With President Trump again within the White Home, this 12 months has introduced a barrage of government orders and edicts that target workers. Trump diminished the minimal wage for federal contractors, made main cuts to the Occupational Security and Well being Administration—whose categorical mission is to maintain folks secure within the office—and tried to undermine collective bargaining rights for federal employees. He has additionally, after all, set his sights on dismantling variety, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) applications throughout each the federal workforce and company America.
Nonetheless, there’s a glimmer of hope for employees: Many states have taken it upon themselves to enshrine insurance policies like paid depart and pay transparency, with a few of them now turning their consideration to how the misuse of artificial intelligence in hiring might hurt employees. Listed below are a number of the legal guidelines and insurance policies that may take impact in 2026—lots of which proceed to push ahead on essential points for employees regardless of what the federal authorities has in retailer.
Anti-DEI measures
Trump has made anti-DEI insurance policies a focus of his time in workplace, kicking off this 12 months with a number of executive orders that pressured federal companies to terminate all DEI-related insurance policies and applications and stripped away a requirement for federal contractors that had been a vital aspect of diversifying the workforce. Which means, going into 2026, all federal DEI applications have been eradicated—however there are a selection of state-level payments that search to curtail how DEI is utilized in hiring and throughout public training.
In Ohio, for instance, laws that handed this 12 months prohibits any consideration of DEI in hiring selections at public schools and universities. Related legal guidelines in Kansas, Idaho, and Wyoming will curtail DEI applications for hiring throughout increased training.
In the meantime, the Equal Employment Alternative Fee—the company tasked with imposing antidiscrimination legal guidelines in employment—has made clear that company DEI applications can be below larger scrutiny going into 2026.
The usage of AI in hiring
As corporations have embedded AI into their hiring course of, many HR groups have began counting on automated résumé screeners and different AI instruments. In 2026, three legal guidelines will take impact on the state stage to create some guardrails round how AI is getting used for employment selections, following within the footsteps of New York Metropolis and California, which have already adopted AI in hiring legal guidelines.
Colorado and Texas are introducing broader AI governance legal guidelines that additionally explicitly name for extra oversight of how the know-how is used within the hiring course of to make sure it’s not discriminatory. In Illinois, the regulation is an modification of the state’s Human Rights Act and regulates how employees are impacted by way of AI in all employment selections. On the federal stage, a bipartisan bill launched in Congress final month would—if handed—power employers to reveal when layoffs are brought on by AI.
Minimal wage
The minimal wage continues to rise, 12 months after 12 months, as states have raised the wage ground in response to employee advocacy. As 2026 rolls round, 20 states can have enacted and began phasing in a $15 minimal wage, with hourly wages really crossing $15 in a complete of 11 states by the tip of subsequent 12 months. Since 2012, a complete of 15 states have adopted a $15 minimal wage, based on the National Employment Law Project, in no small half due to the Battle for $15 motion that originated amongst fast-food employees.
By the tip of 2026, many employees will see even larger pay will increase because the minimal wage is boosted to $17 throughout 53 cities and localities. A handful of states have additionally permitted modifications to the subminimum wage, which generally pays tipped employees a decrease hourly price. (There have been a number of proposals on the federal stage to get rid of the subminimum wage altogether, however nothing has efficiently handed.)
Paid depart
Whereas the efforts to cross federal paid household depart have kind of come to a standstill, a handful of states have stored pushing to safe these advantages for his or her employees. In Delaware, Maine, and Minnesota, a paid depart program will take impact in 2026, becoming a member of 10 different states which have already launched the profit.
In the meantime, states like Connecticut are making important expansions to their paid sick depart program, now requiring corporations with as few as 11 workers to supply depart. (By 2027, even employers with one employee should do the identical.) In complete, about 20 states now supply paid sick depart in some capability, as these legal guidelines have picked up steam lately. Plenty of cities and localities additionally present paid depart, even in states like Pennsylvania that don’t have broader protection.
Pay transparency
Pay transparency laws have grown in recognition during the last 4 years, in an effort to arm employees with extra info as they go into wage negotiations—or earlier than they apply for a job in any respect. These legal guidelines usually require employers to reveal a wage vary in all job postings, although some states have solely mandated that employers verbally share wage info.
This 12 months, Massachusetts and New Jersey adopted legal guidelines that require pay ranges in job listings, bringing the entire variety of states with these legal guidelines on the books to 14. On the native stage, some cities in Ohio have began requiring wage disclosures, as can also be the case in Washington, D.C. Wage transparency legal guidelines additionally usually prohibit employers from asking a couple of candidate’s wage historical past in the course of the interview course of and utilizing that to find out their compensation.
