Employer Checklist for July 2026

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Catch up on recent SCOTUS rulings. During the final days of its 2025-2026 term, the Supreme Court issued some key decisions that will affect the workplace. The Court vastly expanded the presidential power to remove members of independent agencies (read more about Trump v. Slaughter) and upheld the Trump administration’s termination of TPS Protections for Haiti and Syria (read more about Mullin v. Doe). SCOTUS also ruled that states may ban transgender athletes from participating on female sports teams without violating the Equal Protection Clause, and that Title IX allows schools to provide separate women’s and men’s teams defined by biological sex (read more about Little v. Hecox/West Virginia v. B.P.J.).

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Find DOL answers to wage and hour questions + meet new Secretary nominee. The US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recently issued four opinion letters answering real-world questions about whether certain employer practices comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Check out what the agency had to say and FP's key takeaways for your business. In addition, President Trump revealed his new Labor Secretary nominee on June 29 – stay tuned for FP’s preview of Keith Sonderling, who has been serving as the acting Secretary since April and would need Senate confirmation to make the role permanent.

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Review new EEOC enforcement plan for anti-discrimination compliance. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released an updated National Enforcement Plan last month that can serve as a roadmap for employers on how best to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws under the Trump administration. Notably, the plan prioritizes enforcement of intentional discrimination claims – days later, the Department of justice backed that up by issuing an opinion concluding that prior EEOC guidance implementing disparate-impact liability under Title VII is unconstitutional. Learn more here.

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Stay current on rapidly changing immigration- and visa-related updates. Federal judges last month struck down the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa application fee and travel ban adjudication policies. For more about how these decisions impact employers (and why you should proceed with caution), read here (H-1B fee) and here (Travel Ban policies). Days after these rulings came down, federal lawmakers narrowly approved a bill to boost funding for immigration enforcement agencies by nearly $70 billion – making now a good time to follow our compliance plan to reduce the chances of your workplace facing an immigration audit or raid and to be prepared if you do.

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Check if any new state laws kicking in this month apply to you. Nearly half of all states have new workplace laws kicking in this month. In addition to statewide minimum wage increases in Alaska, California (certain healthcare workers only), and Oregon, many cities and counties will see wage hikes on July 1 (including at least 12 localities in California alone). Plus, a wide range of other state-level laws arrive this month – from pay transparency requirements in Maine to a mini-WARN law in Nebraska, our Employer Cheat Sheet covers all the changes employers need to know about.

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Get in the loop on proposed Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA). A federal bill that passed the House last month would impose strict timelines and mandatory binding arbitration on first union contract negotiations. If the FLCA passes the Senate and is signed by the President, it would represent the most sweeping change to the nation’s labor laws in nearly a century. We covered everything you need to know and steps you should consider taking now.

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Bet on the need for a prediction market policy for your workplace. Online prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are booming, and odds are good that someone in your workplace has money riding on something. But the line between an informed guess and insider trading can blur fast when employees have access to information the rest of the market doesn’t. Learn more about this new compliance risk for employers and how to craft an effective policy for your workplace.

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Avoid a red card this World Cup and check cross-border workforce compliance. The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs through July 19 and could disrupt your workplace and expose you to compliance risks. Avoid these top employer mistakes as teams are now advancing through the knockout stage. Plus, Mexico is using the tournament’s global stage to campaign against child labor exploitation throughout the country. In other cross-border news, new EU equal pay rules are kicking in across EU member states, and employers operating there can learn more and find our practical tips here.

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Don’t miss these industry-specific additional insights:

• Auto dealers continue to face substantial exposure under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act as they increasingly rely on digital marketing, customer relationship management automation, lead-generation vendors, and AI-enabled customer engagement tools. Here are the top risk areas and practical steps your dealership can take to stay compliant.
• Education leaders should be aware that the Supreme Court agreed in May to decide during its next term whether Title IX allows an employee to sue a federally funded K-12 school or higher education institution for workplace discrimination based on sex. Here’s everything you need to know while the SCOTUS case is pending. In addition, a bipartisan Senate bill introduced last month would reshape college sports – here’s how your school can prepare.

• Healthcare organizations must be aware of artificial intelligence tools marketed as “HIPAA compliant,” as this label carries no government endorsement, and your organization carries major risk if your AI vendor is non-compliant. Follow this diligence and contracting framework before signing with a vendor or deploying new AI technology. Plus, if your organization bills Medicare or Medicaid, here’s how you can curb liability under the False Claims Act following a hospital operator’s recent $32 million settlement with the Department of Justice and amid the agency’s growing enforcement push.

• Non-profits and other organizations that depend on federal funding must take note of a sweeping proposal issued by a group of federal agencies on May 29 that would, if finalized, cause federal financial assistance to come with more strings attached and less certainty. Here are the key takeaways for non-profits.

• Retailers are increasingly exposed to workplace safety risks and other liabilities stemming from employee-generated social media content. Here are your top legal considerations and practical steps for compliance. Plus, since complex business arrangements are common in the retail industry and can unwittingly create joint employer liability, we covered everything retail businesses should know about how the National Labor Relation Board is currently approaching the issue.
  
  

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Keep up with more state and local workplace law developments:

• Colorado just enacted a law that requires state-level EEO-1 data reporting starting July 1, 2027.
• Delaware’s privacy law will expand effective January 1, 2027 – if the governor signs a recently passed bill as expected.
• The Florida Supreme Court recently gave employers a stronger defense against whistleblower claims.
• New York employers should keep an eye on these top workplace bills that could soon become law, now that lawmakers have signed off for the year.
• Philadelphia employers just received a new “fair chance” compliance tool.