The start of a new year is an excellent time for employers to review their policies, procedures, and agreements to ensure they are aware of and comply with laws taking effect in 2026.
Our attorneys closely track developments in the states where the firm has offices and have compiled a list of pertinent labor and employment laws that have taken or will take effect in 2026. Below are key changes and steps employers should take to prepare for the year ahead.
Connecticut
Minimum Wage Increase. Effective January 1, 2026, the state minimum wage will to $16.94 per hour.
Paid Sick Leave. Effective January 1, 2026, the State’s Paid Sick Leave law applies to employers with 11 or more employees within the state.
Florida
Minimum Wage. Effective September 30, 2026, Florida’s minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour.
CHOICE Act. The CHOICE Act, “Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth,” took effect July 3, 2025 greatly expanding protections for restrictive covenant agreements in Florida in favor of employers. See here for more information.
Illinois
Amendments to the Workplace Transparency Act. Expansive amendments to the WTA took effect January 1, 2026. Among other things, the amendments now prohibit employment agreements from restricting employees, prospective employees, or former employees from engaging in concerted activities to address work-related issues. “Concerted activity” includes acting together for mutual aid or protection, collective bargaining, union organizing, and discussing wages, hours, and working conditions. The amendment also has stricter rules regarding confidentiality in separation and settlement agreements. Confidentiality provisions now require separate, bargained-for consideration that is distinct from the consideration for the release of claims.
Amendments to the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA). Effective January 1, 2026, employers must permit employees to use employer-issued electronic devices, such as cellular phones or laptops, to record incidents of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or other crimes of violence committed against themselves or their family or household members. Employers cannot discriminate against employees for doing so.
Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Law. Effective June 1, 2026, employers with more than 15 employees will be required to provide employees with job-protected unpaid leave time for use while any child of an employee is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Employers with 16 to 50 employees must provide up to ten days of unpaid NICLA leave and employers with more than 50 employees must provide up to 20 days of unpaid NICLA leave.
New Hampshire
Paid Family and Medical Leave. Beginning January 1, 2026, employees may take up to 25 hours of unpaid leave within the first year of a child’s birth or adoption to attend either: (1) the employee’s own medical appointments for childbirth or postpartum care, or (2) the child’s pediatric medical appointments. If both parents are employed by the same employer, they are entitled to a combined total of 25 hours during the child’s first year. Leave is unpaid; however, employees may substitute accrued vacation or other available paid leave. Employees must provide reasonable notice before taking leave. Employers may require employees to schedule leave so as not to unduly disrupt operations. Employers may request documentation to ensure the time is used for its intended purpose, although the law does not specify what documentation may be requested.
Protection for Military Spouses. Effective January 1, 2026, employers with 50 or more employees at the same location may not take adverse employment action against the spouse of a military service member, because their spouse has been involuntarily mobilized. Spouses that take a leave of absence may be entitled to reemployment.
New York
Minimum Wage Increase. Effective January 1, 2026, the state minimum wage will increase as follows: in New York City, Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties) and Westchester County, the minimum wage is $17 per hour; in the remainder of the state, it is $16 per hour.
New York City Amended its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”). Amendments to the ESSTA made several changes.
- Beginning February 22, 2026, employers must provide employees with 32 hours of unpaid leave annually for any qualifying reason under the ESSTA. Leave must be front-loaded at the start of each calendar year and provided to new employees immediately upon hire. Unused unpaid leave does not carry over into the following year and these hours can only be used if the employee has not yet accrued ESSTA, has reached their annual cap, or has specifically requested to use unpaid leave.
- The amendments expand the qualifying circumstances for use of leave to include:
- Caregiving for a minor child or care recipient.
- Attending or preparing for legal proceedings related to subsistence benefits and housing in which the employee, a family member, or a care recipient is a party.
- Experiencing workplace violence, or where a family member is a victim of workplace violence.
- Public disasters resulting in:
- Closure of the employee’s workplace,
- A directive from public officials to remain indoors or avoid travel, or
- Childcare needs due to school or childcare provider closure or restricted in-person operations.
- The amendments also codify New York State’s paid prenatal leave requirements into the ESSTA. Employers must provide up to 20 hours of paid time off annually for prenatal appointments, medical procedures, or other types of prenatal care.
