HR and future of work · Industry brief

New York is implementing a new personnel records access law effective November 8, 2026, joining 19 other states with similar requirements. Employers must provide employees with copies of their personnel records within five business days of a written request at no cost, with the law applying to former employees for three years post-separation. The law defines personnel records broadly to include any document affecting employment decisions—such as performance evaluations, disciplinary records, compensation information, and job applications—and extends to records held by third-party vendors and PEOs. Employers must notify employees within ten days of placing negative information in their file, and employees may dispute or add written statements regarding inaccurate records. The law carries anti-retaliation protections and violations are subject to fines of $500 to $2,500 enforced by the New York Attorney General. Governor Hochul has flagged ambiguities for potential clarification in the 2027 legislative session, but employers should begin preparing now by auditing their records systems and developing intake procedures for access requests given the tight compliance timeline.

California's revamped No Robo Bosses Act requires human oversight when employers use AI and automated systems to make employee discipline and termination decisions. A sweeping provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could block states from creating or enforcing AI regulations for the next 10 years. The White House rebrands AI as "super intelligence;" strong internal governance will be essential for employers amid a fragmented workplace regulatory landscape.

Health care employers face significant wage and hour compliance risks, with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division instituting 2,370 compliance actions across the health care industry in FY 2025, collecting $53.3 million in back wages and $4.7 million in civil penalties. Three critical areas requiring attention are automatic meal-break deductions (which can create unpaid overtime liability when employees work through breaks), off-the-clock work including pre-shift patient review and post-shift charting, and shift differentials and premium pay that must be properly included in regular rate calculations for overtime purposes. Health care organizations should conduct periodic wage and hour audits, implement clear processes for employees to report missed meal periods, train supervisors on compliance, and verify timekeeping systems accurately capture all compensable work to mitigate FLSA violations.

State-level labor initiatives are advancing worker protections through mechanisms that federal law does not preempt. Kate Andrias of Columbia Law School discusses worker standards boards—tripartite bodies bringing together workers, employers, and public representatives to set minimum standards for wages, benefits, scheduling, and safety in particular industries—and state constitutional amendments protecting collective bargaining and fair wages. These initiatives have progressed at the state level because organized labor lacks sufficient federal political power but possesses leverage in certain state and local jurisdictions. State worker standards boards avoid federal preemption under the National Labor Relations Act because they regulate employment conditions rather than organizing and bargaining rights, though they must comply with due process and antitrust requirements. Meanwhile, corporate litigation increasingly challenges the constitutional structure of the National Labor Relations Board itself, targeting removal protections for administrative law judges and the agency's combination of functions—disputes with implications extending beyond labor law to administrative adjudication across the federal government. The Regulatory Review cites this interview with Columbia Law School professor Kate Andrias as the primary source.