USA

Impact date: 1 June 2026

Under the Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (NICLA), when the child of an employee is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Illinois employers must provide:

• ten days of unpaid leave (employers with 16-49 employees)
• 20 days of unpaid leave (employers with 50+ employees)

Leave may be taken intermittently or consecutively, is in addition to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and is tacked on at the end of FMLA leave. Employers may not require employees to substitute accrued paid leave prior to taking NICLA leave, and employees must be reinstated to their former position or a substantially equivalent position with no loss of benefits held or accrued prior to taking leave.

Employers may require “reasonable verification” of the child’s NICU stay but cannot request any confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or any other law.

Impact date: 1 July 2026

Two new changes have been made to the State’s non-compete landscape:

• non-competes are now prohibited for employees who earn less than $70,000 in annualized compensation. Annualized compensation represents all forms of income including wages, commissions and bonuses. Hourly annualized compensation is determined by the employee’s hourly rate multiplied by 40 (hours in a week) multiplied by 52 (weeks in a year) and
• a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness applies regarding the duration of non-compete agreements. Depending on the type of relationship involved, certain time periods are presumed reasonable, while longer restrictions are presumed unreasonable, unless sufficient evidence is presented to rebut that presumption.

Only agreements entered into after 1 July 2026, are subject to these new standards.

Impact date: Effective 1 July 2026

Connecticut has introduced new protections for employees who are subject to productivity quotas, particularly in warehouse distribution centres. A productivity quota is a performance target that requires employees to complete a specified amount of work within a certain period.

Under the new law, covered employers may be required to provide employees with a written description of any productivity quotas that apply to them, together with details of any adverse consequences that may result from failing to meet those quotas. The law also provides that productivity quotas must not interfere with employees' legal rights, including meal breaks and access to restroom facilities. In addition, the law prohibits productivity quotas that measure required output over a period shorter than an employee's full workday. In practice, this means employers cannot require employees to achieve a specified level of productivity within shorter measurement periods, such as during particular portions of a shift, if the quota is based on output tracked over a period shorter than the employee's entire workday. Productivity quotas also cannot be based solely on an employee's ranking relative to other employees.

The legislation also introduces record-keeping requirements for employers that impose productivity quotas or collect and analyse employee work-speed data. Such employers must retain relevant records for at least three years. Upon request, an employee is entitled to receive:

1. A written description of each productivity quota that applies to them.
2. A copy of their individual work-speed data for the previous 90 days.
3. A copy of aggregated work-speed data for comparable employees working at the same warehouse distribution centre for the previous 90 days.

Impact date: 17 July 2026

Eligibility for leave under the New Jersey Family Leave Act has been significantly expanded. The Act provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave during a 24-month period to care for a child or a family member with a serious health condition.

Previously, the Act generally applied only to employees who worked for an employer with 30 or more employees, had completed at least 12 months of service, and had worked at least 1,000 hours for that employer. Under the new rules, employees are eligible if they:

• Work for an employer with 15 or more employees;
• Have worked for the employer for at least three months; and
• Have completed at least 250 hours of work.

The changes significantly expand access to family leave by reducing both the employer-size threshold and the length of service and hours-worked requirements.

Impact date: 23 July 2026

New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) has been amended to require employers to make at least 32 hours of protected leave available to employees immediately upon their first day of employment and at the start of each calendar year. This entitlement applies equally to full-time, part-time and mid-year hires and is separate from any additional paid leave that employers may already be required to provide under applicable laws or workplace policies.

The amendments also provide that if an employee leaves employment and is subsequently rehired by the same employer during the same calendar year, the employer must reinstate any unused portion of the employee's immediately available 32-hour leave entitlement.

Guidance issued in relation to the amendments indicates that, in certain circumstances, employers may still be required to pay exempt employees (employees who are generally not entitled to overtime pay under US wage and hour laws) when they take unpaid protected leave. In addition, employers that provide ESSTA notices and information electronically are required to retain certain records relating to employees' use of unpaid leave for up to six months following the end of employment.

Impact date: 19 December 2026 (delayed effective date).

New York’s Trapped at Work Act (“Act”) prohibits agreements entered into as a condition of employment that require workers to repay money if they leave employment before a stated period of time. Under the Act, employers may not require, as a condition of employment, any “employment promissory note” or agreement that (i) requires payment to the employer if the worker leaves before a specified time, or (ii) labels repayment as reimbursement for employer-provided training.

