What’s Next for HR in 2026?

January is named for the Roman god Janus, the deity of beginnings, endings, and transitions. Traditionally depicted with two faces, Janus looks backward at the lessons of the past and forward to the possibilities of the future.

As we enter 2026, the labor and employment landscape embodies this duality. We see a significant shift in federal enforcement priorities alongside a legislative push in Virginia that could redefine the employer-employee relationship.

What Employment Laws Could be Changing in Virginia?

Virginia employers must contend with immediate statutory changes and a high-stakes General Assembly session.

Minimum Wage Adjustments

Virginia’s minimum wage increased to $12.77 per hour, effective January 1, 2026. This adjustment follows the statutory requirement to index the wage to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).

Employers should ensure their payroll systems and required workplace posters are updated to reflect this new rate.

The Battle Over the "Right-to-Work"

For now, Virginia remains one of 27 states with a "right-to-work" law, which prohibits agreements that force employees to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment.

Proponents see this law as protecting individual liberties, but unions oppose right-to-work laws because of the impact on their revenues. Both sides agree that without a right-to-work law, Virginia workplaces could experience more numerous and more aggressive unionization drives.

In advance of the 2026 General Assembly session, State Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Prince William) has filed SB 32, a bill to repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law. Governor Abigail Spanberger signaled that she will not sign legislation repealing Virginia’s right-to-work law but also stated vaguely, “reforms may be necessary.” Lt. Governor Ghazala Hashmi has voiced support for repealing the right-to-work law.

Employers should keep a close eye on the progress of this legislation and make their opinions and concerns known to their state representatives.

Expansion of Collective Bargaining

Relatedly, we anticipate changes to public sector bargaining. Until 2020, Virginia banned collective bargaining for all Virginia state and local government employees. In 2020, that law was amended to allow local governments to enact ordinances that permit employees to engage in collective bargaining.

The amendment did not extend that option to state government employees. Since the amendment went into effect in 2021, we have seen public sector unions gain a foothold in Fairfax County and the City of Richmond, and pressure exerted in the City of Virginia Beach and elsewhere to expand public sector unionization.

We anticipate that 2026 will bring more changes to Virginia’s public sector bargaining law, and possibly an attempt to open Virginia state government and all localities to unionization.

Unions are eager to pounce. In anticipation of a possible change in the law, union organizers recently have been lodging Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to public agencies seeking lists of their employees. Although those entities cannot engage in collective bargaining currently, unions are preparing for their opportunity.

Public entity employers would be wise to prepare as well.

The Push for Paid Leave

Few are aware that Virginia currently has a paid sick leave law that requires employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The law currently applies only to a tiny segment of Virginia’s workforce: FLSA non-exempt home health workers who work on average 20 hours per week or 90 days per month, and who are not licensed by a health regulatory board or employed by a hospital.

In 2025, the General Assembly passed a bill to establish a paid family and medical leave insurance program that would have covered most Virginia workers, but Gov. Youngkin vetoed it. Gov. Spanberger stated she is in favor of such legislation. Del. Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler introduced a bill (HB5), that would expand the paid sick leave requirement to all Virginia private- and public-sector employees.

As with the “right-to-work” legislation, employers should keep a close eye on the progress of this bill.

What is Changing at Federal Agencies?

After a period of relative paralysis in 2025 due to a lack of quorums, both the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) now have quorums with a Republican majority, signaling a rapid rollback of Biden-era policies. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued several opinion letters.

The NLRB: Dismantling the Cemex Framework

The Senate’s December 2025 confirmation of President Trump’s nominees restored the board’s quorum. The primary target for the "new" NLRB is the Cemex Construction Materials Pacific decision.

Cemex allows for automatic unionization if an employer fails to request an election promptly after receiving a union’s demand to bargain or commits an unfair labor practice during an election campaign.

We expect the NLRB to narrow or overrule Cemex in 2026, returning to the traditional union-petition and secret-ballot election as the primary path to representation.

Other Biden-area NLRB decisions likely to be reversed by the new board include those that facilitated the organization of “micro” units, prohibited “captive-audience” meetings, and rendered workplace policies “unlawful” if a so-called “reasonable” employee could interpret them as limiting protected activity.

The EEOC: A New "American Worker" Focus

The EEOC, too, is expected to be more active in 2026. Despite lacking a quorum until October 2025, the EEOC still accomplished several of the Trump administration’s goals. It issued guidance against “unlawful” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures, pivoted from championing transgender rights to deleting such materials from its guidance documents, and dropped transgender discrimination lawsuits and disparate impact claims.

Now that the EEOC has a full quorum, we expect even more vigorous action to advance President Trump’s agenda. The EEOC announced that its priorities are targeting DEI programs, protecting U.S. citizens from national origin discrimination, protecting single-sex bathrooms in the workplace, and pursuing religious discrimination claims.

The commission already voted to rescind the workplace harassment guidance issued under the Biden administration. That recent change merits a full article which will be published soon. We invite you to subscribe to our L&E Legal Updates to stay informed. We expect the EEOC also to revisit the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) since the current EEOC commissioners criticized the rules issued in 2024.

The 2026 DOL "New Year" Opinion Letters

The DOL kicked off 2026 by issuing several clarifying opinion letters that provide immediate guidance for HR compliance. These opinion letters include an examination of the exempt status of licensed clinical social workers, an analysis of nondiscretionary bonuses and overtime pay, and clarification that time spent in travel for medical treatment can be counted as part of Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave.

Overall, we expect rapid changes in enforcement priorities from the big three regulatory agencies. Employers should monitor agency news closely and sign up for legal alerts to stay informed.

How Will HR Handle Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance?

AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it is a compliance reality. In 2026, businesses should prioritize bias audits to ensure that AI tools are not inadvertently creating disparate impacts against protected groups in the workplace.

It is critical that businesses develop AI policies and governance tools to control employees’ use of AI and stress the importance of human oversight in final hiring and termination decisions to mitigate legal liability.

What Will Happen Next?

Woods Rogers’ labor and employment law team will monitor these developments and prepare guidance and direction for our clients. Stay informed by subscribing to our legal updates and reach out to us if you have questions or compliance concerns.