Workforce Bulletin

As we reported last month, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL” or “Department”) kicked off the new year by publishing six Opinion Letters, four of them addressing specific topics related to Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA” or “Act”) compliance.  These Opinion Letters provide practical guidance responsive to real-world questions from individuals or organizations.

New York is once again updating its New York Paid Family Leave (PFL) program – the state managed insurance program that provides partial wage replacement for eligible employees who take time off to:

• bond with a child,
• care for a family member with a serious health condition, or
• deal with the deployment or active duty of a family member in military service.

On November 19, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a press release announcing a new one-page technical assistance “Fact Sheet” regarding national origin discrimination. The EEOC also updated its national origin discrimination guidance page, which provides information about “what national origin discrimination can look like in the workplace” and how employees may obtain EEOC assistance if they feel they have been the victim of discrimination. The new guidance makes good on EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas’  February announcement vowing to protect American workers from “Anti-American bias.” As part of that announcement, Lucas asserted that “[m]any employers have policies and practices preferring illegal aliens, migrant workers, and visa holders or other legal immigrants over American workers—in direct violation of federal employment law prohibiting national origin discrimination.”

The EEOC’s Shift Away from Disparate Impact Liability

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit employers from implementing facially neutral procedures that unintentionally discriminate against individuals based on their protected categories. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency tasked with investigating claims of unintentional discrimination, called disparate impact.

According to an internal memorandum obtained by Bloomberg Law, the EEOC plans on closing all pending disparate impact discrimination charges based at the end of September 2025. Once these charges are closed, the EEOC is expected to issue right-to-sue letters allowing claimants to file their case in federal court. Charges that involve claims of both disparate impact and disparate treatment are likely to remain with the EEOC in normal course.