States Are Active in Labor and Employment Legislation and Regulation

The states have been very busy creating employment laws and regulations. Here are the newest developments that may have an effect on printing companies:

California

• The California minimum wage increased to $16.90 on January 1, 2026.

• A law restricting “stay or pay” contract provisions went into effect on January 1, 2026. The new law prohibits companies, upon a worker’s separation from the company, from requiring them to reimburse training costs or debts. It also includes provisions that suspend forbearance of the employer’s collection of a debt or the imposition of any penalty, fee, or cost on a worker related to hiring fees, retraining fees, replacement fees, quitting fees, reimbursement for immigration or visa costs, liquidated damages, lost goodwill, and lost profit.

• The law allows the employer to require repayment of tuition for transferable credentials. These tuition agreements between the employer and the worker need to be made separate from any employment contract and are only enforceable if the credential is not required as a condition of employment. Other conditions also may affect collection of tuition, so consulting with an employment attorney with each specific scenario is recommended.

• The Equal Pay and Pay Transparency law was amended by the Pay Equity Enforcement Act, which expanded the definition of “pay scale” to include a good faith estimate for the salary or wage range as of the first day of work, rather than the position over time. The definition of “wages” was expanded to include all forms of compensation, including bonuses, stock, stock options, cleaning or fuel allowances, hotel accommodations and reimbursement for travel expenses. Lastly, the law was amended to recognize non-binary genders and that people who identify as non-binary or transgender must be compensated equally as other genders when performing substantially similar work.

• Paid sick leave was expanded to include leave for certain court proceedings and situations involving crime victims. The following are now covered under the law:
  • Jury duty,
  • Compliance with a subpoena or other court order to appear as a witness,
  • Victims of a qualifying act of violence who are seeking relief to ensure the health safety or welfare of themselves or their child,
  • Victims of certain types of violent or serious crimes who need to attend judicial proceedings related to the crime or where their rights are at issue,
  • To receive victim-related treatment and services (this only applies to companies with 15 or more employees).

• Starting February 1, 2026, pursuant to the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, employers must provide a new, stand-alone written notice of labor protections to new hires, and annually to all current employees. These include:
  • Protections against unfair immigration-related practices,
  • Emergency contact notification,
  • Union and group activity rights,
  • Rights during law enforcement interactions,
  • Workers’ compensation rights.

• Employers with 100+ employees are required to report pay data to the state Civil Rights Department. Starting with the 2026 filing of 2025 pay data, which is due on May 13, 2026, employers will be required to complete three new data fields. Those three new data fields are:
  • Exemption status – whether the employers qualify for overtime or if they are exempt from overtime pay.
  • Employment type – the two categories previously used were full-time and part-time. The new data reporting adds a third category of “intermittent” to capture those workers who have periodic or irregular schedules.
  • Total annual weeks worked – This data requires the total number of weeks worked and includes weeks that the employee is not working but using paid time off – including sick time, vacation time, and holidays.

• Expanded employees’ right to request certain personnel records to include access to inspect training and education records. These requests apply to current and former employees.

Colorado

• As artificial intelligence (AI) has proliferated in so many aspects of employment decision making, Colorado is the first state that is revamping its approach to regulation. It will likely pass a new law this year that will remove or reduce the audit requirements, and instead require transparency for job applicants, employees, etc. This is worth noting because it will save money for companies and encourage them to adopt AI solutions.

Delaware

• The Delaware Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which was enacted in 2022, became effective as of January 1, 2026. Employees are now able to submit claims under the program.

• In addition, employers may now begin collecting employee contributions for approved, self-insured private plans in compliance with the Paid Family and Medical Leave program.

Illinois

• Parents with children in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) now can take unpaid leave with job protection pursuant to the Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act, which become effective on June 1, 2026.   Employers with 16-50 employees must provide up to ten days of protected leave, while employers with 51 or more employees must provide up to 20 days of protected leave.

• The Illinois Human Rights Act was amended to prohibit employers from using AI that has the effect of subjecting employees to discrimination against members of a protected classes.

• The Illinois Workplace Transparency Act was amended and the new provisions became effective on January 1, 2026. The amendments did two things:
  • Prohibits employers from including unilateral terms in employment agreements that 1) shorten statutes of limitations, 2) apply non-Illinois law to and Illinois employee’s claims, and 3) require that a venue outside of Illinois can adjudicate an Illinois employee’s workplace claims. This law addresses the conundrum of applying Illinois worker protections to remote Illinois-based employees of non-Illinois companies.
  • Expanded the protections for an employee’s ability to report unlawful employment practices to include reporting violation of laws enforced by the Illinois Department of Labor, the Illinois Labor Relations Board, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the DOL, and the NLRB.

• Illinois employers must now allow employees to use employer-issued electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, or laptops to record incidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or other crimes of violence committed against them or their family or household members. This new law was an amendment to the Illinois Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act, and became effective on January 1, 2026.

• The Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act, was amended to include paid leave for part-time employees who are donating an organ to another person. The amendment provides part-time employees with the same rights as full-time employees, with up to 10 days of organ donation leave within a 12-month period.

• The Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act was amended to require employers to pay mothers who are taking breaks to breastfeed or express milk concurrent with their regular break time. The paid break time cannot be charged against the employee’s paid time off allotment. Employers may only avoid paying wages for these breaks if doing so would be prohibitively expensive or disruptive, causing an undue hardship to the employer. The new pay provision became effective on January 1, 2026.

