security | Adds protections for the privacy of neural data and revises provisions related to privacy notices. | 10/1/2025 |
| Montana SB 297 (LC372) | Privacy and Data Security | Amends the opt-out, privacy notice, and enforcement provisions of the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act. | 10/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Nebraska LB 293 | Benefits | Provides requirements for health benefit plans offered by professional employer organizations. | 9/9/2025 |
| Nebraska LB 415 | Leaves of absence | Amends the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act to exclude small employers and certain workers, set a waiting period for accrual, clarify intersection with employer-provided PTO policies, and eliminate the private right of action. | 9/2/2025 |
| Nebraska Initiative 436, Paid Sick Leave (Ballot Measure) | Paid Sick Leave | Entitles employees to paid sick time beginning October 1, 2025. | 10/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Nevada AB 215 (BDR 132) | Child Labor | Modifies the number of hours minors under 16 may work per week; prohibits most 16 to 18-year-olds from working overnight hours on any night immediately preceding a school day. | 10/1/2025 |
| Nevada AB 422 (BDR 190) | Leaves of Absence | Requires an employer to allow an employee who is a volunteer member of the Nevada Wing of the Civil Air Patrol to take leave for training or emergency missions. | 10/1/2025 |
| Employer Liability | Reduces the minimum required insurance coverage for a transportation network company (TNC); clarifies that a TNC is not liable for acts or omissions of drivers that result in harm. | 10/1/2025 | |
| Nevada SB 162 (BDR 789) | Discrimination and Harassment | Requires compliance with civil rights laws in order to receive state funding. | 10/1/2025 |
| Nevada SB 179 (BDR 35) | Discrimination and Harassment | Requires the Nevada Equal Rights Commission to consider antisemitism as a motivation in investigations of alleged discrimination. | 10/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| New Hampshire HB 358 | Lactation Accommodation | Requires employers to provide access to space and reasonable break periods for employees to express breast milk during work hours. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| New Mexico HB 586 | Healthcare | Provides whistleblower protections for healthcare employees. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| New York: NYC Final Rules re Paid Prenatal Personal Leave (7 NYCRR 7-201 et seq.) | Leaves of Absence | Incorporates the New York State paid prenatal personal leave requirements into the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act; affords employees a separate bank of 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave. | 7/2/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Workplace Posters | Allows employers to post wage statements and certain labor law notices online; clarifies how the child labor abstract must be posted. | 7/21/2025 | |
| Ohio: Cleveland Ordinance No. 104-2025 | Salary History/Job Posting | Prohibits an employer from inquiring into an applicant's salary history; requires an employer to disclose the salary range for a position in the job posting. | 10/27/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Hiring/Age Discrimination | Makes it unlawful for an employer to require or request disclosure of an applicant's age or graduation dates, prior to completing an initial interview, or if there is no initial interview, prior to making a conditional offer of employment. | 9/28/2025 | |
| Oregon SB 69 | Leaves of Absence | Provides for the use of unpaid leave to care for a child under certain circumstances; permits employers to require certification that an employee is able to resume work following medical leave; clarifies that the qualifying purposes for paid family and medical leave constitute permissible uses for sick leave. | 9/24/2025 |
| Professional Employer Organizations | Amends definition related to professional employer organizations (PEOs) under workers' compensation law and provides new requirements for PEOs. | 9/24/2025 | |
| Leaves of Absence | Provides that in any week an employee is eligible to receive workers' compensation or wage replacement benefits, the employee is disqualified from receiving family and medical leave benefits. | 9/24/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Tennessee HB 1181 (SB 73) | Privacy and Data Security | Creates the Tennessee Information Protection Act requiring businesses to protect consumer personal data. | 7/1/2025 |
| Tennessee SB 995 (HB 1034) | Healthcare Noncompete Agreements | Prohibits the enforcement of restrictive covenants against healthcare employees and contractors. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Workplace Policies/ Background Checks | Requires delivery network companies to implement intoxicating substance and anti-discrimination policies for delivery people, and to conduct background checks before hiring delivery people. | 9/1/2025 | |
