Happy New Year! Breaking any laws yet?
On January 1, 2026, over a hundred new healthcare employment laws went into effect. That’s on top of what went live in 2025, and oh boy were there a lot of changes. Plenty to take in, but we’re breaking it down with a comprehensive overview of federal and state employment law changes affecting healthcare practices in the coming year. Let’s get into it.
What Healthcare Labor Law Updates Went into Effect in 2025?
In case you missed our 2025 healthcare employment law guide, last quarter brought a wave of healthcare employment law updates with new and updated policies for New Hampshire, Illinois, and Minnesota, along with expanded guidance for California crime victim leave and federal lactation accommodations. Here are a few new and notable policies that belong in your employee handbook:
- Federal lactation accommodations. New guidance better explains how lactation accommodations apply to remote and off-site employees and align with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
- New Hampshire childbirth, postpartum, and infant care leave. Employers with 20+ workers must allow leave for medical appointments related to childbirth, postpartum, and infant care.
- California crime victim leave. These requirements were updated to include employees who work in California, regardless of where the employer is based.
- Illinois funeral detail leave. Under the Illinois Military Leave Act, any employer with 51 or more employees now provides paid leave for employees participating in a veteran’s funeral honors detail.
- Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML). This new rule applies to employers with 1 or more employees, and it clarifies employee eligibility and paid leave benefits.
2026 Employment Law Changes Healthcare Practice Owners Need to Know
Some states have more rules than others, and this isn’t everything that’s new for January, but here are a handful of the highlights from our 2026 employment law guide.
Federal Employment Law Updates in 2026
- The bar is raised on contributions and benefits. Federally, there are a handful of changes you’ll need to know ASAP, like the tax credit for employer-provided family and medical leave, high-earner retirement catch-up contributions, federal contractor minimum wage, and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) rules.
- Last year’s rules are still rolling in. If you didn’t read the entirety of last summer’s P.L. 119-21 (AKA: the One Big Beautiful Bill, or OBBB for short) you’re not alone, but there’s a ton of changes that apply to health and dental practices — some of which kick in now. For starters, the OBBB raises the tax-free limits for dependent care assistance as of January 1, 2026.
State-Level Employment Law Changes in 2026
- Minimum wage hikes across the country. Minimum wage went up in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington state. It’s still $7.25 federally, but it varies quite a bit from state to state, and even in certain cities. Nowhere has it decreased.
- Sick leave redefinitions and expansions. Sick leave laws were tweaked in Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Pittsburgh (but not all of Pennsylvania).
- Waves of PFML go-lives. Quite a few states have started or updated their Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) programs, which build on the federal FMLA. Look for updates in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington state.
- Employer transparency clarifications. Employers in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, and Rhode Island are now required to disclose things like salary bands, pay rates, training records, and how they use employee data.
- New rules about AI in HR and hiring. Cutting the human out of human resources may now violate discrimination laws in California, Illinois, and Texas.
Catch Up and Get Ahead with HR for Health
If you’re already using HR for Health to automatically update your employee handbook and collect employee signatures, congrats! Your policies are instantly compliant and not in violation of any new labor laws.
If you haven’t synced with the 2025 healthcare employment law updates yet, we’ve got you covered with our plain-language guide. Yes, it’s 44 pages long, but reviewing the guide is a lot faster than searching each and every state’s law updates, translating dense legalese, asking yourself if the law is even relevant to you and your practice, and then figuring out what to do about it. We’ve already done it for you.
