2026 mid-year HR compliance checklist

FREE CHECKLIST

Federal and state compliance requirements are moving fast this year. This checklist cuts through the noise — giving you the specific laws, effective dates, and action items your team needs to review now, so nothing slips through before year-end.

Use it as a structured self-audit: work through each of the nine topic areas, flag what applies to your organization, and use the effective dates to prioritize what needs attention first. It’s built to share — bring it into a leadership meeting, loop in legal, or use it to guide your next policy review. BLR’s in-house employment law experts have done the tracking so you don’t have to.

What’s inside the checklist

Nine topic areas. One organized resource. Covering the developments HR is actively navigating right now:

• Hiring and staffing, wage and hour, and pay transparency updates
• DEI programs, leave, and drugs and alcohol guidance
• Immigration and I-9, termination and layoffs, and workplace violence prevention

Easy to scan, simple to act on — without the dense legal detail.

Managing compliance across multiple states?

Download our free state-by-state mid-year employment law update guide for a deeper look at what’s taking effect in your states.