Through new legislation and shifting enforcement priorities, California continues to challenge common workplace practices, including collectible wage judgments and binding employment agreements. Employers must understand how new rules on wage judgment penalties, stay-or-pay provisions, and arbitration agreements affect risk and strategy.

Below is what employers need to know for 2026.

Wage Judgment Enforcement Is Getting…

California continues to push pay transparency further into the mainstream of employment law. Employers with 15 or more employees now face more detailed requirements for posting wage ranges and reporting pay data. Penalties for missing or incomplete information have increased, and misunderstandings about these rules can lead to significant exposure.

Here is what every California…

Upcoming Webinar: New Year, New Laws – What Oregon Employers Need to Know for 2026 – February 4, 2026
As a new year gets underway, gain a clear understanding of the employment law changes Oregon employers need to know. Join Stoel Rives labor and employment attorneys Melissa Healy, Matt Tellam, and Megan Bradford…

What starts as a simple employment verification request can quickly turn into something riskier. As hospitals dig deeper during physician credentialing, HR professionals are increasingly faced with forms that ask for more than just facts—venturing into judgment calls about clinical skills, professionalism, and “potential concerns.”

These requests may seem routine, but they can carry real…

As Congress approaches a funding lapse resulting in a government shutdown, California employers should prepare for several indirect effects on workplace operations. Although a federal shutdown does not halt California’s employment laws, it does pause many federal agency functions, as discussed below.

Federal Enforcement Agencies

Most federal labor agencies will furlough staff and suspend routine…

The VETS-4212 filing period for federal contractors opened last week on August 1, 2025, and closes on September 30, 2025.

Federal contractors and subcontractors with 50 or more employees and at least one federal contract of $150,000 or more are required to file their annual VETS-4212 Report, which provides an overview of the contractor’s workforce…

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer issued Order 08-2025 and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a Bulletin explaining the Secretary’s Order.  Importantly for federal contractors, “OFCCP will be exercising its discretion to administratively close all pending compliance reviews and will take no further action related to the scheduling list…

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently stated that it will not enforce an employee-friendly independent contractor rule implemented by the Biden administration in 2024 (“Biden Rule”). The Biden Rule made it more difficult for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors. In contrast, the DOL’s announced approach will renew focus on a factor that…

As of yesterday—May 20, 2025—EEO-1 data collection is open. The deadline to file the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 report is June 24, 2025. The EEOC stated there will be no extensions, so covered employers should act promptly to file their reports.  For detailed information on the EEOC’s substantive filing requirements, employers may refer to the…