The Latest – Compliance Round Up – EAD Extensions, H-1B Fee-Payment Portal, Open Enrollment 2025 and More

By Published On: November 5, 2025

As an ERISA & benefits attorney and HR-centric advisor, Jenny Kiesewetter provides HR professionals with the legal insight and practical tools needed to stay compliant, protect employees and support business goals.

Federal News

Federal agencies are stepping up enforcement while states push through 2026 compliance deadlines. From immigration and affirmative action to pay transparency and wage hikes, here’s what moved this month — and what HR should fix before year-end.

Effective Date: October 30, 2025

What’s Changing: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) terminated the standard 540-day automatic extension of employment authorization documents (EADs). Renewals filed on or after that date no longer provide interim work authorization while the renewal is pending.

What This Means for HR:

  • Identify employees whose work authorization depends on EADs and flag upcoming expiration dates.
  • Build renewal timelines into your compliance calendar. Don’t wait for the 180-day mark.
  • Discuss renewal timing and potential employment interruptions with managers before a card expires.
  • Review your I-9 process to ensure re-verification and backup procedures are current.

Effective Date: October 2025

What’s Changing? USCIS has introduced a new platform for paying H-1B filing fees and issued updated guidance on which employers qualify for exemptions. The change affects how petitioning employers submit payments and verify eligibility, particularly for filings in the upcoming FY 2026 cap cycle.

What This Means for HR:

  • Confirm your immigration team and payroll contacts know how to access and process payments through the new system.
  • Review exemption categories with counsel to ensure your documentation supports any claimed exemptions.
  • Keep proof of payment and exemption analyses in each case file to minimize processing delays.

Effective: November–December 2025

What’s Changing? Open-enrollment (OE) is here and regulatory and vendor experts are flagging recurring missteps, including:

What This Means for HR: 

  • Appoint a single OE project owner with clear accountability.
  • Run end‐to‐end testing of enrollment, carrier file transmission, and payroll deductions.
  • Confirm cafeteria plan amendments match communication materials.
  • Perform a final audit of required notices and delivery mechanisms.
  • Document your testing, results, and remediation steps for audit readiness.

What’s Changing: The federal hiring freeze has been extended again, affecting both direct agency hires and contractors dependent on federal award staffing. This slows hiring pipelines and puts pressure on alternative resourcing strategies.

What This Means for HR:

  • Re-forecast talent needs for roles tied to agency work or federal grants.
  • Consider temporary redeployment or outsourcing for critical roles.
  • Strengthen internal bench and cross‐training programs.
  • Monitor agency communications for phases of hiring resumption.

Effective Date: Ongoing (as of October 2025)

What’s Changing: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is signaling coordinated government-wide scrutiny of contractor DEI programs and affirmative action practices. Contractors should expect more audits, more documentation requests, and greater emphasis on metrics and outreach efforts.

What This Means for HR:

  • Refresh your Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs) to ensure they reflect current headcounts, outreach logs, and adverse impact analyses.
  • Align your DEI programs with legitimate business objectives and job-related criteria.
  • Maintain privileged copies of narratives and outreach documentation.
  • Train HR and talent acquisition teams to understand the compliance lens on DEI initiatives.

Trending State News

Effective Date: January 1, 2026 (for certain provisions)

What’s Changing: California’s Assembly Bill 288 extends the authority of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to include some labor disputes arising in the private sector. The law closes a long-standing gap by giving PERB limited oversight in cases that overlap with organizing activity or allegations of interference with employee rights. It also refines existing definitions of what counts as protected conduct under California law, signaling that the state intends to take a closer look at how employers respond to union or concerted activity.

What This Means for HR:

  • Review any policies that limit employee participation in labor organizing or representation, and ensure they align with the heightened standard.
  • Train management and HR staff about the expanded protections and PERB’s increased oversight.
  • Audit your internal communications and handbook to ensure there are no improper restrictions on employees’ rights to organize or engage in concerted activity.

 

Effective Date: January 1, 2026

What’s Changing? Maine’s minimum wage increases to $15.10 per hour on January 1, 2026. The exempt salary level also rises to $871.16 per week (approximately $45,300 annually) under Title 26 M.R.S. § 664.

What This Means for HR:

  • Review pay records now.
  • Adjust any rates below the new minimums.
  • Confirm that exempt employees still meet both the duties and salary tests.
  • Update payroll and notices before the change takes effect.

Pay Transparency Law Now in Effect

Effective Date: October 29, 2025

What’s Changing? The Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency requires employers with 25 or more employees to disclose pay ranges in job postings and provide those ranges to employees upon request. Larger employers (100+ employees) must submit aggregate wage data reports.

What This Means for HR:

  • Enable pay-range fields in your ATS and update job posting templates.
  • Train managers and recruiters on responding to pay-range inquiries.
  • Conduct a privileged pay-equity audit before submitting wage data.
  • Document reasoning behind pay bands and ensure non-retaliation protections.

 

AI Interview Case Dismissed – But Risk Remains

Effective Date: October 2025

What’s Changing: A federal court dismissed a class action under Massachusetts’s lie-detector statute challenging AI-video interviews. The ruling offers limited relief but doesn’t eliminate risk for employers using AI in hiring.

What This Means for HR:

  • Review third-party AI vendor contracts for compliance with biometric, consent, and “lie detection” laws.
  • Provide clear disclosures to applicants about AI assessment tools.
  • Establish oversight and audit logs for automated decision-making tools.

Effective Date: Ongoing (renewed emphasis October 2025)

What’s Changing? Washington regulators are increasing audits under the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act for job postings missing pay-range disclosures or documentation.

What This Means for HR:

  • Audit live job postings and recruiter templates for pay-range compliance.
  • Keep copies of postings for at least three (3) years.
  • Train recruiters on the state’s pay-range disclosure requirements and documentation practices.

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The information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.

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