If you only have ten minutes this month, here is what moved and who it affects. Almost all of these are state-level, several share a July 1 effective date, and most are not retroactive — so the window to fix your templates is before the date, not after.
1. Non-competes: several states narrowed the rules
A non-compete is a contract that stops a worker from joining a competitor after they leave. States keep limiting when you can use one:
- Tennessee (July 1): you can no longer enforce a non-compete against any employee earning under $70,000 a year. For higher earners, a non-compete of two years or less is presumed reasonable.
- Virginia (July 1): non-competes are banned for licensed healthcare professionals, and — a first of its kind — if you fire an employee without cause, you cannot enforce their non-compete unless you provide severance, with the amount written into the agreement when it's signed.
- Utah (already in effect, May 6): banned for most licensed healthcare workers and for veterinarians unless the vet owns at least 5% of the practice.
- Maine (July 13): banned for most healthcare workers, on top of Maine's existing limits for lower-paid staff.
- Washington (June 30, 2027): a near-total ban on non-competes for employees and contractors is coming — about a year out, but worth planning for now.
Do this: pull any agreements you use with lower-paid staff or healthcare hires and remove the non-compete clause before the effective date. None of these are retroactive.
2. Pay transparency: pay ranges are becoming mandatory in postings
- Virginia (July 1): every job posting — public and internal — must include a pay range set in good faith, and you can't ask candidates about their salary history or use it to set pay. Penalties run up to $1,000 for a first violation, up to $5,000 after.
- Connecticut (Oct 1): postings must include the pay range and a general description of benefits, with new protection against retaliation for asking.
- Maine (July 29): employers with 10 or more employees must include a pay range in postings; all employers must share a range with current employees on request, and keep pay records for three years.
Do this: add a good-faith pay range to your standard job-posting template now. "Range in every posting" is quickly becoming the multi-state norm.
3. Leave and accommodations: new obligations
- Illinois NICU leave (already in effect, June 1): employers with 16+ employees must provide unpaid, job-protected leave to a parent whose newborn is in neonatal intensive care — up to 10 days (16–50 employees) or 20 days (51+). Every employee qualifies from day one, and it's separate from federal FMLA.
- Minnesota accommodations (Aug 1): simply failing to engage in the back-and-forth process of finding a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee can now be an unlawful practice on its own — even if no accommodation turns out to be possible. Document every step.
- Virginia Paid Family & Medical Leave: a new state program is coming — contributions begin April 1, 2028 and paid benefits begin December 1, 2028. Worth putting on the long-range calendar now.
4. Stay-or-pay and confidentiality clauses
- Connecticut (Oct 1): the ban on "stay-or-pay" agreements — clauses that make a worker repay training or bonus costs if they quit early — expands to all employers, regardless of size.
- Alabama (Oct 1): any agreement term that would stop someone from disclosing sexual abuse becomes void — whether it's called an NDA, a confidentiality clause, or a settlement.
5. The Virginia Human Rights Act reaches small employers
Effective July 1, Virginia's anti-discrimination law now covers employers with just 5 employees (down from 15), and gives workers two years to file a complaint, up from 300 days. If you have between 5 and 14 employees in Virginia, you're covered for the first time — review your anti-discrimination and complaint policies, and keep records longer to match the new window.
6. Minimum wage: it isn't only a January event
Increases landed July 1 in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. ($18.40/hour), and Florida rises to $15.00 on September 30. If you have hourly staff in more than one state, these off-cycle dates are exactly where payroll mistakes slip in.
What to do this month
- List the states where you actually have employees and check them against the dates above. Multi-state employers carry the most exposure here.
- Fix templates before the effective date. Non-compete clauses, job-posting pay ranges, and confidentiality language are the three most common things to update — and most of these laws aren't retroactive.
- Rethink no-cause terminations in Virginia. A non-compete is now unenforceable there unless you pay severance, so decide which matters more before you let someone go.
- Brief your managers on Illinois NICU leave and Minnesota's accommodation duty — both are easy to miss in the moment a request comes in.
Put a good-faith pay range in every job posting, in every state. Pay-transparency rules are spreading fast (Virginia, Connecticut, and Maine just this cycle), and a single standardized posting template is far easier than tracking which state requires what.
Where this touches your compliance setup
All of these updates are already reflected in your HR Compliance Compass state cards, so the guidance you see in the app is current as of this month — non-compete status by state, pay-transparency requirements, the new Illinois NICU leave card, and more.
What HRCC does about this: the 50-State Quick Reference lets you compare non-competes, pay transparency, leave, and minimum wage across every state on one screen; the Compliance Wizard surfaces what applies to the states where you actually employ people; and each card is written in plain English with the exact dates and dollar figures. Try it free for 14 days.
Sources
Foley & Lardner and Duane Morris, Virginia non-compete laws (HB 627 / SB 170), effective July 1, 2026. · Tennessee HB 1034 (effective July 1, 2026). · National Law Review / Fisher Phillips, Utah HB 270 & SB 111 (effective May 6, 2026). · Seyfarth Shaw, Connecticut H.B. 5003 pay transparency (effective Oct 1, 2026); Littler, Connecticut Public Act 26-12 stay-or-pay. · Morgan Lewis, Maine pay transparency (effective July 29, 2026). · Ogletree / Alight, Illinois Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (effective June 1, 2026). · Seyfarth Shaw / HR Works, Virginia Human Rights Act expansion (effective July 1, 2026). · Felhaber Larson, Minnesota Human Rights Act amendment (effective Aug 1, 2026). · Littler, Virginia Paid Family & Medical Leave (benefits Dec 1, 2028).