• Military funeral honors have been made a priority in Illinois with an amendment to the Military Leave Act that requires employers with 51 or more employees to provide up to eight hours a month (capped at 40 hours per year) of paid leave to participate in military funeral honors details. Employees must qualify for the leave and provide reasonable notice and confirmation of the honors detail from the relevant veteran’s service organization or official notice. Leave can only be denied if the company needs the employee to meet minimum staffing levels.

• The Workers’ Rights and Safety Act became effective on January 1, 2026. This law establishes that worker protections will be maintained at the level required by federal OSHA on April 28, 2025, so that if OSHA rolls back protections, reinterprets laws or regulations, or makes regulatory changes, the safety levels in Illinois will remain the same.

Minnesota

• The Minnesota Paid Leave program went into effect on January 1, 2026. Employees are now able to apply for paid leave if they qualify. Also, as the January 1, employers were able to deduct premium contributions from employee paychecks and are due to the state by April 20, 2026.
  • Small employers with 30 or fewer employees and have an average employee wage of less than 150% of the statewide average weekly wage are eligible for reduced premium payments. The template for determining this is available here: https://mn.gov/deed/paidleave/employers/premiums/.
  • Employees can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave under the following qualifying circumstances:
    • The employee’s own serious health condition,
    • Bonding with a new child,
    • Caring for a family member with a serious health condition,
    • To support a family member who is called to active duty,
    • Personal safety issues involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking for the employee or a family member.

New York

• New York has enacted a law authorizing the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to have jurisdiction to hear disputes between employers and unions in the state. This new law asserts jurisdiction that has previously been the exclusive purview of the NLRB and was created to fill the void when the NLRB was without a quorum for the first year of the new Trump administration. The NLRB has sued New York state to block the law based on the principle of federal pre-emption. The law currently has been blocked by a preliminary injunction issued in December 2025 arising from a lawsuit filed by Amazon to block the state from exercising this new authority under the law.

• An anti “stay or pay” law was passed in December 2025 and was effective immediately, but then amended in March 2026 to become effective in February 2027. The Trapped at Work Act bans agreements that require repayment of costs if a worker leaves employment from the company. It also was amended only to cover employees. The provisions cover training costs for non-transferable credentials, relocation expenses, and bonuses. The Act requires:
  • Repayment obligations for transferable credit agreements must be separate from the worker’s employment agreement.
  • Repayment of some nonperformance-based benefits may be recovered by the employer if the employee was terminated for misconduct or the job duties were misrepresented. These benefits would cover relocation assistance and signing bonuses.

Pennsylvania

• The Crown Act became effective on January 24, 2026. This law amends the Commonwealth’s Human Relations Act to expand the definition of “race” to include traits that are historically associated with specific groups of people. This encompasses hair texture and hairstyles that are protected under the law. These hairstyles include afros, braids, coils, extensions, locs, Bantu knots, and twists. For printing companies, safety policies that are tailored to specific, legitimate safety needs will still be allowed under the new law.

Virginia

• Virginia has a new law that creates a paid family and medical leave (VA PFML) insurance program. The new VA PFML will launch in 2028 and will be funded through employer contributions that will begin in April 2028. The benefits of VA PFML will become available in December 2028.
  • Virginia employers can meet their obligation under the new law by using the state program or securing a private plan that provides the same or better benefits. If choosing a private plan, employers are required to pay attestation fees.
  • The program will provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave per benefit year.
  • Employees will receive 55-90% of their regular wages while on leave, but no more than the amount of the state’s average wage. This is currently $1,423 per week.
  • To receive payments, employees must have earned a total of at least $3,900 in the past year, which can be earned from one job or a combination of jobs.
  • Covered employees will receive pay during their leave that is equal to 80% of their weekly wage but is subject to a cap of 100% of the state average weekly wage.
  • Employees will qualify under the following circumstances:
    • Their own personal health condition,
    • Caring for a family member with a serious health condition,
    • Caring for a new child,
    • Caring for a covered service member,
    • To secure safety services,
    • Qualifying exigency.

Wisconsin

• The Wisconsin legislature is considering a bill that would allow up to $12,500 on overtime wages to be free from state income tax. This mimics the same federal tax exclusion that was included in the federal omnibus “One Big Beautiful Bill” that was passed in 2025. The bill has passed the state Senate but has not passed the legislature.

Summary

States will continue to be active in labor and employment law and regulation because the federal government continues to practice a low-regulation and non-enforcement approach. PRINTING United Alliance will continue to monitor changes in the labor and employment area and is available to advise members about how to manage and comply with new developments.

In this article Adriane Harrison, VP of Human Relations Consulting, PRINTING United Alliance, provides an update on changes to state labor and employment law in the first quarter of 2026. Adriane also provides information about labor and employment laws and regulations at the Center for Human Resources Supportor reach out to Adriane directly if you have additional questions specific to HR issues that may affect your business at: aharrison@printing.org
 
To become a member of the Alliance and learn more about how our subject matter experts can assist your company with services and resources such as those mentioned in this article, please contact the Alliance membership team: 888-385-3588 / membership@printing.org.