Workforce Bulletin

On May 15, 2026, the Illinois Department of Human Rights (“IDHR”) announced proposed regulations (the “Regulations”) that address required employer notification arising from the use of AI to make employment decisions. The publication of the Regulations in the Illinois Register triggered a 45-day public comment period that ends on June 29, 2026.

The Supreme Court’s June 28 decision to overrule the 40-year-old case of Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council should not be cause for alarm. It is, however, likely to have implications for employers that are subject to the myriad of workplace laws administered by the United States Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board and other executive branch bodies.

Why the Buzz About Chevron?

For decades, courts have relied on the so-called Chevron doctrine—a mandate by which judges were required to defer to agency expertise when handling controversies surrounding Executive Branch policy, but that rule ended with Loper Bright Enterprises et al., v. Raimondo. While the categorical rejection of Chevron—as inconsistent with the responsibility of courts defined in the APA—went farther than most analysts expected, it should be noted, as Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence makes clear, that the Supreme Court hasn’t decided a case on the basis of Chevron since 2016.

By:  Elizabeth Bradley

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently confirmed that the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) does not prohibit an employer from modifying its workweek in order to avoid overtime costs. The Court’s ruling in Redline Energy confirms that employers are permitted to modify their workweeks as long as the change is intended to be permanent. Employers are not required to set forth a legitimate business reason for making the change and are permitted to do so solely for the purpose of reducing their overtime costs. The only requirement on ...

By: Michael Thompson

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs) are “outside salesmen” who are not entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The high court’s ruling was predicated on its finding that, in the pharmaceutical industry’s “unique regulatory environment,” the commitments obtained by PSRs equate to traditional sales. Furthermore, the Supreme Court rebuked the Department of Labor (DOL) for “unfairly surprising” the industry by filing amicus briefs arguing that PSRs were ...