Employment

Recently a Federal District Court in Massachusetts barred a former senior supply chain executive from continuing in his new C-suite role with another company.  The decision in Fresenius USA Manufacturing, Inc. v. Much, Case No. 1:26-cv-13572-DJC (D. Mass. 2026) offers important insights on several issues regarding the “employer signature” requirement, affiliate-level protections, and the substantive scope of noncompetition restrictions under the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act’s (“MNAA”).

New York lawmakers have passed Senate Bill 2236-A, known as the “Wage Payment Integrity Act” (the “Act”), which would significantly expand what qualifies as protected “wages” under the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) and would give employees enhanced tools to recover unpaid compensation.  The Act would modify NYLL §§ 190, 195, and 198-c to widen the statutory meaning of “wages,” establish a rigorous disclosure standard for any compensation an employer wishes to classify as purely discretionary, introduce an evidentiary presumption against employers where an employer fails to provide written employment terms, and clarify civil remedies available to higher-paid employees.  Should the Act become law, any employee compensation not expressly reserved to the employer’s sole and absolute discretion could fall within the statutory definition of wages, representing a major shift that could capture bonuses historically treated as discretionary and outside the scope of the Act (e.g., those linked to team performance, departmental objectives, or company-wide results).

Learn how to use AI meeting assistants responsibly. Explore privacy, consent, privilege, compliance, and litigation risks in workplace meetings.

Mintz On Air explores AI in contract negotiations, covering drafting limits, legal risk, human judgment, trust, and best practices for counsel.

New York has enacted a new law that will provide employees with new rights with respect to their personnel files, including notice of, and the opportunity to respond to, certain types of “negative information” placed in their personnel files. S3460, which is modeled in part after Massachusetts’ personnel records law, adds new Section 210-b to the New York Labor Law and will take effect on November 8, 2026. 

The California Legislature’s 2025–2026 session ended with workplace-related artificial intelligence or automated technology in its crosshairs. If Governor Newsom signs this suite of bills, California employers may face a number of new obligations relating to AI-driven surveillance tools, automated decision systems, and other emerging workplace technologies.

Learn how honest feedback builds workplace trust. This Mintz On Air podcast shares tips on empathy, timing, curiosity, and growth-focused reviews.

Mintz On Air examines AI prompt injection risks in hiring and the workplace, covering security threats, candidate manipulation, and safeguards.

The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Baker v. Van Dolder’s Home Team Inc. (2026 ONCA 568) (which also addressed Li v. Wayfair (2025 ONSC 2959)), released on August 6, 2026, clarifies the proper approach to interpreting termination of employment provisions in employment contracts. While recent Ontario decisions have sometimes set aside such provisions in favour of common law reasonable notice because of apparent inconsistencies with the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”), Baker confirms that courts should enforce a termination provision where, when read as a whole and in light of a contract’s surrounding circumstances, it reflects an intention to comply with the ESA’s minimum standards. We have written previously on the challenges of enforcing termination of employment provisions to the exclusion of common law reasonable notice entitlements here.

Hiring risks in the AI era: avoid vetting mistakes, stay FCRA compliant, and build smart, role-based screening to prevent fraud and reduce liability.

Non-compete agreements are facing mounting scrutiny nationwide, and July 2026 brings two more data points to that trend. 

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) has finalized new rules (the “Rules”) implementing the recent amendments to the New York City Earned Sick and Safe Time Act (“ESSTA”), which we previously discussed here.  The Rules, effective July 23, 2026, expand upon the ESSTA amendments to address important topics including the new 32-hour unpaid sick/safe leave requirement.  Importantly, the Rules also clarify several open issues that the ESSTA amendments left unanswered.  

HR and legal insights on AI in the workplace: why humans must stay in the loop, mitigate risk, and build trust through empathy, oversight, and culture.

A recent case from Brazil illustrates a developing category of AI risk with direct implications for U.S. businesses.  The court fined two lawyers for embedding a prompt injection into a court petition to manipulate the court’s AI tools.  The lawyers in question inserted invisible text (white letters on a white background) directing the court’s AI systems to review their petition, but not challenge it, regardless of any other instructions it was given.  The court discovered the hidden command, characterized it as an attempted manipulation of its AI systems, and sanctioned the lawyers. 

Ontario businesses should pay close attention to the workplace policies and postings they must maintain, the training they must deliver, and the safety committees they must organize. Below, we have provided an overview of some of the most common requirements applicable to Ontario employers. Stay tuned for future updates covering additional provinces, including Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia.

Explore how AI is reshaping litigation in this Mintz On Air podcast—covering court access, discovery, strategy, risk, and why human judgment still matters.

Connecticut employers that rely on AI-driven tools for recruiting, screening, or workforce management now face a detailed statutory framework governing those practices. Public Act No. 26-15 (the “Act”) was signed into law on June 2, 2026.  The Act addresses subjects ranging from automated hiring technology to whistleblower channels for employees at AI developers. The compliance timeline is staggered: some provisions took effect immediately, while the most operationally intensive obligations take effect in October 2027. Connecticut is the latest state to take steps towards regulating use of AI in the employment sphere, following Colorado, Illinois, New York City, California and others.

Both chambers of the New York Legislature have passed the No Severance Ultimatums Act and the Anti-Waiver of Employment Rights Act.  The No Severance Ultimatums Act would add certain procedural hurdles to obtaining an enforceable post-employment release of claims, while the Anti‑Waiver of Employment Rights Act would bar certain waivers of employee rights under the State’s Labor Law and Human Rights Law in pre‑ and post‑employment settings.  Both Acts reflect the Legislature’s intent to protect employees in the preservation and exercise of substantive and procedural rights.  The Legislature must still deliver both bills to Governor Hochul for her approval or veto before year-end. 

Crisis Management in the first hours: Mintz On Air podcast explores investigations, privilege, press strategy, and leadership decisions when allegations arise.

The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFML) reshaped the Commonwealth’s leave landscape, imposing broad obligations on employers and providing employees with job-protected, paid leave for qualifying family and medical reasons. As we have noted, courts and the Department of Family and Medical Leave continue to work through various outstanding issues surrounding the relatively new statute.