USA

Impact date: Employees became eligible for benefits as of 1 May 2026. Contributions to the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program began on 1 January 2025. Employees are eligible for benefits as of 1 May 2026.

Employees who earn at least six times the State’s Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) during the base period are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a new child; to care for their own or a family member’s serious health condition; organ donation; for specified purposes related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or the death or serious health condition of certain family members on active military duty.

The Program applies to all employers. Employees can receive up to 100% of the SAWW, which is currently $1,198.84, funded by employer contributions, but employers can deduct up to 50% of the contribution from employee wages.

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, 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 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 HIPAA or any other law.

Impact date: The Amended Act has delayed the effective date to 19 December 2026. 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)

In accordance with a new Bill (H.B. 1155), non-compete agreements in employment will be prohibited, even among high-wage earners. With limited exception, non-compete agreements will become void and unenforceable for all businesses and employees starting on 30 June 2027. The Bill broadens the definition of “noncompetition covenant” to encompass agreements with respect to performers, and an agreement that “threatens, demands, requires, or otherwise effectuates that an individual return, repay, or forfeit any right, benefit, or compensation, as a consequence of the individual engaging in a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind.” By 1 October 2027, employers will be required to provide written notice to current and former employees and independent contractors of unenforceability of any such provisions in existing employment agreements with them.

The Bill does not prohibit non-solicitation agreements but amends the law to require that these provisions be “narrowly construed” and provides insight as to who is a prospective client.

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.