The Act defines the term “employer” broadly to include subsidiaries and any entity that provides training to workers. Additionally, the term “worker” includes employees, independent contractors, interns and externs, volunteers, apprentices, and sole proprietors providing services. The term does not include individuals “whose sole relationship with the employer is as a vendor of goods.”

On 13 February 2026, amendments to the Act were signed into law, providing for a delayed effective date, exception for common compensation arrangements, a standalone exception for tuition repayments, a narrower definition of covered workers as “employees”, and still no private right of actions for employees to sue employer for violation.

Impact date: 30 June 2027 (effective date); 1 October 2027 (notice date)

Non-compete agreements in employment will be largely prohibited, even among high-wage earners. Subject to limited exceptions, non-compete agreements will become void and unenforceable for all businesses and employees from 30 June 2027.

The legislation also broadens the definition of a “noncompetition covenant”. In addition to traditional restrictions on working for a competitor, the definition now includes certain provisions affecting performers and contractual terms that require an individual to return, repay or forfeit compensation, benefits or other rights as a consequence of engaging in a lawful profession, trade or business. The legislation does not prohibit non-solicitation agreements (agreements that restrict a former worker from soliciting clients, customers or employees). However, it provides that such restrictions must be interpreted narrowly and includes additional guidance on who may be regarded as a prospective client for these purposes.

Employers will also be required to take steps in relation to existing agreements. By 1 October 2027, employers must provide written notice to current and former employees and independent contractors informing them that any non-compete provisions that are no longer enforceable under the legislation are unenforceable.

Impact date: 1 July 2027 Senate Bill (SB) 590 expands the eligibility of benefits under the state paid family leave program to include individuals who take time off to care for a seriously ill designated person. Starting on 1 July 2028, benefits under the state-paid family leave program will be available to employees caring for a designated person. SB 590 specifically codifies and defines a “designated person”, defining it to mean any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.

When requesting family temporary disability insurance benefits to care for a designated person, the worker must both identify the individual and attest under penalty of perjury to the nature of the relationship, including either how the designated person is related by blood or how the worker’s association with the designated person is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Employers may still limit employees to one designated person per 12-month period, and paid family leave benefits remain limited to eight weeks with any 12-month period.

Impact date: 1 September 2027 Delaware signed House Bill (H.B.) 105 into law, which requires employers with 26 or more employees to include certain compensation and benefit information in job postings. The Bill requires covered employers who announce, post or make known a job opportunity to disclose the “hourly or salary compensation range and a general description of the benefits and other compensation.” The law defines the “hourly or salary compensation range” as “the minimum to maximum pay range for the position, set in good faith by reference to any applicable pay scale, previously determined range for the position, the actual range of others currently holding equivalent positions, or the budgeted amount for the position, as applicable.”

The disclosure requirement applies to both internal and external job postings. If a posting for the job opportunity has not been made available to an applicant, the employer must provide the required compensation and benefit information “prior to any offer or discussion of compensation and at any time at the applicant’s request.”

The law applies to employers with 26 or more employees and covers jobs located in Delaware and non-international remote positions offered by Delaware-based employers. The law does not explicitly state whether the 26-employee minimum includes only employees located in Delaware or also those outside of Delaware.

Impact date: Employees may become eligible for benefits as of 3 January 2028

As of 1 January 2025, delays to contributions and benefits under the Maryland Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program have been agreed. Contributions to the program will begin in January 2027 and benefits will be available beginning on 3 January 2028.

The Maryland Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program applies to all employers with at least one employee. Employees who have worked at least 680 hours over the four most recent quarters are eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a new child, or to care their own medical condition or that of a family member, as defined in the statute. An additional 12 weeks may be available to care for the employees own serious medical condition or that of a family member if the initial 12 weeks was for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Employees can receive up to 90% of their salary with a maximum of $1,000 per week funded by employer and employee contributions.

Impact date: The Safety and Health Codes Board will develop and adopt heat illness prevention regulations no later than 1 May 2028

Virginia enacted legislation requiring the development of workplace heat illness prevention standards. The legislation applies to employers whose workers may be exposed to heat-related risks and is intended to improve protections for both employees and independent contractors working in hot conditions.

The legislation requires the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board to develop regulations addressing heat-related workplace hazards. At a minimum, the future regulations must require employers to:

• Provide access to drinking water, shade or climate-controlled environments where practicable.
• Allow appropriate rest breaks and measures to help workers acclimatize to working in hot conditions.
• Provide effective training on heat illness prevention.
• Implement additional safety measures when workplace temperatures reach specified heat or high-heat thresholds.
• Establish effective emergency response procedures for heat-related incidents.