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Federal Updates
- Initial Registration Period for FY 2026 H-1B Visas Opens March 7: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 7 and run through noon Eastern on March 24, 2025. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated registration fee for each beneficiary.
- Online Labor Demand Increased in January: The Conference Board−Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Index increased in January 2025 to 116.4 (July 2018=100), up from a downwardly revised 116.1 in December. The 0.3% increase between January and December followed a 6.8% decrease between December and November. Overall, the Index is down 12.8% from one year ago.
- New Pay Transparency Laws in Effect in 2025—What Employers Need to Know: Pay transparency disclosure requirements may vary from state to state, but they share the common objective of eliminating discriminatory bias in the compensation process by sharing important pay details with applicants for hire and/or promotion.
- FTC Launches Joint Labor Task Force to Protect American Workers: Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson directed the FTC to form a Joint Labor Task Force that will work to prioritize rooting out and prosecuting deceptive, unfair, and anticompetitive labor-market practices that harm American workers.
- Employers’ Five-Step Plan for Handling the Worst Flu Season in 15 Years: The U.S. is currently facing the worst flu season since 2009, and employers can’t afford to ignore it. Beyond the personal toll, flu outbreaks wreak havoc on businesses through lost productivity and absenteeism – and they can even present legal risks.
State and Local Updates
- California Minimum Wage Increases: With the change in the statewide minimum wage, the minimum exempt salary for California employees rose from $66,560 to $68,640 per year.
- California: Don’t Forget to Submit Pay Data: California’s pay data reporting requirements were established under Senate Bill (SB) 973, signed into law in 2020. The law mandates that private employers with 100 or more employees, including those hired through labor contractors, must annually report pay and demographic data to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD).
- New Massachusetts Employer EEO Reporting Began on Feb. 3: certain Massachusetts employers will now be required to annually submit Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) reporting to the state. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed the legislation into law in July 2024 and the first deadline arrives Monday, February 3, 2025.
- Michigan Overhauls Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Laws: On February 21, 2025, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law two bills amending the state’s Wage Act and Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA). The main takeaway for Michigan employers concerned about compliance as of February 21 is that the statewide minimum wage as of that date is $12.48 per hour.
- Saint Paul, MN, Enacts Wage Theft Ordinance: Beginning January 1, 2025, the City of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Wage Theft Ordinance went into effect. The Ordinance largely incorporates the State of Minnesota’s existing wage theft legislation.
