HCM Mid-Year Review

2025 HCM Mid-Year Review 

We are half-way through 2025 and with that there have been numerous new laws or requirements that will become effective in the second half of this year. Below are summaries of what to expect and prepare for beginning July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

Alaska Paid Sick Leave (PSL)

• Effective July 1, 2025
• All employers must, with limited exceptions, provide PSL to eligible employees.
• Eligible employees accrue one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, and may use 40 or 56 hours annually based on employer size.
• Refer to the state’s Labor Standards and Safety Division website or the Alaska Paid Sick Leave PEAK article for more information.

California Fair Workweek Ordinance

• Effective July 1, 2025
• Impacts all retail businesses in Los Angeles with over 300 employees globally.
• Eligible employees must work at least two hours or more weekly within Los Angeles County.
• Predictive scheduling involves publishing a work schedule at least 14 days in advance and providing a “written good faith estimate” of an employee’s work schedule upon request.
• Failure to abide by published scheduling can trigger predictability pay, and there must be at least 10 hours between shifts to prevent ‘clopening’ shifts.
• Refer to the County Counsel’s guidance for more information.

Montana Employment Verification Requirement

• Effective July 1, 2025
• Employers in the state must verify the legal employment status of all employees (before they begin work) using E-Verify or by completing and maintaining an employee's Form I-9 with documents establishing both identity and work authorization.
• Refer to H.B. 226 for more information.

New Hampshire Nursing Employees Accommodation

• Effective July 1, 2025
• Employers with six or more employees must provide nursing employees with a lactation room and an unpaid break time of approximately 30 minutes for every three hours of work performed to express breast milk, unless employers can show an undue hardship on their business operations.
• Refer to H.B. 358 for more information.

New Jersey Pay Transparency

• Effective July 1, 2025
• Employers in the state must disclose hourly wages or salaries (or the range of hourly wages or salaries) and a general description of benefits in job postings.
• Employers must also make a reasonable effort to internally publicize any promotion opportunities before making a promotional decision.
• Refer to S. 2310 for more information.
  

Vermont Unpaid Leave Access

• Effective July 1, 2025
• Access to unpaid family and medical leave are expanded, and job-protected leave for reasons related to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, bereavement, and a qualifying exigency must be provided.
• Refer to H. 461 for more information.
  

Vermont Pay Transparency

• Effective July 1, 2025
• Employers must include the compensation or range of compensation in job postings, excluding work paid on a commission basis.
• Tipped work must disclose that the work is tipped and the base wage or the range of base wages.
• Refer to the state Attorney General’s Guidance on Act 155 (H. 704) for more information. 

Ohio Poster Law

• Effective July 21, 2025
• Employers may publish the following required labor law notices on an internal company website, intranet, or HR portal, provided the information is reasonably accessible to all employees.
  • The Ohio Minor Labor Law Notice
  • The Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Law Notice
  • The Ohio Civil Rights Law Notice
  • The Ohio Prevailing Wage Law Notice
  • The Ohio Workers’ Compensation Notice
  • The Ohio Public Employment Risk Reduction Program (PERRP) Notice
• For more information, refer to S.B. 33.

Washington WARN Act

• Effective July 27, 2025
• Employers in the state with 50 or more full-time employees in the state must give 60 days’ notice to said employees, unions, and the state before performing a mass layoff or ceasing operations. 
• Refer to S.B 5525 or the Federal WARN and State Mini-WARN Acts PEAK article for more information. 

Washington Paid Sick Leave (PSL) Amendment

• Effective July 27, 2025
• Employers in the state must allow PSL use to prepare for or participate in certain immigration proceedings.
• Refer to H.B. 1875 for more information. 

Washington Pay Transparency Amendment

• Effective July 27, 2025
• Employers in the state have five business days to correct job posting violations before penalties result. 
• Refer to S.S.B. 5408 for more information. 

New York COVID-19 Leave

• Effective July 31, 2025
• Employers in the state will no longer be required to provide separate leave for COVID-19 quarantines and isolations.
• For more information, refer to the state’s Paid Leave for COVID-19 webpage

Maryland Unpaid Parental Leave Act

• Effective October 1, 2025
• The Act excludes Maryland employers that also become covered by FMLA even when the business appears to meet the coverage requirements for both laws.
• Furthermore, the Act applies to businesses that employ at least 15, but no more than 49, employees within the state “for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year.”
• Refer to the General Assembly’s website for more information.

Nebraska Paid Sick Leave (PSL)

• Effective October 1, 2025
• Eligible employees must work at least 80 hours in a calendar year, and shall accrue one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked.
• Refer to the state’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act or the Nebraska Paid Sick Leave PEAK article for more information

Ohio Pay Transparency

• Effective October 27, 2025
• Employers in Cleveland with 15 or more employees must include salary ranges in job postings and are prohibited from inquiring into a job seeker’s pay history.
• For more information, refer to Cleveland’s emergency ordinance. 

Massachusetts Pay Transparency

• Effective October 29, 2025
• Employers in the state with 25 or more employees must disclose the pay range for jobs:
  • in the posting of the position
  • to employees offered a promotion or transfer
  • to an employee applicant upon request
• Refer to the Salary Range Transparency Act for more information.

Minnesota Wage Theft Ordinance

• Effective January 1, 2026
• Employers in St. Paul must provide the wage theft notice to all new hires and current, covered employees if the employer has not already provided the information contained in the notice to the employee.
• Employers must also post a notice of employees’ rights at the workplace or jobsite, in English and any language spoken by employees at said workplace or jobsite.
• Refer to the city’s Wage Theft Ordinance for more information. 

For 2024 Year End HCM updates, refer to our compliance alert or the HCM Year End Review article in PEAK.