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States have enacted various employment-related laws that took effect in 2026. These laws cover various topics such as gig worker and whistleblower protections, employment contracts, data privacy, and workplace and pay transparency. This post includes a survey of some of the more notable laws that are now in place but does not include all such laws. Likewise, this post specifically excludes laws concerning minimum wage increases, which occurred in multiple states. All law changes listed below are already in effect unless otherwise noted.
Paid Leave for Employees
States have increasingly enacted their own laws on paid leave for employees, in the absence of any federal right to paid leave. Among the states that enacted paid leave laws is California, which expanded paid family leave to care for a "designated person" beginning on July 1, 2028. Colorado will provide an additional 12 weeks of leave to any parent whose child is receiving care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Connecticut expanded its paid sick leave law to include more employers, and Delaware now permits certain amounts of paid parental, family caregiver, and medical leave.
Illinois expanded eligibility under the Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act to allow part-time workers to take leave for those purposes. Illinois workers are now entitled to paid lactation breaks at their regular rate of pay.
In Minnesota, employees can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for serious health problems or bonding, family care, safety, or a qualifying exigency. The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul amended local ordinances to comply with state paid sick leave provisions. In addition, Minnesota employers must allow employees certain paid rest and meal breaks.
New York City expanded the permissible uses of paid sick and safe time and now requires employers to provide an additional bank of 32 hours of unpaid sick and safe time, as well as an additional bank of 20 hours of state paid prenatal leave. These ordinance changes go into effect on February 22, 2026. Similarly, the city of Pittsburgh enacted an ordinance that modified the accrual rate, use, and caps for paid sick leave.
In Oregon, lawmakers clarified that employees cannot receive paid family or medical leave benefits if they are eligible to receive workers' compensation or unemployment benefits. Employees can now use paid sick time to donate blood.
Rhode Island workers may use temporary caregiver insurance benefits retroactive to January 1, 2025, to serve as a bone marrow transplant donor or living organ donor. Another law addressed temporary disability insurance benefits, changed the duration period of caregiver benefits, and extended temporary caregiver benefits eligibility to workers caring for siblings.
Washington amended its paid family and medical leave program to include employment restoration protections that employers must provide in writing to workers. Another law expanded access to domestic and sexual violence leave and safety accommodations to include workers who are victims of hate crimes. These changes also impact "safe" time reasons under state paid sick and safe leave laws.
Finally, two states addressed eligibility for unpaid leave. California now allows workers to take unpaid leave if they or a family member is a victim of certain crimes and is attending related judicial proceedings. In New Hampshire, employers with 20 or more employees must provide 25 hours of unpaid leave for one year after childbirth to attend necessary related medical appointments for mother and child.
Discrimination
California, Illinois, and North Carolina all enacted new legislation addressing discrimination. California clarified that an employee's personal bias in the context of bias-mitigation training does not constitute unlawful discrimination. That state also amended the Human Rights Act to prohibit employers from using discriminatory artificial intelligence (AI). California further amended the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
In Illinois, legislators banned employers from disciplining or retaliating against employees for using employer-provided electronic devices to record acts of violence. Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, fact-finding conferences for charges are now discretionary rather than mandatory, and new penalties have been introduced.
North Carolina passed a law that identifies "sex" for all state laws, rules, and regulations as a person's biological sex at birth, whether male or female. This law also adds provisions to prevent the sexual exploitation of women and minors.
Privacy and Data Security
California, Indiana, Kentucky, and Oklahoma enacted privacy and data security laws. In California, businesses must disclose a data security breach to affected consumers and the state attorney general within 30 days of the breach. Indiana passed a new consumer data privacy protection law. Kentucky now requires businesses that control or process the personal data of at least 100,000 individuals to meet certain requirements, including providing notice and obtaining consent. An Oklahoma law amends certain definitions in the Security Breach Notification Act.