| Texas SB 1257 (HB 778) | Benefits | Requires health benefit plan coverage for gender transition adverse effects and reversals. | 9/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Healthcare | Requires hospitals to develop a security plan to prevent workplace violence, and to conduct a security risk assessment and staff training. | 7/1/2025 | |
| Leaves of Absence | Expands access to unpaid family and medical leave and provides job-protected leave for reasons related to domestic violence, bereavement, and a qualifying exigency. | 7/1/2025 | |
| Vermont HB 704 | Wage Transparency | Requires employers to include a job description and the compensation in each job advertisement. | 7/1/2025 |
| Vermont SB 117 | Wage and Hour | Clarifies how the minimum wage is calculated and the employer penalty amount for unpaid wages. | 7/1/2025 |
| Vermont SB 30 | Benefits | Requires health insurance plans to cover abortion and abortion-related care. | 9/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Unemployment | Provides that an employer waives all rights in connection to unemployment claims where the employer failed to respond in a timely manner. | 7/1/2025 | |
| Virginia HB 1730; Virginia SB 894 | Employer Liability | Provides for employer liability for criminal sexual assault by an employee or agent under certain circumstances. | 7/1/2025 |
| Virginia HB 2269; Virginia SB 1260 | Healthcare | Requires hospitals to establish a workplace violence reporting system, including reporting, record retention, and antidiscrimination requirements. | 7/1/2025 |
| Noncompete Agreements | Amends the definition of "low wage employee" in the statute prohibiting noncompete agreements with low wage employees. | 7/1/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
|
Washington Final Rule re Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (WAC 296-123) |
Pay Equity | Implements statutory amendments to the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act that extend protections to additional protected classes; clarifies and implements the state's pay range disclosure requirements and salary history inquiry prohibition. | 7/1/2025 |
| Personnel Files | Requires employers to provide a copy of a personnel file to an employee or former employee upon request; defines "personnel file." | 7/27/2025 | |
| Healthcare Background Checks | Requires fingerprint-based background checks for certain long-term care workers in certain circumstances; places limitations on the screening and disqualification of long-term care workers. | 7/27/2025 | |
| Washington HB 1490 (SB 5318) | Home Care Background Checks | Requires home care agencies to complete fingerprint-based background checks for certain individuals. | 7/27/2025 |
| Criminal Background Checks | Prohibits an employer from rejecting an applicant for failure to disclose a criminal record or from taking adverse employment action based on an employee or applicant's arrest record or juvenile conviction record. | 7/27/2025 | |
| Paid Sick Leave | Requires an employer to allow an employee to use paid sick leave to prepare for or participate in certain immigration proceedings. | 7/27/2025 | |
| Washington HB 1905 | Pay Equity | Expands the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act pay equity protections to members of all protected classes. | 7/1/2025 |
| Benefits | Amends the statute converting a qualifying business to a worker-owned cooperative, employee ownership trust, or an employee stock ownership plan. | 6/30/2025 | |
| Job Postings | Allows for corrections to wage and salary disclosures in job postings without penalties if made within five business days. | 7/26/2025 | |
| Healthcare Workplace Training | Amends the required disaster preparedness training for employees at assisted living facilities to include extreme heat and extreme cold. | 7/27/2025 | |
|
Washington SB 5501 |
Hiring | Prohibits employers from requiring a valid driver's license as a condition of employment, unless driving is one of the essential job functions. | 7/27/2025 |
| Washington SB 5525 | Business Closing/RIF | Sets notice requirements for businesses closing or mass layoffs. | 7/27/2025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| West Virginia HB 2441 | Unemployment | Disqualifies individuals who fail a drug test from receiving unemployment benefits. | 7/2/2025 |
| West Virginia HB 3080 | Military / Veteran Status | Expands the veteran hiring preference to allow employers to exercise a military spouse hiring preference. | 7/9/2025 |
| West Virginia SB 427 | Child Labor | Eliminates the requirement that 14- or 15-year-olds obtain a work permit; requires employers seeking to hire a child 14 or older to receive an age certificate from the commission prior to employing the child. | 7/11/12025 |
|
Bill / Ordinance / Regulation |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
| Noncompete Agreements | Provides that contractual covenants not to compete, with certain noted exceptions, are void; specifies requirements for covenants not to compete for physicians. | 7/1/2025 |
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
