California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s Proposed PAGA Regulations: What Employers Need to Know (US)

On February 6, 2026, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement and further address the 2024 amendments to California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). These proposed regulations represent the next phase of reform and are intended, as the LWDA explains, to “make more transparent and effective the administrative requirements and procedures under PAGA” and to provide “better guidance and clarity to employees and employers concerning their respective rights and obligations.”

Pet Leave on the Horizon? What Employers Should Know (US)

By Lauren Herz on April 6, 2026 Posted in Absence, Benefits, Employment Law, Employment Policies, Leave

In recent years workplace leave policies and related legal frameworks have expanded to address a broader range of employee needs, including bereavement, pregnancy loss and paid family leave.

Against this backdrop, legislators also are increasingly recognizing the personal and emotional significance of companion animals. As that recognition continues to expand, employers may be seeing early signs of a broader legal shift extending into the workplace, reflected in emerging proposals for pet care and pet bereavement leave laws.

Employment reform in motion – why additional time may not heal the system

By Malak Almeriy on March 25, 2026 Posted in Employment Tribunal, Recent Cases, Settlement

From 1 December, the Acas early conciliation period was extended from six to twelve weeks. The intention was clear: to ease growing administrative pressures on Acas at a time of rising demand. But while the extension may give Acas more breathing space, it raises a broader question for employers and employees alike – does more time meaningfully improve early resolution, or does it simply prolong uncertainty in a system already struggling to cope?

EEOC Chair Andrea R. Lucas Reminds Fortune 500 Companies About DEI Programing (US)

By Isabela Gibson on March 19, 2026 Posted in Age Discrimination, Discrimination, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, EEOC, General, Sex Discrimination, Title VII

Andrea R. Lucas, the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), issued a letter on February 26, 2026, to the CEOs, general counsels and boards of directors of the 500 largest U.S. companies to remind them of legal obligations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While framed as a reminder, the letter is another example of the EEOC’s continuing efforts to address employers’ diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives. In her letter, Chair Lucas characterizes the long-standing principles of equality of treatment and opportunity as “under attack by movements and ideologies that elevate group rights over individual rights; demand equal outcomes over equal treatment and equal opportunity; and most absurdly, twist our nation’s civil rights to promote discrimination against certain races or groups, rather than protect all Americans equally and evenhandedly.”

Washington State Tells Employers Not to Get Under Their Employees’ Skin: New Law Limits Ability to Microchip Employees (US)

By Isabela Gibson on March 18, 2026 Posted in Employment Law, Employment Policies, Privacy, State Law Updates, Surveillance, Terms of Employment

On March 11, 2026, Washington state Governor Bob Ferguson signed a law prohibiting employers from requiring employees to have tracking chips implanted beneath their skin as condition of employment. Washington now joins Arkansas, California, Missouri and ten other states which have passed similar laws, all addressing advances in workplace surveillance technology.

Michigan Joins Majority of States in Enacting Anti-SLAPP Law (US)

By Margaret Lombardo on March 17, 2026 Posted in Anti-SLAPP, Employment Law, Litigation, State Law Updates

Although rare, from time to time an employer may sue a current or former employee who makes negative public comments about the employer. In such cases, the employer may allege that the employee’s comments constitute defamation or tortiously interfered with the employer’s business relationships.

Not surprisingly, the threat of litigation can have a substantial deterrent effect, not only upon the employee threatened with litigation but on their colleagues as well. As a result, employees may choose not to speak publicly, even with respect to matters of public concern.

Belgium – Pay Transparency – Flemish Minister announces fines for companies “that pay men more than women”

By Marga Caproni on March 16, 2026 Posted in Pay Transparency

Last week, in the wake of International Women’s Day, the Flemish government approved a – very partial – implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive.

The bulk of the transposition work is still to be done by the federal government and the social partners in the National Labour Council, and on these fronts, things are still awfully quiet.

But the three regions in Belgium also have (limited) powers in this matter. These powers include the authority to impose sanctions on companies which do not comply with their obligations as imposed by the Directive.

Argentina’s Labor Reform 2026: What Employers Need to Know

By Jose Martin on March 12, 2026 Posted in Collective Bargaining, Employment Law, Independent Contractors, Pay, Regulation, Severance, Working Time

On March 6, 2026, Argentina enacted its sweeping Labor Modernization Law, a reform that reshapes the country’s employment framework and introduces the most significant changes to labor relations in decades. With 196 articles, the law goes far beyond amending the Employment Contract Law (LCT), touching collective bargaining, labor procedures, severance systems and employer costs. Below is a high-level overview of the key changes and why they matter. While some amendments don’t take effect until January 1, 2027, others – e.g., social security contributions – take effect immediately, or on June 1, 2026 – e.g., Labor Assistance Fund.

A Setback for Cemex: Sixth Circuit Reigns In the NLRB’s Adjudicatory Authority (US)

By Chase Clark, Daniel Pasternak and Will Kishman on March 11, 2026 Posted in Employment Law, NLRA, NLRB, Unions

On March 6, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit became the first federal appeals court to reject the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB or Board) 2023 decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, in which the NLRB changed the standard for issuing affirmative bargaining orders requiring employers to recognize and bargain with a union even after employees vote against union representation.

Sixth Circuit Addresses Arbitrability of Individual Claims in Sexual Assault and Harassment Claims (US)

By Margaret Lombardo on March 6, 2026 Posted in Arbitration, EFAA, Employment Law, Litigation, Sexual Harassment

As we previously reported here and here, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (“EFAA”) amended the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) by invalidating clauses in employment agreements mandating arbitration of sexual harassment and sexual assault cases. The EFAA permits a claimant in a sexual assault or sexual harassment case to forgo arbitration and pursue the case in court. (See 9 U.S.C. §§ 401-02.) That is, although claimants can choose to arbitrate such claims, they cannot be compelled to do so.