HR and future of work · Industry brief

360training acquired Atlantic Training in September 2026, adding a 305-course catalog covering OSHA, workplace safety, HR compliance, and soft skills, plus the WAVE EHS management software platform. The deal expands 360training's portfolio to over 17 brands and reflects ongoing consolidation in the compliance training sector driven by intensifying workforce compliance demands and growing state-level HR requirements. Financial terms were not disclosed. Source: PR Newswire via DHRMap.

Recent actions by the EEOC and U.S. Department of Labor reflect continued enforcement priorities around anti-American discrimination, foreign labor fraud, visa program abuse, and worker exploitation. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas has used social media and video messages to encourage worker reporting of alleged discrimination, while the DOL Office of Inspector General has highlighted foreign labor fraud investigations and visa program enforcement efforts. These actions create no new legal obligations but signal consistent agency messaging seeking to generate complaints and investigative leads. Employers should review recruiting, hiring, promotion, visa sponsorship, and workplace conduct practices for compliance. Organizations using employment-based visa programs should confirm policies, recordkeeping, and program administration meet regulatory requirements, and remind managers that employment decisions must be based on legitimate business considerations without unlawful favor or disadvantage based on national origin. Related EEOC trends show FY 2023 discrimination charges rose 10% to 81,055 (highest since 2017), with retaliation as the top claim, lawsuits surging to 143, and $440.5M in monetary relief secured by the agency.

Regulators increasingly focus on ensuring AI systems in HR do not create or perpetuate discrimination. The EEOC has issued guidance emphasizing that employers remain responsible for employment decisions made with AI assistance, requiring good-faith efforts to evaluate tools for disparate impact, maintain audit documentation, and continuously monitor results. Several states have implemented AI-specific employment regulations: Illinois restricts AI use in video interviews, New York requires bias audits of certain AI employment decision tools, California mandates disclosure of AI uses with records maintenance, Texas requires disclosure in hiring while prohibiting AI-enabled facial recognition, and Colorado mandates disclosure with discriminatory outcome prevention reviews. Employers using AI for compensation decisions may face legal exposure if recommendations disproportionately disadvantage protected groups, with state laws increasingly requiring notification to employees that AI influences pay decisions and providing appeal rights.