University of Kwazulu-Natal

Federal Employment Law Updates For 2025 Wga Com

Bonisiwe Shabane
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federal employment law updates for 2025 wga com

2025 Annual Meeting Registration is Open. Register Now. It’s a New Year! Are you ready? Significant changes in federal employment laws for 2025 encompass critical aspects of workplace regulations, including new guidelines on harassment, revised rules on employee classification, and evolving interpretations of existing statutes. Understanding these changes is crucial for maintaining compliance and fostering a fair and equitable work environment.

Highlighted below are some of the latest developments impacting employers issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor (DOL). Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”)) Issued April 29, 2024, the EEOC’s enforcement guidance ‘Guidelines on Harassment in the Workplace’ offers guidance on the standards for harassment and employer liability applicable to claims of harassment under the EEO statutes enforced... The guidance highlights the EEOC’s position on “protected characteristics” and identifies workplace behaviors that rise to the level of harassment. These include prohibitions on work-related harassment based on protected classifications such as race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; sexual orientation; and gender identity), national origin, disability, genetic information, and... The updated guidelines provide specific factual examples of what constitutes unlawful harassment in the modern workplace.

Examples include common scenarios involving sexual advances at holiday parties and comments regarding an employee’s natural hair. Employers entered the third quarter of 2025 facing a familiar challenge: keeping up with accelerating legal change. This quarter delivered not only new legal requirements, but also deeper operational risks. From tightened fair chance protections in Philadelphia and Washington to expanded salary disclosure mandates in Massachusetts and Cleveland, employers were forced to reexamine how they evaluate candidates, structure compensation, and manage workplace risk. At the same time, state lawmakers doubled down on regulating AI in employment, clarified cannabis testing restrictions, and added new layers to I-9 and E-Verify procedures. What was once a series of policy updates has become a coordinated shift in how compliance must be integrated into hiring workflows.

Below is your Q3 2025 Compliance Playbook. Each development may require operational changes in the way employers hire, vet, and retain talent. Beginning January 6, 2026, Philadelphia employers must implement new lookback periods and procedural protections when using criminal history in hiring. Misdemeanor convictions are limited to a four-year lookback window, and summary offenses are excluded altogether. Expunged and sealed records must not be considered even if reported. The amended ordinance also requires employers to issue a written notice before taking any adverse action based on a criminal record.

That notice must include a summary of rights under the Philadelphia Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance, a statement that the employer will consider evidence of error, rehabilitation, or mitigation, and instructions for submitting... Employers must then provide the applicant ten business days to respond before finalizing the decision. Congress: We’re Back, Baby! The U.S. Congress is back in Washington, D.C., this week after its annual August recess. As they return, Republican senators are exploring options to tinker with U.S.

Senate procedures to allow them to more quickly advance President Donald Trump’s nominees. Indeed, we are still awaiting Senate-confirmed positions at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Wage and Hour Division (WHD), and Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), among others. But chief among our legislators’ priorities in the coming weeks will be funding the federal government beyond its current September 30, 2025, deadline (an evergreen issue both on Capitol Hill and, consequently, here at... In addition to the challenging politics of such an endeavor, Congress is scheduled to be out the week beginning September 22, giving lawmakers only twelve legislative days to work. In light of all this, a continuing resolution to extend current funding until a later date is the most likely solution to avoid a shutdown.

Regulatory Agenda Released. After an inadvertent leak a few weeks ago, on September 4, 2025, the Trump administration released the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The agenda provides a roadmap of federal agency rulemaking activities for the next six months. Below are some key labor/employment-related items. Neither the EEOC nor the NLRB included submissions in the agenda. Treasury Issues ‘No Tax on Tips’ Guidance.

While President Trump’s “no tax on tips” promise was enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, there has been a lot of uncertainty regarding who may qualify for relief under the... Pursuant to the act, workers may deduct up to $25,000 in tips from their income per year through 2028 when such tips are “received by an individual in an occupation which customarily and regularly... Department of the Treasury released a preliminary list of occupations that will qualify for the deduction, noting that formal regulations are still to come, but that such regulations “will be substantially the same as... Mahoney, Stephen Kenney, and Zachary V. Zagger have the details. The U.S.

District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has vacated the Department of Labor's rule raising the salary threshold for exempt workers. This means we’ve now returned to the 2019 rule with a threshold of $684 per week. This situation mirrors what happened during Trump's first term when an Obama-era salary threshold increase was vacated, followed by a more modest increase in 2019. Employers should be prepared for a potential moderate increase in the salary threshold at some point during this administration. The Trump administration is not expected to appeal a Texas District Court’s decision to stop the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from banning non-compete agreements. This ban was slated for September 2024, but instead, non-compete regulation has shifted to the state level, with many states introducing their own legislation on the issue.

Even with an administration that appears unwilling to enforce the FTC non-compete ban, there may still be scrutiny from the agency focused on employment matters. At a Feb. 24 event, new FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced a task force to investigate corporate actions that harm workers in ways that violate antitrust and consumer protection laws. He indicated this will be a top priority. For now, employers should have legal counsel review their existing agreements with restrictive covenants to ensure that the covenants are narrowly tailored and enforceable. Several 2024 Fourth Circuit and U.S.

