Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark decision overruling a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent and significantly expanding presidential power to remove members of independent agencies. In Trump v. Slaughter, No. 25-332, the Supreme Court held that the “for-cause” removal protections applicable to commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are unconstitutional and inconsistent with the separation of powers doctrine. Although the Supreme Court’s decision concerned FTC commissioners, its reasoning is likely to have broader consequences for other multimember agencies whose leaders have traditionally been protected from at-will removal. For employers, the most immediate implications may be at agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), where changes in leadership could now occur more quickly and bring faster shifts in enforcement priorities, regulatory policy, and litigation risk.

In 2025, the New York Department of Labor updated the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act system, asking businesses to disclose whether layoffs are related to artificial intelligence (AI). In the year since the change took effect, no business has reported AI as a reason for layoffs. This result points to one of two conclusions: either AI is not contributing to mass layoffs in New York, or AI is contributing to layoffs and businesses are not reporting it.

On February 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division proposed a new rule to determine whether workers are independent contractors or employees under federal wage-and-hour laws.

Every January, new California employment laws take effect and 2026 is no different, bringing changes to employment contracts, pay data reporting, paid family leave, and other employment-related topics. The following list highlights five new California employment laws for employers to be aware of in the year ahead.