November 2026 sample issue

Layoffs caused by automation will need a new kind of notice

For workforce reductions where employees are displaced by artificial intelligence or other automating technology, the California WARN notice must identify the displacement as a “technology displacement” and include specified details, such as the job functions automated. The existing 60 day notice period stays. Violations may carry a civil penalty of $500 for each day. SB 951 takes effect January 1, 2027.

If you plan a reduction in California in 2027 and any part of it follows from new software or automation, the notice has more to say than it does today.

• Add a step to your layoff checklist: is any part of this reduction linked to automation?
• Ask counsel for the notice wording before you need it.
• Keep a written record of the business reason for each role affected.

Employers may not use AI to read employees' emotions

With specified exceptions, AB 1883 bars employers from using artificial intelligence workplace surveillance tools to infer employees' emotional states or to collect “neural data.” Violations may carry a $500 civil penalty per violation. It takes effect January 1, 2027.

Some call coaching, engagement and productivity tools claim to detect mood or stress. If you use one with California employees, check what it does before the law starts.

• List every monitoring, call analysis or engagement tool you use in California.
• Ask each vendor in writing whether it infers emotion or collects neural data.
• Switch off any feature that does, or plan to, before January 1.

Bereavement leave extends to a “designated person”

SB 1149 extends California's bereavement leave to the death of a designated person: someone related to the employee by blood, or whose association with the employee is equivalent to a family relationship. An employer may limit an employee to one designated person's death in a 12 month period. It takes effect January 1, 2027.

Your bereavement policy probably lists the relatives who count. From January 1 it needs to cover people who are family in every way but name.

• Rewrite the policy to include a designated person.
• Decide how an employee names that person, and apply the one-in-12-months limit if you want it.
• Brief managers so the first request is not a surprise.

Election Day is November 3: voting leave and the posted notice

A New York employee who does not have four consecutive hours outside work while the polls are open may take enough working time to vote, up to two hours without loss of pay. The employee must give notice not more than 10 nor less than 2 working days before the election. The employer may decide whether the time is taken at the start or the end of the shift. Employers must post a notice of these rules at least 10 working days before every election, and keep it up until the polls close on election day. Election Day 2026 is Tuesday, November 3.

A manager who says no to a vote request, or a missing notice, is an easy complaint to avoid.

• Confirm the voting leave notice is posted where employees will see it.
• Tell managers the rule: up to two paid hours, at the start or end of the shift.
• Check whether your other states have their own voting leave rules.

Emiratisation: the second half target is close

Private sector companies with 50 or more employees must grow the number of Emiratis in skilled roles by 2% a year, in two steps of 1%, one for each half of the year. The first half deadline was June 30, 2026, and the fines begin the following day. A company that misses a target pays AED 10,000 a month for each unfilled post, which is AED 120,000 a year. The second step falls at the end of the year, the date MoHRE has used in earlier years being December 31, so confirm the date with MoHRE.

Recruiting takes time. Closing a gap in the last weeks is hard, and a hire that exists only on paper is treated as a violation.

• Confirm your exact target for your size and sector.
• Count your Emiratis in skilled roles today against both steps.
• Hire into real roles with real duties, and start now.

New harassment and trade union duties start October 30

From October 30, 2026, UK employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff, up from reasonable steps. A new duty also covers harassment of employees by third parties such as customers, clients and contractors. Trade union changes start the same day, including a duty to tell workers of their right to join a union and wider union rights of access to workplaces.

A customer-facing team or a site with contractors is now part of your risk assessment. A policy in the handbook is not enough on its own.

• Review your harassment policy and record the steps you take to prevent sexual harassment.
• Look at where your staff meet customers, clients and contractors, and what you do if they are harassed.
• Plan how you will tell workers of their right to join a trade union.
• Brief managers on the new duties.

Unfair dismissal protection starts at six months of service

On January 1, 2027 the qualifying period for an unfair dismissal claim is scheduled to fall from two years of service to six months, and an employee who already has six months on that date is protected straight away. The two caps on compensation, 52 weeks of pay and a fixed amount currently set at £118,223, are scheduled to be removed on the same date.

A dismissal in the first two years carries real risk from the new year. A probation period you managed informally now needs a fair reason and a fair process.

• List staff with more than six months and less than two years of service.
• Write down performance and conduct concerns early and keep the records.
• Plan probation reviews so any decision rests on evidence.
• Take advice before any exit you plan around the year end.

60% Saudization in marketing and sales roles

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development set 60% Saudization in marketing and sales professions, effective April 19, 2026 after a grace period. It applies to private establishments with three or more workers in the listed professions. A Saudi in a marketing role counts toward the rate only if paid at least SAR 5,500.

If you have three or more people in marketing or sales roles in an establishment, the share of Saudis in those roles needs to reach 60%, and the pay floor decides who counts.

• Count the workers in marketing and sales roles in each Saudi establishment.
• Work out how many are Saudis paid at least SAR 5,500.
• Plan the hires or role changes that close any gap, with your local partner.

The Workplace Fairness Act will require fair decisions and a grievance process

Parliament passed the Workplace Fairness Bill on January 8, 2025. Employers will not be allowed to make adverse decisions on five protected categories, and must have a process for handling grievances. The Ministry of Manpower’s release gives no start date. Law firm commentary expects the law to start at the end of 2027, so confirm the date with MOM.

A written grievance process and consistent hiring and promotion steps are the safe place to be, well before the law starts.

• Write or update a grievance process that staff can find and use.
• Review job ads and hiring and promotion steps for decisions that could be questioned.
• Confirm the start date with MOM before you set your timetable.

The minimum wage and the exempt salary floor both rise on January 1, 2027

The statewide minimum wage will be $17.40 an hour from January 1, 2027, announced by the Department of Industrial Relations on August 13, 2026. The minimum salary for the overtime exemption salary test moves with it, to $72,384 a year. A salaried employee paid below that cannot meet the salary test, whatever the duties, so re-check roles near the line.

The state minimum wage stays flat in 2027

The Governor's office states the standard minimum wage does not rise on January 1, 2027. It stays at $17.00 an hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester, and $16.00 an hour in the rest of the state. A proposal to move the rates to $17.60 and $16.55 from March 1, 2027 would need approval from the Legislature. It is not law.