With these changes, employees are now entitled to three categories of leave:
- Paid safe and sick leave: up to 40 or 56 paid hours per year depending on employer size and income.
- Paid prenatal leave: 20 paid hours per 52-week period.
- Unpaid safe and sick leave: 32 unpaid hours per year.
Temporary Schedule Change Act (TCSA). Effective February 22, 2026, employers will no longer be obligated to grant two temporary schedule changes to an employee’s work schedule when requested by the employee due to a personal event. Employees still have the right to request temporary schedule changes under the law, but employers must respond to the request as soon as practicable and may approve, deny, or propose an alternative to such request.
Disparate Impact. Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that codifies disparate impact as a method of establishing unlawful discrimination under New York State Human Rights Law. This means employers may be held liable for discrimination if they implement facially neutral policies that have a discriminatory impact on protected groups of individuals, even if the employer did not intend such an outcome.
The law sets out that employers may defend against such claims if they successfully demonstrate that the policy at issue was legally justified, meaning (i) it was job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity and (ii) the business necessity could not be accomplished by a different practice that has a less discriminatory effect.
Ban on Use of Credit History in Employment Decisions. Governor Hochul also recently signed into law an amendment to the New York Fair Credit Reporting Act that prevents employers from requesting and/or considering a job applicant’s or current employee’s credit history with regard to hiring, compensation, or other terms and conditions of employment. The law is effective April 18, 2026. Employers may request and use consumer credit history only when the role or employer falls into one of the exemptions, e.g. the employer is required to consider credit history under state or federal law, the individual holds a fiduciary role permitting them to enter financial agreement of $10,000 or more on the employer’s behalf, or the role regularly involves modifying digital security systems to prevent the unauthorized use of the employer’s or client’s networks or databases.
Trapped at Work Act. This newly enacted law prohibits employment promissory notes, commonly referred to as “stay-or-pay” or “training-repayment” agreements, that require workers to repay their employers if they leave their jobs before a specified period of time. For more information on this law and its impact, see our article outlining it here.
Secure Choice Savings Program. This law will require certain employers that do not offer retirement plans to enroll their employees in a state sponsored program pursuant to the New York State Secure Choice Savings Program. The law was passed in 2021 and applies to business with 10 or more employees. The deadline to begin facilitating the program is dependent on employer size. March 18, 2026, for employers with 30 or more employees; May 15, 2026, for employers with 15-29 employees; and July 15, 2026, for employers with 10-14 employees.
Rhode Island
Minimum Wage Increase. Effective January 1, 2026, the state minimum wage will increase to $16 per hour.
Payment of Wages Law. Effective January 1, 2026, Rhode Island’s amended Payment of Wages law requires employers to provide specific written notice to each employee at the start of employment and retain a copy of the acknowledging receipt. The notice must include:
- rate(s) of pay and the basis of pay;
- applicable allowances;
- the employer’s policies on sick leave, vacation, personal leave, holidays, and work hours;
- the employee’s employment status and whether the employee is exempt from minimum wage or overtime;
- a list of deductions that may be made from the employee’s pay;
- the number of days in the pay period;
- the regularly scheduled payday and the payday on which the employee will receive their first paycheck;
- the legal name of the employer and the operating name of the employer, if different from its legal name; and
- the physical address of the employer’s main office or principal place of business and its mailing address, if different, and the employer’s telephone number.
Temporary Caregiver Law. Effective January 1, 2026, the TCI program expands to include employees’ siblings as covered family members under the law and increases leave benefits from seven to eight weeks per year. Additionally, bone marrow donation and organ donation are now covered reasons for leave.
Amendments to the Fair Employment Practices Act. Last year, Rhode Island became the first state requiring employers to provide workplace accommodations for employees and applicants experiencing menopause or related medical conditions. The law has a notice requirement which includes posting notice, notifying existing employees, and providing written notice to new hires.
Next Steps
- Employers must familiarize themselves with pertinent legal changes. Employers must update, where applicable, policies, handbooks, job postings, payroll systems, employment agreements, and onboarding documentation to align with applicable developments.
- Employers must provide training to HR professionals to ensure they are familiar, and able to implement these changes.
