Update Your Employee Handbook With January 1, 2026, Developments
Author: Brightmine Editorial Team
When to Use
An employee handbook is a valuable tool for setting clear expectations among employees, promoting the fair application and uniform enforcement of policies, demonstrating compliance with employment laws and mitigating risk. But with all the legal changes taking effect on January 1, updating the handbook is a serious challenge. This is especially true for multistate employers.
This checklist can help simplify the handbook update process. Organized by jurisdiction, it lists significant new or updated compliance requirements, effective on or around January 1, that resulted in updates to employee-facing policies. The checklist also includes links to the corresponding Brightmine handbook templates.
To get started, identify the states and localities listed below where your organization has physical operations or remote employees. Next, review the "When to Include" section of the listed handbook templates to determine if, based on the underlying law, the policy is applicable to your organization, and then update or add the relevant policies to your employee handbook.
