The Latest – How HR Is Navigating Enforcement Shifts, Expanding Leave Laws, Benefits Policy, and Leadership Risk

Jenny Kiesewetter is a practicing ERISA and employee benefits attorney who partners with HR teams on a wide range of workplace compliance matters — from benefit-plan obligations to day-to-day HR policies and regulatory requirements. Her guidance helps employers spot risks early, navigate regulatory change, and make informed decisions that support both employees and the organization.

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If you’re in HR leadership, you already know the drill: compliance never sleeps, your workforce needs stability, and benefits decisions keep getting more complex. What’s different now? Federal agencies are shifting how they operate, states keep rolling out new paid leave laws (and they’re not exactly comparing notes with each other), and suddenly retirement planning means you’re fielding questions about housing assistance and investment options — things that never used to land on HR’s desk.

Oh, and leadership burnout? It’s finally getting called out for what it is: a real problem we need to address, not just push through.

Below, we’ve pulled together the developments that are actually affecting your day-to-day decisions and the risks you’re managing. These are the ones worth paying attention to right now.

Effective date: January 14, 2026

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) quietly changed how it makes decisions. By scrapping internal rules that required set review periods and allowed individual commissioners to slow things down, the agency handed more control to the chair and cleared a faster path for shifting enforcement priorities.

Nothing about Title VII or other discrimination laws changed. What changed is how quickly the EEOC can change its mind. Guidance that once took time to unwind can now move out of favor with far less internal friction. Enforcement focus can shift just as quickly.

This shows up in very practical ways. Many employers build investigation steps, training content, and manager guidance around EEOC positions because they offer a workable playbook. When those positions shift faster, HR can end up following guidance that no longer reflects how the agency plans to enforce the law — even though nothing formally changed.

HR Takeaway

Do not assume yesterday’s EEOC guidance still reflects today’s enforcement approach. Take a fresh look at investigation steps and training materials, and flag areas that rely heavily on agency interpretation rather than the underlying statute or regulations.

Effective dates: Various dates throughout 2026

Most state paid leave issues don’t come from ignoring the law. They come from finding out too late that one employee’s location triggered payroll deductions, job protection, and leave coordination requirements that no one built into the system.

Several 2026 changes follow that pattern:

• Maine: Paid family and medical leave benefits start May 1, 2026. Employers with Maine employees now need payroll deductions in place and a plan for how state benefits interact with existing PTO or employer-provided leave.
• Minnesota: As of January 1, 2026, employees can access up to 12 weeks of medical leave and 12 weeks of family leave, subject to a combined cap. Employers must coordinate state benefits with internal leave tracking and job protection rules.
• Washington: Expanded job restoration rights took effect January 1, 2026, lowering the employer-size threshold and applying even when employees never apply for state benefits — a trap for employers who assume no application means no obligation.
• Delaware: Updated regulations changed how benefit years are calculated and narrowed when employers can require employees to use accrued PTO first, forcing updates to leave policies that once seemed settled. Contributions to Delaware Paid Leave started January 1, 2025. As of January 1, 2026, the program is fully in effect, and employees can now submit benefit claims.

These laws often create issues because they do not line up with existing PTO policies, payroll processes, or leave administration. That gap often becomes clear only after an employee has already gone out on leave.

HR Takeaway

Before the next leave request comes in, carve out time to check where your people are actually working, make sure payroll’s withholding the right state taxes, and confirm your handbook lines up with what’s happening in practice. Sorting this out after someone’s already out on leave is a headache you don’t need.

Status: Proposal discussed publicly; no change in law or plan rules

The Trump administration floated the idea of letting people tap 401(k) money for a home down payment. That’s it. No statute, no regulation, no effective date. Just enough detail to make headlines — and just enough to land squarely on HR’s desk.

Once stories like this break, employees do not wait for Congress. They ask whether they can do this now, whether it applies to their account, and whether HR can “just check” with the recordkeeper. In most cases, the answer is no — current plans do not allow it, and HR does not have discretion to invent a new distribution option.

If Congress acts, implementation takes time. Plans need formal amendments. Recordkeepers need months to update their systems. Employees need clear answers about taxes, repayment, and what happens to their retirement savings long-term. Right now, these are proposals, not law. Until something passes and gets built out, you’re fielding questions about ideas that may never materialize.

HR Takeaway

Keep it simple and direct. Let employees know this isn’t part of the plan right now, and you’ll update them if the law changes or the plan adds it later. Don’t guess at what might happen, and don’t get stuck playing phone tag between employees reading headlines and your recordkeeper trying to explain why none of it applies yet.

Status: Proposed rule submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); not final

The Department of Labor sent a proposed rule to OMB that spells out fiduciary duties when plan committees pick investment options. This comes as more committees consider alternatives like private equity, real estate, and digital assets.

The proposal doesn’t make things easier for fiduciaries. It lays out what committees need to document around fees, liquidity, valuation, and how they’ll explain these options to participants. If your committee is thinking about adding alternatives to look current or competitive, they’ll need better documentation and tighter processes than they have now.

HR tends to handle the logistics: you’re scheduling meetings with advisors, keeping documentation straight, and explaining committee decisions to employees. The more complex the investment menu gets, the more critical that coordination becomes.

HR Takeaway

Don’t let the committee pick products before they’ve worked through the process. If alternatives come up, ask why they fit your workforce and what problem they’re solving. The answer should come from actual analysis, not from what’s trendy or what peer companies are offering.

Reported: January 2026 survey data by TopResume

Almost 40% of top executives said they’ve thought seriously about quitting in the past year. The reasons? Relentless workload, constant stress, and not enough support. Pay wasn’t the issue.

Executive turnover doesn’t stay contained. When a senior leader leaves, it throws off strategy, interferes with succession plans, shakes board confidence, and can complicate regulatory relationships. It also tells everyone else in the company exactly what it takes to succeed here.

Many companies put real dollars into wellness and retention for employees but still expect executives to power through. That approach is starting to break down.

HR Takeaway

Build executive retention into your regular risk planning. Check workloads. Confirm whether your succession plan actually works or just lives in a slide deck. Make sure leaders have support that helps in practice, not just on paper. Apply the same discipline you use for the rest of the workforce.

Effective date: 2026 coverage year

Massachusetts just put $250 million into expanding state-funded health insurance subsidies through ConnectorCare. The federal ACA subsidies expired, and the state stepped in to keep premiums stable for lower- and moderate-income residents.

This targets the individual market, but it still affects employers. Employees compare what they pay through their employer’s plan against what they could get on their own. When state policy changes what’s available outside of work, it changes what employees expect from the employers.

HR professionals can also run into confusion. Employees see news about state subsidies and affordable individual coverage, then ask why the company plan doesn’t work the same way.

HR Takeaway

Keep an eye on state health policy, even the changes that don’t touch employer plans. Employee expectations change quickly. Your plan design process doesn’t.

HR teams are dealing with faster regulatory shifts, more state-by-state rules to track, and benefits questions that now bleed into areas like housing and retirement policy. At the same time, executive burnout is no longer something leaders handle quietly — it is showing up as a real retention and performance issue.

If you’re dealing with these issues, focus on catching problems early, communicating clearly, and tightening up your processes where the risk is real.

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