Supreme Court decisions provide employers with additional guidance on hard-to-navigate issues around FMLA, ADA, mental health, and taking adverse actions against employees. In Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a job transfer can be an adverse employment action under Title VII even if the employee maintains the same rank and pay. If the transfer results in loss of certain benefits, perks or standing, it can be considered adverse. The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance guidelines on harassment in the Workplace were issued on April 29, 2024.

In the guidance, the EEOC presents a legal analysis of standards for harassment and employer liability applicable to claims of harassment under the EEO statutes enforced by the Commission. The guidance sets forth the EEOC’s position on its definition of “protected characteristics” and identifies workplace behaviors that rise to the level of harassment. These include prohibitions on work-related harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; sexual orientation; and gender identity), national origin, disability, genetic information, and age (40 or over). Most of the guidance addresses and delves into topics that are most relevant to the modern workforce. The guidelines provide 77 specific fact patterns as examples of what constitutes unlawful harassment in the workplace. The examples range from common scenarios involving coworker sexual advances at holiday parties to comments regarding an employee’s natural hair.

While these guidelines are not binding, and the EEOC could expand or revise its guidance, employers should review and use the guidelines as a tool on how to address and prevent unlawful harassment claims... For a further summary of the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace please see the Dykema blog post summarizing the issue here. The Final Rule on Employee or Independent Contractor classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) has been in effect since March 11, 2024. The 2024 Department of Labor (“DOL”) rule rescinds the Independent Contractor Status under the FLSA Rule that was published January 7, 2021, and replaces it with a six-factor “economic realities” test that considers: (1)... Thank you for joining the conversation of The Workplace Transformed! We share and reflect upon best practices, strategies & solutions for the new workplace.

If you're new to our community and would like to learn more, click the "subscribe" button above. A new year often means new employment laws, and 2025 is no different. In fact, several new federal-level employment laws took effect in 2025, impacting everything from salary exemptions to healthcare. As workplace policies continue to evolve nationwide, employees and employers must stay informed and agile to adapt to these changes. For employers, staying compliant is essential to avoid potential legal challenges and penalties. For employees, understanding how these updates impact your rights and benefits is crucial to ensuring your present and future security is taken care of.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key updates to federal employment laws that employers and employees should expect to see this year. <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="wp-image-4951 alignright" src="http://angelareddock-wright.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/federal-level-employment-labor-laws-in-2025.jpg" alt="Two employees who are happy because they stayed informed regarding federal-level employment laws in 2025 and avoided problems." width="496" height="323" srcset="https://angelareddock-wright.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/federal-level-employment-labor-laws-in-2025.jpg 1920w, https://angelareddock-wright.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/federal-level-employment-labor-laws-in-2025-300x196.jpg 300w, https://angelareddock-wright.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/federal-level-employment-labor-laws-in-2025-1024x668.jpg 1024w, https://angelareddock-wright.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/federal-level-employment-labor-laws-in-2025-768x501.jpg 768w,... A new year often means new employment laws, and 2025 is no different. In fact, several new federal-level employment laws in 2025 are set to take effect, impacting everything from salary exemptions to healthcare. As workplace policies continue to evolve nationwide, employees and employers must stay informed and agile to adapt to these changes. For employers, staying compliant is essential to avoid potential legal challenges and penalties.

For employees, understanding how these updates impact your rights and benefits is crucial to ensuring your present and future security is taken care of. As a legal expert with a focus on employment law and workplace trends, my goal is to provide clear insights into the latest legislative changes. As we enter 2025, it’s important to prepare for the upcoming shifts in federal law. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key updates to federal employment laws that employers and employees should expect to see in the coming year. As we enter the new year, it is important to understand the changes in labor laws so that you can adapt accordingly. So, without further ado, let’s get into some notable changes that both employers and employees should anticipate.

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2025 Annual Meeting Registration is Open. Register Now. It’s a New Year! Are you ready? Significant changes in federal employment laws for 2025 encompass critical aspects of workplace regulations, including new guidelines on harassment, revised rules on employee classification, and evolving interpretations of existing statutes. Understanding these changes is crucial for maintaining compliance and ...

Highlighted Below Are Some Of The Latest Developments Impacting Employers

Highlighted below are some of the latest developments impacting employers issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor (DOL). Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”)) Issued April 29, 2024, the EEOC’s enforcement guidance ‘Guidelines on Harassment in the Workplace’ offers guidance on the sta...

Examples Include Common Scenarios Involving Sexual Advances At Holiday Parties

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Below Is Your Q3 2025 Compliance Playbook. Each Development May

Below is your Q3 2025 Compliance Playbook. Each development may require operational changes in the way employers hire, vet, and retain talent. Beginning January 6, 2026, Philadelphia employers must implement new lookback periods and procedural protections when using criminal history in hiring. Misdemeanor convictions are limited to a four-year lookback window, and summary offenses are excluded alt...

That Notice Must Include A Summary Of Rights Under The

That notice must include a summary of rights under the Philadelphia Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance, a statement that the employer will consider evidence of error, rehabilitation, or mitigation, and instructions for submitting... Employers must then provide the applicant ten business days to respond before finalizing the decision. Congress: We’re Back, Baby! The U.S. Congress is...