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A survey of more than 300 in-house lawyers, HR professionals and executives found that regulatory and political shifts are reshaping workplace priorities. Many employers say the evolving landscape has forced them to reconsider workforce strategies, compliance efforts and hiring plans as they try to navigate new federal and state policies.

What about rules requiring employees to cover tattoos or remove facial and/or tongue jewelry during business hours and during patient interactions? We would like our employees to present a very professional appearance and feel like these things don’t reflect that.

Back in 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission became the first agency or court to conclude that Title VII’s sex-discrimination provisions included protection for individuals whose gender identity did not align with their sex assigned at birth. Fast-forward to 2026, and the same agency has overturned that decision.

You may think an employee is sending work and videoconferencing in from a known location, but your staff may be operating from anywhere in the world. And that can create tax and other problems for those workers and the company that employs them.

Dubbed AI workslop, errors appear almost as ubiquitous as AI tools themselves. What does it take to fix the errors that creep in? Should they even be fixed?

The Federal Trade Commission’s announcement that it would no longer seek a total ban on noncompetes does not mean that the agency isn’t suing employers for using noncompete agreements that it believes are anti-competitive. Most recently, the agency identified two cases where employers went too far.

We are a medical primary care clinic, and our handbook has a statement: “Covert recording, scanning or photocopying is a violation of office policy and will lead to disciplinary action, including possible termination.” I understand that the NLRB has rules that bar employers from preventing employees from documenting poor working conditions. Does that mean we can’t have this rule?

In a letter sent to chief executives, general counsel and board chairs, the agency’s leader emphasized that workplace initiatives tied to diversity, equity and inclusion must still comply with longstanding protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

New general counsel Crystal Carey takes the position that the agency should hear fewer cases and that regional offices should be less aggressive in pursuing employers over workplace rules.

Still missing in early 2026 is a Supreme Court ruling forcing employers to drop DEI efforts. Now the Department of Justice has signaled that it will push for a Supreme Court decision along those lines.