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On September 23, 2026, the New York State Department of Labor published, on page 9 of the New York State Register, a proposed rule, “Opioid Antagonists in the Workplace,” clarifying how employers must comply. The rule addresses how many opioid antagonists employers must keep on-site, where to store them, and how to train employees. This proposed rule is open for public comment until November 22, 2026. Quick Hits Covered employers…

Quick Hits The Allegheny County Board of Health is reviewing amendments to a proposed paid parental leave ordinance issued in May 2026 that would shorten the length of paid leave from eighteen to twelve weeks and revise employer eligibility from all employers to those with fifteen or more employees. The Board will vote on whether to approve the paid parental leave policy as amended on September 28, 2026. In May…

Quick Hits In Joyner v. Frontier Airlines, the Tenth Circuit reversed a district court’s ruling that customer service agents at a Denver airport were transportation workers exempt from federal arbitration law. The Tenth Circuit found the lower court had improperly relied on the work the named plaintiffs had actually performed, rather than what a typical class member did. The case hinged on whether the employees regularly handled passengers’ bags and…

Quick Hits An employer may request that the employee disclose which job offers the employee received from Germany’s Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) or Jobcenter. The employer does not have an independently enforceable right to information about applications and their outcomes. The right to information under Section 242 of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB)) extends only as far as the employer needs information to trigger the employee’s…

Quick Hits On August 11, 2026, the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District granted mandamus relief in State of Missouri ex rel. Waddell v. Atkins and ordered a trial court to vacate an order compelling arbitration. The court held that a case relates to a sexual misconduct dispute when the asserted causes of action arise from alleged sexual assault or harassment, and that the EFAA invalidates a predispute…

Quick Hits Noncompliance with the DEI anti-discrimination clause at FAR 52.222-90 can result in debarment or suspension, a sanction on par with fraud, bribery, and antitrust violations as grounds for a governmentwide exclusion from federal contracting. The FAR Council proposed a rule on September 18, 2026, that would stamp the three-tier enforcement structure of the DEI clause into the FAR: contract-level remedies (cancellation, termination, or ineligibility), governmentwide exclusion (debarment or…

Quick Hits The executive order directs the secretaries of state, labor, and homeland security to consider whether an employer conducted layoffs within the prior year or plans future layoffs affecting similarly situated U.S. workers when adjudicating H-1B-related filings. Employers could see additional scrutiny at multiple points in the H-1B process, including DOL Labor Condition Application (LCA) review, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) petition adjudication, consular visa issuance, and admission…

Quick Hits The Second Circuit amended its July 2026 decision, clarifying that the decision was not meant to establish that a heightened motive requirement exists for failure-to-accommodate cases. The court clarified that employees need not prove discriminatory animus against religion to substantiate their claims, but they must show that the denial was motivated by a desire to avoid the accommodation. The case, Bergin v. New York State Unified Court System,…

Quick Hits On 8 September 2026, the Court of Appeal held that TUPE Regulation 4(2)(a) must be read in light of the EU Acquired Rights Directive, whose purpose is to protect and ensure the continuity of employee rights upon a change of employer. TUPE is legislation that exists to benefit employees. It does not enable third parties to pursue transferees (in this case, Active Young People Limited) for the transferors’…

Quick Hits The average UK employment tribunal claim now takes nearly sixty weeks from receipt to disposal, with some hearings listed for 2029. Explosion of AI useage is likely a key factor. Even though hearings may be delayed for a year or more, employers may want to gather and preserve key documents and other evidence up front. The AI Effect Many commentators in the United Kingdom cite the recent widespread…