Worker Rights
Various states passed numerous laws concerning workers' rights. California led the way in passing several employee-related protections. The state addressed employee rights to bring unfair labor practices before the Public Employment Relations Board, safeguarded tips for drivers working for food delivery platforms, set new requirements for employment contracts, and extended recall and reinstatement rights of employees laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic to January 1, 2027. The state also sanctioned the unionization of rideshare drivers, added treble penalties for wages that remain unpaid 180 days after the end of the appeal period, and required employers to provide certain labor rights notices to employees as of February 1, 2026. Employees can now inspect educational and training records as part of their personnel records. Employers must provide expanded information to workers under Cal-WARN, and the Pay Transparency Law has been revised. Finally, California enacted enforcement mechanisms for employers who unlawfully take or withhold tips from workers.
Alabama addressed tax-deductible portable benefits accounts for independent contractors. Illinois amended the Transportation Benefits Program Act and prohibited employment contracts from restricting workers' engagement in concerted activities to address work-related issues. Indiana passed the Indiana Earned Wage Access Act, which allows workers access to earned but unpaid compensation before their scheduled pay dates. In Maryland, transportation network companies now have new responsibilities and reporting requirements.
St. Paul, Minnesota, amended its minimum wage and wage theft ordinances, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, amended the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance to better address criminal records in hiring decisions, as of January 6, 2026.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire extended employment protections to spouses of military service members involuntarily involved in war, national emergencies, or contingency operations. New Jersey amended its captive audience law to ensure that "political matters" include decisions to join or support labor organizations. New York amended the Healthy Terminals Act to tie wage, benefit, and leave obligations for covered airport workers to the federal Service Contract Act.
AI Regulation
California, Illinois, and Texas all enacted legislation to regulate AI. Whereas California and Texas focused on protecting consumers and workers from harm and discrimination caused by AI, Illinois addressed the enforceability of agreements under the Digital Voice and Likeness Protection Act.
Workplace Training
California, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Washington enacted new workplace training requirements. These training requirements affect the hospitality and home healthcare industries (California), healthcare, food service, restaurants, and truck stops (Illinois), and the hotel industry (Rhode Island). A major focus of this legislation was on human trafficking prevention through training. Washington enacted required training requirements on sexual assault and harassment in various industries.
Unemployment Benefits
Illinois, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits. Those benefits are now available for persons who cannot work due to a mental health condition (Illinois) and workers on strike (Oregon and Washington). Rhode Island changed the definition of "last work" for unemployment compensation benefits.
Workplace Safety / Violence
Nevada and Washington addressed workplace safety. Nevada's legislation focused on exposure to poor air quality from wildfires and on preventing workplace violence in some healthcare entities. Washington also requires healthcare employers to establish workplace violence prevention plans.
Other Employee Rights
New York set forth requirements for mandatory participation by most employers in its Secure Choice Program, a Roth IRA savings program for employees without access to a qualified retirement plan. The effective date for this legislation is March 18, 2026. North Dakota now requires employee consent for employers to withhold taxes from their wages. Oregon imposed joint and several liability on property owners and direct contractors for unpaid wages and now requires employers to provide employees with wage statements at the time of hire.
Rhode Island passed a law requiring employers to provide employees with written notice of any employment conditions at the time of hire. Washington now permits healthcare workers to waive certain meal periods in writing and expanded participation in the Washington Cares long-term care insurance program.
Miscellaneous
California enacted legislation protecting pharmacists and other medical professionals from prosecution for mifepristone or other medication-assisted abortion drugs. Healthcare plans and insurance policies also must provide coverage for the drugs. Legislation also newly defines "on-call list" for nurses to determine any violations of nurse-to-patient ratios.
Furthermore, California now requires employers to provide additional information to employer payroll departments for wage garnishments, increased the job categories for pay data reporting, and requires storage of employee demographic data separately from other personnel records.
Montana will now allow retail establishments to use third-party services to deliver beer and wine under strict conditions. Oregon now prohibits per-visit compensation for healthcare and hospice care staff in the workplace.
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