Four HR compliance updates are taking effect before December 31, covering everything from how you screen job applicants to whether your training repayment agreements are still legal. Here’s what HVACR contractors need to act on now.
If you’ve been putting off an HR review, now’s the time to move it up on the calendar. Several new employment law changes are taking effect before the end of this year, and a few of them hit closer to home for contractors than you might expect. Here’s what’s on the horizon.
Maine: New rules on how you monitor employees
Maine’s new employee surveillance law takes effect mid-July 2026, and it applies to how you monitor field technicians. The good news is that GPS devices on company-owned vehicles are explicitly excluded from the definition of “employer surveillance,” so your fleet tracking isn’t going anywhere.
What does apply is electronic monitoring more broadly: things like activity tracking software or communication monitoring. Before you start any new monitoring, you’ll need to give current employees advance written notice, notify new hires during the interview process, and send all employees an annual written reminder that surveillance is in place. You also can’t install monitoring apps on an employee’s personal phone without their consent. For most HVACR contractors, the day-to-day impact will be modest, but the notice requirements are real and ignoring them isn’t an option.
New Jersey: Family leave just got a lot more accessible
Starting July 17, 2026, the New Jersey Family Leave Act expands to cover employers with 15 or more employees, down from the previous threshold of 30. Employees also become eligible much sooner — after just three months and 250 hours worked rather than a full year and 1,000 hours.
The other significant change involves temporary disability insurance (TDI) and family leave insurance (FLI). Employees who use these benefits will now have formal job protection attached — meaning you’re required to reinstate them to the same or equivalent position when they return.
One practical detail worth knowing: employees who are eligible for both earned sick leave and TDI or FLI now get to choose which one they use first. You can’t dictate the order. For a contractor managing a small office team alongside field crews, that’s worth building into how you think about leave administration.
Colorado: Using software to screen applicants? Read this.
Colorado’s Artificial Intelligence Act takes effect June 30, 2026, and it targets something a lot of businesses use without thinking much about it: AI-assisted hiring tools. If your applicant tracking software automatically filters or ranks candidates before a human ever looks at them, this law likely applies to you.
Covered employers will need to notify applicants when AI is involved in hiring decisions, conduct annual assessments of their AI systems, and post disclosures on their website. There’s an important exception for employers with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees who don’t use their own data to train the AI. Those businesses have lighter obligations, though they’re still expected to take reasonable steps to prevent discriminatory outcomes. If you’re not sure whether your software qualifies, ask your vendor directly.
New York: Think twice before using training repayment agreements
New York pushed back its ban on most “stay or pay” agreements to December 19, 2026, which gives employers a little more runway — but not much. These are agreements where an employee owes money back if they leave before a certain date, and you may be using them if you invest in certifications, EPA 608 licensing, or NATE credentials.
The law doesn’t ban all repayment arrangements, but it significantly restricts them. If you have anything like this in your offer letters, employment contracts, or even informal understandings, now is a good time to have an employment attorney review them before the deadline hits.
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