Miles and Stockbridge’s Labor, Employment, Benefits & Immigration Practice Group presented its 24th annual Hot Topics in Employment Law Seminar last week to business executives, human resources professionals and in-house counsel. Topics included navigating the use of AI in the workplace, updates from the National Labor Relations Board, immigration policy shifts, DEI policy enforcement and the importance of properly drafted employment documents.
Here are highlights from the three interactive sessions.
Adjusting to an AI-influenced Workplace
AI continues to be a driving issue in the workplace no matter the industry. Kristy Eriksson and Veronica Jackson explored how AI can assist human resources functions and how HR teams can support a business as AI transforms the nature of work. Tyler Duckett-Oliver and Kelly Powers highlighted the challenges AI presents for employee relations, including an uptick in AI-assisted complaints and accommodation requests.
- The HR department’s role in AI planning and deployment includes assessing company risks (reputational, cultural, legal/regulatory), developing AI literacy training, forecasting talent needs and addressing employee concerns about job displacement.
- AI products should be evaluated for data privacy, bias/discrimination potential and model reliability before implementation, including questions about vendor indemnification and data usage.
- When employees share confidential information with unauthorized AI tools, it creates risks around trade secrets, IP loss and data breaches.
- Employees increasingly use AI tools to draft accommodation requests, complaints and demand letters, resulting in more frequent and better articulated (but not necessarily meritorious) claims. Employers should anticipate an increased volume of accommodation requests and complaints from pro se plaintiffs, verify sources and legal citations and continue processing claims according to policy regardless of how they were drafted.
2025 Was a Wild Ride – What’s Ahead for Employers in 2026
Kathie Pontone, Gillian Santos, Sasha HW Johnson, Paolo Pasicolan and Sufen Zhang provided an overview of significant employment law developments from 2025 and anticipated legal trends for 2026. The speakers covered major workplace discrimination verdicts, changes at the NLRB, proposed revisions to the WARN Act, employee benefits issues, immigration policy shifts, DEI enforcement and the False Claims Act.
- Kathie highlighted significant discrimination and retaliation verdicts from 2025, with awards ranging from $11.5 million to $103 million. These types of claims and verdicts are likely to continue in 2026.
- Sasha and Gillian recapped NLRB developments such as a new general counsel, restoration of the NLRB quorum, and the future of Biden-era decisions (Stericycle, McLaren Macomb, Cemex).
- Gillian reviewed the Fair Warning Act (H.R. 5761) and how it expands the current WARN Act. This proposed legislation would extend the notice period to 90 days, expand employer scope to include companies with 50-plus employees and address remote workers in layoff calculations.
- Paolo addressed key benefits considerations in the context of employee severance, including structuring severance packages to address benefits continuation. He also discussed COBRA compliance requirements, including the circumstances under which employers must offer COBRA coverage to departing employees.
- Sufen explained several immigration changes that occurred in 2025, including the $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions, weighted H-1B lottery selection favoring higher wages, travel bans, social media vetting expansion and the Department of Labor’s “Project Firewall” enforcement initiative.
- Sasha discussed the Trump administration’s DEI enforcement, including Executive Orders targeting DEI programs and unlawful DEI practices. Sasha also reviewed enforcement of the False Claims Act this past year, noting a record $6.8 billion in False Claims Act recoveries.
Employment Documents to the Rescue
Suzzanne Decker, Stephanie Baron and Beth Hall discussed the importance of properly drafted employment documents – including employee handbooks, job descriptions, and employment agreements – to ensure legal compliance and mitigate risk. They emphasized that these documents should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in law and actual workplace practices across multiple states.
- Stephanie spoke about essential handbook policies, such as at-will employment statements, EEO/anti-harassment policies with reporting mechanisms, accommodation policies, pay practices, leave policies and employee conduct standards.
- Suzzanne reviewed OSHA policies that should be included in employee handbooks, namely workplace safety, hazard report, emergency action plans and drug-free workplace policies. She also discussed OSHA’s proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings rule, introduced during the Biden administration.
- Suzzanne also talked about the importance of well-crafted job descriptions that clearly define essential job functions. These descriptions serve multiple purposes: facilitating ADA accommodation discussions; providing justifications for compensation decisions; and supporting defenses against discrimination claims.
- Beth discussed electronic signatures in employment documents, explaining that they are generally valid and enforceable. She said that employers bear the burden of showing the signer’s intent to sign, consent to transact electronically and opportunity to review the document before signing, as well as that the document has remained unaltered.
If you were unable to attend this year’s event, we missed you! To download presentation materials and view speaker bios, contact information and more, please visit our event page. Members of the Labor and Employment team are also available to meet clients and potential clients to answer questions and discuss the topics covered.
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