U.S. Employment Law 2025: Power Plays, Court Rulings and Policy Shifts. What’s Next?

Editor's Note

Recent shifts in political leadership have set off a domino effect throughout the employment law landscape, fundamentally altering the way employers and HR professionals must operate. 

Upon assuming office as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump immediately signed a series of Executive Orders (EO) that rolled back several previous directives. These include one that banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin, while also requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to uphold affirmative action practices.

At the heart of this EO is the revocation of EO 11246, first signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, which laid the foundation for affirmative action programs for federal contractors and subcontractors—a policy that has shaped U.S. employment law for decades.

With the new administration promising to reverse course and implement sweeping changes, the future of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives hangs in the balance.

In an unprecedented move, President Trump ousted EEOC Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels on January 28, 2025. This follows a wave of firings at independent agencies, including the NLRB and the PCLOB. Trump had previously fired EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride, just as he fired NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo before that.

These signify major changes in labor-management relations, challenging long-established norms that previously leaned in favor of worker protections. As these agencies recalibrate their priorities, businesses are compelled to reassess and adapt their internal policies, ensuring alignment with an evolving regulatory framework.

At the same time, state legislatures have been active in updating workplace standards. Lawmakers in Illinois and New York finalized significant legislative reforms aimed at curbing discrimination and harassment and enhancing transparency around employee pay and benefits. In Illinois, for example, amendments—set to take effect on March 1, 2025—require employers to disclose pay scales and benefits on job postings and maintain detailed records for at least five years.

On the federal regulatory front, a major anticipated overhaul of overtime exemptions took an unexpected turn toward the end of 2024. Earlier in the DOL’s 2024 agenda, plans were in place to raise the minimum salary threshold for exempt employees—from $684 per week to $844 on July 1, 2024, and then to $1,128 on January 1, 2025 - with corresponding increases for highly compensated employees. However, a federal court in Texas ruled on November 15, 2024, struck down the entire Final Rule. 

The U.S. employment law landscape will continue to evolve in 2025 and beyond. With several significant changes on the horizon, this month, we will look into some of the immediate challenges organizations must be prepared for in the coming months.

Happy Reading!
 

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