As featured in #WorkforceWednesday®: This week, we examine some of the key labor and employment implications of the recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
What the OBBBA Means for Employers
The OBBBA introduces major shifts for employers, transforming employee benefits, executive compensation, and workforce compliance. Are you prepared to adapt?
Essential Impacts for Employers
- Dependent care and education benefits—higher flexible spending account limits and tax-favored student loan repayment programs
- Health savings accounts—expanded eligibility and coverage options for employees
- Executive compensation rules—new tax implications for public companies and nonprofits
Only two months after Missouri’s statewide paid sick and safe time law became effective, Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 567, which will repeal the earned paid sick time benefit effective August 28, 2025.
As we previously reported, Missouri was one of three states to adopt a sick leave obligation for private employers, adopted through ballot measures during the 2024 election. By commencing leave accrual and usage on May 1, 2025, Missouri was the first of the three states to require private employers to provide paid sick time to all employees within the state. Currently, Missouri employers must provide one hour of paid sick and safe leave (PSSL) for every 30 hours worked.
On June 22, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into the law the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) or (the Act). The Act, which goes into effect January 1, 2026, “seeks to protect public safety, individual rights, and privacy while encouraging the safe advancement of AI technology in Texas.”
Formerly known as HB 149, the Act requires a government agency to disclose to consumers that they are interacting with AI—no matter how obvious this might appear—through plain language, clear and conspicuous wording requirements, and more. The same disclosure requirement also applies to providers of health care services or treatment, when the service or treatment is first provided or, in cases of emergency, as soon as reasonably possible.
The Act further prohibits the development or deployment of AI systems intended for behavioral manipulation, including AI intended to encourage people to harm themselves, harm others, or engage in criminal activity (see a post by our colleagues on Utah’s regulation of mental health chatbots).
In 2023, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 (“CVA”) to expand claimants’ ability to file and seek damages for alleged child sexual abuse cases, following the trend initiated by other states like New York and New Jersey. The CVA was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore on April 11, 2023, and became effective October 1, 2023. The law removed the statute of limitation for claims of sexual abuse that occurred while the alleged victim was a minor. The CVA also placed high caps on non-economic damages from private defendants and monetary damages from public defendants.
The June 1, 2025 Amendment Drastically Reduces the Damages Cap
On April 22, 2025, Governor Moore signed an Amendment to the CVA that reduced damages for public and private defendants. The Amendment, which took effect on June 1, 2025, lowers the cap on noneconomic damages for CVA cases filed on or after June 1, 2025 in the following ways:
On July 4, 2025, there were more than hot dogs and fireworks. President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), a comprehensive law that implements several of the administration’s tax, health, defense, and energy policy initiatives. This followed a flurry of activity earlier in the week in which the U.S. Senate narrowly voted to approve a substitute amendment to the OBBB. The Senate version resembles a prior version of the bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, but with certain key changes. All citations in this post are to the Senate provisions.
Below, we provide a summary of this legislation’s notable provisions that will directly impact employee benefits and executive compensation.
However, the law is sweeping and broader than the provisions noted here. Other, more contentious provisions in the OBBB, related to Medicaid funding cuts and efforts to decrease enrollment in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace Exchange plans could indirectly cause increased enrollment in employer-sponsored plans.
As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we explore Washington State’s new employment laws on reductions in force and background checks, digital labor law notices and pay equity measures in Ohio, and New York City’s enforcement of new employer obligations related to paid prenatal leave for employees.
- Washington Overhauls Employment Laws on Reductions in Force and Background Checks
- Ohio Leads the Way, Allowing Employers to Post Digital Labor and Employment Law Notices
- Pay Equity Expands in Ohio: Cleveland Passes Ordinance
- New York Paid Prenatal Leave: NYC Adds to State Mandate, Imposes More Employer Requirements
- Other Highlights
How can today’s workplace challenges be addressed with strategies that are both legally sound and business-focused?
For general counsel and human resources (HR) executives, a holistic approach addresses legal, operational, and organizational risks to ensure advice is both comprehensive and actionable.
In this one-on-one interview, Epstein Becker Green attorney Adam Tomiak sits down with fellow attorney George Whipple. Adam discusses how his in-house experience shapes his ability to deliver thoughtful, practical solutions. Additionally, Adam explains how listening to clients, understanding their challenges, and integrating various risk factors all add up to legal strategies that align with business realities.
In April 2025, the City of Cleveland approved Ordinance No. 104-2025 (the “Ordinance”), which will impose a salary history ban and create a pay disclosure requirement for employers starting Monday, October 27, 2025. The latter provision – the first in the Buckeye State to require affirmative disclosure of wages or salary ranges for advertised positions – distinguishes this Ordinance from pay equity laws already enacted in other Ohio municipalities. The new pay equity measures will apply to the City of Cleveland and private employers with at least 15 employees working within Cleveland, including job placement and referral agencies working on behalf of another employer. We discuss both requirements below.
Salary History Ban
Like similar laws in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo, the Ordinance broadly prohibits covered employers from:
- Asking about an applicant’s current or prior salary, including wages, commissions, hourly earnings, and any other monetary earnings, as well as benefits (collectively, their “salary history”);
- Screening applicants based on their salary history (including requiring an applicant’s former salaries to meet a threshold);
- Relying solely on an applicant’s salary history when deciding whether to make an offer of employment or determining their compensation; and
- Refusing to hire or otherwise retaliating against an applicant for not disclosing their salary history.
As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, on our Spilling Secrets podcast series, our panelists discuss the current status of non-compete agreements across the nation.
Non-compete legislation is evolving rapidly at the state level, with new laws taking effect soon in Arkansas, Kansas, Virginia, and Wyoming. Looking ahead, pending bills in over a dozen states could reshape how employers approach restrictive covenants.
In this episode, Epstein Becker Green attorneys Peter A. Steinmeyer, Daniel R. Levy, David J. Clark, and Carolyn O. Boucek discuss the new and proposed state non-compete laws and their implications for employers, as well as alternative tools that can be used to address these restrictions. From expanded protections for low-wage workers in Virginia to Kansas’s focus on non-solicit provisions, this episode offers actionable takeaways to help employers stay compliant.
On July 20, 2025, Ohio will officially become one of the first states to allow employers to provide digital—rather than physical—copies of certain labor law notices required under Ohio law. Specifically, under changes imposed by Senate Bill 33 (SB 33), Ohio will soon allow employers and businesses to post the following Ohio notices digitally:
Blog Editors
Recent Updates
- Video: New H-1B Visa Fee, EEOC Shutters Disparate Impact Cases, Key Labor Roles Confirmed - Employment Law This Week
- New $100,000 H-1B Fee Proclamation – Implications and Action Steps
- Video: FTC Backs Off Non-Compete Ban, Warns Health Care Employers - Employment Law This Week
- Artificial Intelligence and Disparate Impact Liability: How the EEOC’s End to Disparate Impact Claims Affects Workplace AI
- Reminder: Massachusetts Salary Range Disclosure Requirements Take Effect in October