Employment Law This Week

What employers should know about key developments this week: New Employee Access Right: Starting November 8, 2026, New York employers must allow current and former employees to access their personnel files up to two times per calendar year, and employers must produce the files within five business days. Notification and Response Rights: An employer must notify an employee within 10 days of placing any negative information in the employee's personnel file. The employee has the right to respond, and that response will be included in the personnel file unless the employer and employee agree otherwise. Collective Bargaining Agreements and Compliance: The new law does not change existing collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) if they already provide employees the same level of access to personnel records as the statute requires. Employers with unionized workforces should review their CBAs against the new statutory floor. In this episode of Employment Law This Week®, Epstein Becker Green attorney Adam M. Tomiak discusses what the New York personnel file access law means for employers. - Visit our site for this week's video edition and more news: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw449 Sign up for notifications: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw-subscribe Visit https://www.EmploymentLawThisWeek.com - Epstein Becker Green is a national law firm focused on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this video does not create an attorney-client relationship. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® and #WorkforceWednesday® are registered trademarks of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. © Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. All Rights Reserved. Attorney Advertising.

What employers should know about key developments this week: Candidate Fraud Escalating Globally: According to the research firm Gartner, by 2028, one in four candidate profiles could be fraudulent in some way. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools now make it easier to create false identities and fabricate credentials, and employers face the dual risk of hiring unqualified candidates or unknowingly bringing in individuals with fraudulent intent. North Korea's Remote Worker Operation: From 2020 to 2022, the U.S. government identified over 300 U.S. companies—including Fortune 500 firms—that unknowingly hired fraudulent remote workers operating as part of a coordinated North Korean state operation. Building an Insider Threat Program: Hiring fraudulent candidates can result in security threats, intellectual property theft, reputational damage, operational disruption, and potential Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions. Employers should implement a comprehensive insider threat program that identifies risk areas while complying with applicable background check laws and other federal, state, and local legal requirements. In this episode of Employment Law This Week®, Epstein Becker Green attorneys Brian G. Cesaratto and Genevieve M. Murphy-Bradacs examine how employers can safeguard their hiring processes against fraudulent candidates and state-sponsored threats in an AI-enabled environment. - Visit our site for this week's video edition and more news: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw448 Sign up for notifications: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw-subscribe Visit https://www.EmploymentLawThisWeek.com - Epstein Becker Green is a national law firm focused on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this video does not create an attorney-client relationship. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® and #WorkforceWednesday® are registered trademarks of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. © Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. All Rights Reserved. Attorney Advertising.

What employers should know about key developments this week: DOL's Visa Crackdown: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has frozen all new permanent labor certification (PERM) applications from several major IT and tech companies as part of a joint investigation with the White House Fraud Task Force examining allegations of wage suppression, fake recruitment processes, and systemic misuse of H-1B visas and the PERM process. State Department Halts Immigrant Visas: The U.S. Department of State has paused all immigrant visa applications from outside the United States and is preparing to revoke up to 200,000 business and tourism visas held by individuals who have sought asylum. H-2A Farmworker Wage Rates in Limbo: A federal court ruled that the DOL's Adverse Effect Wage Rate methodology for H-2A farmworkers is unlawful, requiring the agency to recalculate rates and potentially exposing employers to back pay liability for the difference. Visit our site for this week's video edition and more news: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw447 Sign up for notifications: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw-subscribe Visit https://www.EmploymentLawThisWeek.com - Epstein Becker Green is a national law firm focused on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this video does not create an attorney-client relationship. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® and #WorkforceWednesday® are registered trademarks of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. © Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. All Rights Reserved. Attorney Advertising.

What employers should know about key developments this week: NLRB Shifts to Republican Majority: The Senate confirmed David Prouty and James Macey to the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or "Board") in August, establishing Republican control with three Republican members among the four currently confirmed. General Counsel Crystal Carey has indicated her intent to present several decisions for the new majority to overturn, particularly the Cemex, Stericycle, and Thryv decisions from the Biden era. Chevron Deference Ends: Following the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright ruling, courts are no longer required to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Circuit courts now have authority to reject NLRB positions that lack statutory support. DC Circuit Declines to Enforce "Successor Bar" Doctrine: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused to enforce a Board order based on the "successor bar" doctrine—a Board-created rule affecting when representation elections can proceed after a company acquisition. This decision is a clear sign of how the circuit courts can be expected to address the deference to be afforded to administrative agencies' statutory interpretations post-Loper Bright. In this episode of Employment Law This Week®, Epstein Becker Green attorneys Steven M. Swirsky and Erin E. Schaefer discuss the NLRB's new landscape under Republican control and how the end of Chevron deference affects agency interpretations. - Visit our site for this week's video edition and more news: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw446 Sign up for notifications: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw-subscribe Visit https://www.EmploymentLawThisWeek.com - Epstein Becker Green is a national law firm focused on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this video does not create an attorney-client relationship. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® and #WorkforceWednesday® are registered trademarks of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. © Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. All Rights Reserved. Attorney Advertising.

What employers should know about key developments this week: State-Led Artificial Intelligence (AI) Legislation: Illinois recently codified the disparate impact theory of liability (which focuses on effect, not intent), and California has long recognized the theory. Both states' AI frameworks should be interpreted accordingly. Texas's Responsible AI Governance Act takes a different approach, requiring evidence of discriminatory intent. Discipline and Termination Oversight: California's Senate Bill 947, the No Robo Bosses Act, would bar employers from relying solely on automated systems for discipline or termination decisions and would require human review with independent corroboration. Federal Pushback and State Retreat: Colorado twice delayed its original AI Act, then paused enforcement amid a lawsuit joined by the federal government. The state ultimately repealed the original law and replaced it with a narrower version focused on notice and disclosure. In this episode of Employment Law This Week®, Epstein Becker Green attorneys Eleanor T. Chung and Nathaniel M. Glasser examine how states are regulating AI in the workplace and what employers need to know. Check out our State AI Law Tracker: https://www.ebglaw.com/aimap - Visit our site for this week's video edition and more news: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw445 Sign up for notifications: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw-subscribe Visit https://www.EmploymentLawThisWeek.com - Epstein Becker Green is a national law firm focused on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this video does not create an attorney-client relationship. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® and #WorkforceWednesday® are registered trademarks of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. © Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. All Rights Reserved. Attorney Advertising.