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Quick Hits When reviewing a mass layoff notice, the focus must generally be on the purpose of the notification procedure. Stating a number of employees to be laid off that is slightly too high in the mass layoff notice does not automatically render the notice invalid. The Case The employee worked as a machine setup technician and operator for a key manufacturer and machine builder. The employer became insolvent in…

The Spring 2026 deregulation plan incorporates, for the first time, the regulatory plans of independent agencies, now subject to White House coordination following the Supreme Court of the United States’ June 29, 2026, decision expanding presidential removal power. Among the 702 targeted rules are environmental review requirements for energy projects, energy efficiency standards, rules that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and specific deregulatory actions relevant to the federal contracting…

Quick Hits A New York appellate court found that a pandemic-related office closure does not exempt nonresident employees from New York income tax on out-of-state earnings. The court found that the nonresident employee’s full income was taxable under the state’s convenience of the employer rule because the nonresident employee’s out-of-state remote work situation during the pandemic was not due to the employer’s necessity. The court further rejected constitutional claims to…

Quick Hits The German government’s governing coalition issued a reform package that includes labor and employment law proposals that would relax dismissal protections for top earners, provide tax benefits on severance payments for individuals who quickly take up new employment, and eliminate telephone-based sick leave certifications. The reform package would also allow fixed-term employment contracts without objective grounds for up to forty-eight months and to be extended up to six…

Quick Hits The New York Court of Appeals clarified that, pursuant to New York Labor Law § 220, contractors on public projects in New York must pay prevailing wages even if the contract does not promise to pay prevailing wages. The court found that any agreement in a public works contract to shorten the statute of limitations governing third-party claims for prevailing wages is not enforceable. Prevailing wages may apply…

Specifically, the EEOC identified ten actions it intends to pursue, including regulatory proposals to rescind the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), eliminate the annual EEO-1 report, and withdraw long-standing interpretive guidance on affirmative action and national origin discrimination. The EEOC’s regulatory agenda, as released in its latest submission in the federal Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, is a statement of the agency’s intent, but is…

Quick Hits The EEOC released a draft strategic plan for FY 2026–2030 on July 1, 2026, with public comments due by July 19, 2026. The draft narrows or removes several priorities carried over from the current FY 2022–2026 plan, most notably around systemic enforcement, the agency’s own diversity-related workforce commitments, and AI in hiring. Employers may wish to review the draft now, since it signals how the Commission intends to…

Quick Hits Virginia Governor Spanberger vetoed SB 378/HB 1263 on May 14, 2026, blocking legislation that would have extended collective bargaining rights to approximately 500,000 public employees across the Commonwealth. The vetoed bill would have repealed Virginia’s collective bargaining ban, established a Public Employee Relations Board, required mandatory good-faith bargaining over wages, hours, and working conditions, and imposed binding arbitration upon impasse. Virginia’s existing framework, which allows individual localities to…

Quick Hits On June 22, 2026, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) published its Elements of Proof Guidance, a comprehensive document setting forth the elements of proof the MCCR applies for claims of employment and other discrimination under Maryland State Government Article, Title 20. The guidance identifies thirty-five categories of employment discrimination claims—ranging from hiring, promotion, and discharge to harassment, retaliation, and genetic testing—and sets forth the specific elements…