HR and future of work · Industry brief

The U.S. Department of Labor issued three final rules eliminating affirmative action requirements for federal contractors, rescinding obligations under President Lyndon Johnson's 1965 executive order and modifying Section 503 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the 1974 Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act. The rules eliminate the 7% utilization goal for hiring individuals with disabilities and adjust coverage thresholds based on contract dollar amounts, effective on staggered dates between September 21 and October 26, 2026. However, contractors must still take affirmative action to employ and advance qualified individuals with disabilities and assess recruitment effectiveness, while discrimination prohibitions under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and other federal, state, and local laws remain in effect (HR Dive, Aug. 21, 2026).

Adam S. Forman, an employment attorney at Epstein Becker Green, discusses how workplace technology—particularly artificial intelligence—creates often-overlooked legal obligations around wages, hours, and working conditions. According to the podcast interview, employers implementing new workplace technology risk triggering compliance issues across employment litigation and traditional labor law. Forman highlights that negotiating technology use in unionized workplaces requires clear specifications about tool deployment, and notes that existing legal frameworks for managing workplace technology remain underutilized despite rising AI adoption complexity.

Waste Pro and other waste industry employers are facing significant workforce disruption from multiple federal policy changes affecting immigrant workers. The Trump administration has terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 1 million people, with the waste sector particularly impacted in the Southeast; Waste Pro alone has had approximately 33 workers affected so far, prompting the company to increase hiring, cross-train employees, and consult legal experts to manage service continuity. Simultaneously, a new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule effective in March restricting commercial driver's licenses for non-domiciled drivers—including asylum seekers and refugees—has revoked licenses for at least eight of Waste Pro's drivers in South Florida, potentially affecting up to 20% of the company's drivers in that region. The compounding effect of these employment authorization and licensing restrictions is creating workforce instability across transportation and maintenance roles, with industry groups like the National Waste and Recycling Association and unions including AFSCME and Teamsters having opposed these changes, citing operational and fairness concerns.