Top Employment Law Challenges: Fall 2026

What employers should know about key developments this week:

Balancing DEI Risk: Employers are still adjusting to the current administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) legal framework, and the state-versus-federal conflict and possible post-midterm changes add uncertainty. Some lines are clear, but employers still need to weigh competing interests, and there are no risk-free options.
AI-Assisted Employee Complaints: Investigators are seeing more complaints that are informed by artificial intelligence (AI), and some are written entirely by AI. Each one takes extra time to unpack and should be verified directly with the employee, so the employer can discern the employee’s concerns in their own words. AI can add language with legal weight the employee never intended, so a strong interview process is essential.
Activism, Social Media, and Generation Z: Employee activism now spreads quickly and publicly, and a company’s brand posts can shape how employees feel about working there. Before responding, ask whether the issue has a nexus to terms and conditions of employment. If it does, National Labor Relations Act protections should shape the response. With Gen Z now in the workforce, employers also need to adapt how they communicate.

Annual Workforce Management Briefing: What Employers Are Grappling with Right Now
Play
October 28, 2026

Transcript

[00:00:03] George Whipple: Welcome to Employment Law This Week. I’m George Whipple. We’re coming to you from Epstein Becker Green’s annual workforce management briefing in New York City. My colleagues, clients, and guests from around the country are gathered here today to share the latest developments in employment law. Let’s find out what everyone’s talking about.

[00:00:27] Faten Alqaseer: We are in a world where there's been a ton of change over the past couple of years in this country, a new administration, new approach to DEI and the legal framework around it. That's not new, but in this moment in time, it still feels like a lot of the lawyers and the HR leaders in the room are still grappling with where to find their balance, right? How do we navigate the changes that are happening still today and we're still figuring out how to adjust, and then the changes that are just on the horizon with the midterms and a future election.

[00:00:54] Lauri Rasnick: What was really interesting for me to hear is what were the concerns that our clients have about DEI. Both of our client panelists spoke about this, and some of our audience members had questions about how they can make these decisions, what they're going to weigh, and all the competing interests that they have to deal with. And there's no risk-free option.

[00:01:20] Bill Lewis: In our discussion, we talked about employee activism in the workplace, and the key issues that employees are grappling with is how to deal with this in an age where we have new ways to communicate and accelerate that communication in a very public way, in a very visible way.

[00:01:35] Kelly Peppers: I think the questions and concerns that seem to be the theme is how do we navigate this generation, especially through social media and all the channels of communication, and all the additional layers that we have to deal with. We all have Gen Z employees. And so, we need to adapt in order to keep our companies growing.

[00:01:54] George Whipple: Generational change is one of many issues employers are adapting to. Artificial intelligence, for instance, is evolving quickly, and it’s impacting every area of employment law, including employee investigations.

[00:02:12] Adam Tomiak: Today was a great reminder of the value of investigations, not just in understanding and responding to complaints of wrongdoing, whether interpersonal or compliance related, but also in maintaining employee relations, risk management, and ensuring employees are able to focus on the things they come to do there every day and not be distracted by these underlying issues. As an investigator, we are absolutely responding to an increase of complaints that are clearly AI-informed, we'll call it. If not written, in fact, by them in the first instance. And so you have to spend an extra amount of time unpacking and contextualizing those complaints and verifying them directly with the complaining employee in their own words, really underscoring the value of an effective interview process as well.

[00:02:59] Katie Dugan: It's not just how lawyers are using AI, but it's also how employees are using AI and how that's complicating our jobs. A lot of questions around managing the intersection between performance management and leaves and accommodations. It feels like it's escalating, and I don't know if it's out there somewhere on the web, or if AI has now gotten it down to how to respond to employees if they're having performance management issues.

[00:03:25] Kelly Peppers: One lesson I learned today is, as extreme and crazy my stories and my experiences have felt, there's someone in the room that definitely has been through something worse. And so we need to just as professionals share our stories and learn from each other, because we're all facing the same challenges.

[00:03:43] George Whipple: Thank you to all of my colleagues, and to the speakers and attendees from across the country. And thank you for watching. We’ll see you next time.

In Case You Missed It

Executive Order 14398 Survives Preliminary Challenge: What Contractors and Subcontractors Should Know with Respect to DEI, Workforce Bulletin

No Free Pass in Mass: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Says Irreparable Harm Must Be Proven, Not Presumed, in Trade Secret Cases, Trade Secrets & Employee Mobility

How Employers Can Manage Shorter EEOC Charge Response Deadlines, Workforce Bulletin

About Employment Law This Week

For employers navigating risk, workforce, and the bottom line. Employment Law This Week® delivers the employment and labor developments that matter—without the noise. Part of the Epstein Becker Green Insights Network.

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