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Quick Hits Life science employers face a rapidly evolving 2026 legal landscape spanning noncompete enforcement shifts, expanding pay transparency mandates, AI bias audit requirements, immigration overhauls, DEI program legal exposure, NLRB policy reversals, OSHA heat standards, new leave and accommodation obligations, and workforce development imperatives. State and federal developments are moving in different and sometimes opposing directions, with the Trump administration pulling back on certain enforcement priorities while states accelerate…

Quick Hits The DOL’s AI Literacy Framework defines essential skills for effectively using and evaluating generative AI technologies in the workplace. The framework encourages employers to provide hands-on training to ensure all employees possess baseline AI literacy skills to engage with AI tools responsibly and effectively. The framework outlines foundational content areas and key principles for effective training, including experiential learning and the integration of complementary human skills alongside AI…

Quick Hits California’s AB 2064 would add “criminal history” as a new protected characteristic under both the Unruh Civil Rights Act and FEHA. Employers would retain the ability to consider criminal history through an individualized assessment under the Fair Chance Act, but would be required to demonstrate that the conviction directly and adversely relates to specific job duties before denying employment. The bill builds on California’s existing Fair Chance Act…

Quick Hits The California Court of Appeal held that an arbitrator’s finding of no Labor Code violations has issue-preclusive effect on an employee’s PAGA standing. The decision barred an employee from pursuing representative PAGA claims in court after losing on individual claims in arbitration. The ruling confirms a powerful strategy for employers: compel individual claims to arbitration, secure a favorable ruling, and then move to dismiss the representative PAGA action.…

Quick Hits The IRS has issued new guidance reflecting that the tax exclusion for educational assistance programs under Section 127 will be adjusted for inflation starting in 2027, while maintaining a flat cap of $5,250 for 2026. The guidance clarifies the permanent extension for tax-free employer contributions toward qualified education loans and clarifies that educator expenses can be claimed as itemized deductions starting in 2026. The IRS updated its frequently…

Quick Hits Beginning no later than January 3, 2028, eligible Maryland employees will be entitled to up to twenty-four weeks of paid family and medical leave for certain specified reasons. The MDOL’s FAMLI Division has significantly overhauled its website to provide new and expanded guidance to employers and employees in advance of the start of the paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) program. The FAMLI Division’s employer-focused resources include…

Quick Hits The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, held that ambiguities in three arbitration documents did not defeat the parties’ mutual intent to arbitrate. The ambiguities involved Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applicability, arbitrator selection, and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) waivers. The court found only a low level of procedural unconscionability, typical of adhesive employment agreements, and no substantive unconscionability. The agreement’s severability clause allowed the court to…

Quick Hits A Massachusetts federal court extended its preliminary injunction blocking the ACTS survey mandate for twelve intervenor-plaintiffs, representing approximately 178 additional institutions of higher education. The court found that the intervenor-plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the ACTS survey was adopted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The court concluded it had the statutory authority…

Quick Hits The DOJ ordered the reclassification of certain marijuana and marijuana-containing products from Schedule I to Schedule III controlled substances, potentially reshaping medical research and employer policies around its use.  Reclassification could lead to more medical research on marijuana and other non-employment-related impacts. Reclassification could also have implications for employers, including the handling of employees who are medical marijuana cardholders, analysis of workplace accommodation requests, and maintaining drug testing…

Quick Hits The D.C. Circuit held that an off-site repair facility located near a mine and used primarily to service coal haul trucks qualified as a “mine” under the Mine Act but avoided addressing broader MSHA jurisdictional questions. After the Supreme Court returned the case following Loper Bright, the D.C. Circuit adopted a fact-intensive test asking whether a facility is “necessarily connected with the use and operation of extracting, milling,…

Quick Hits Starting no later than January 3, 2028, the FAMLI program will provide most Maryland employees with up to twelve weeks of paid leave for certain family and medical reasons, with a possible additional twelve weeks of leave for parental bonding, per application year. The program is funded through employer and employee payroll contributions, which will commence on January 1, 2027, and be administered by the MDOL’s FAMLI Division.…

Quick Hits A coalition of higher education/academic and minority trade associations has filed a lawsuit against President Trump’s executive order on DEI initiatives that imposes contractual consequences on federal contractors and subcontractors. The lawsuit alleges that Executive Order (EO) 14398 unlawfully equates DEI with racial discrimination and violates the First Amendment by chilling speech and association on matters of race and diversity. The plaintiffs contend EO 14398 is overly broad…

Quick Hits New clause FAR 52.222-90 declares contractor compliance “material” to the government’s payment decisions, creating direct False Claims Act liability for contractors who maintain prohibited programs. Agencies must bilaterally modify existing contracts to include the new clause by July 24, 2026, and if a contractor refuses, agencies are told to consider whether the contract should be terminated for convenience. Prime contractors must flow the clause down to all tiers…

Quick Hits The minimum wage in the U.S. Virgin Islands will increase to $12.00 per hour starting April 24, 2026, The increase is part of recent amendments enacted in January 2026 that call for annual increases to the minimum wage rate each year until 2028 and call for potential future adjustments by the Virgin Islands Wage Board after 2029.  Employers may want to review and update their wage schedules and…