HR & Compliance News

What Changed and Why It Matters

On March 16, 2026, ICE quietly updated its Form I-9 Inspection fact sheet and reclassified more than 10 common paperwork errors from "technical" to "substantive" violations. That distinction matters: technical errors come with a 10-business-day window to fix them before any fine applies. Substantive errors get fined immediately, at $288 to $2,861 per form — with no cure period.

Errors Now Immediately Finable

• Missing date of birth
• Missing date of hire
• Failure to date Section 1 or Section 2
• Missing rehire dates on Supplement B
• Preparer/translator errors on Supplement A
• Failure to check the "alternative procedure" box when using the DHS remote I-9 verification process

Enforcement Context

This change lands at the same time ICE has been running its most aggressive worksite enforcement in years. Audits have been showing up with little notice across construction, hospitality, manufacturing, staffing, and retail. An I-9 audit means ICE reviews every form for every current and recent employee — and at these fine levels, a handful of errors across a workforce of any size adds up quickly.

How to Correct Errors Properly

If you find errors during an internal audit, correct them using the accepted method: draw a single line through the incorrect or missing information, write the correction, and initial and date it. Do not use correction fluid, do not erase, and do not attempt to rewrite or recreate the form. If a form is so incomplete that it can't be corrected, complete a new one and attach the old one with a note explaining why it was redone.

If you've never done a full I-9 audit, or it's been more than a year, this is the moment to do one. StaffPro can help you structure it — just reach out.

Change 1: A New Bank of 32 Unpaid Hours

On top of the 40 or 56 paid hours employees already get based on your company size, you must now provide 32 additional hours of unpaid sick and safe time per year. These hours must be available immediately from day one of employment — there is no waiting period — and they reset on the first day of each calendar year. You are not required to carry unused hours over to the next year. You can set a minimum usage increment of up to 4 hours per day.

Current DCWP guidance says that if you already front-load enough paid leave above the required amount, you may be able to use that surplus to satisfy the 32-hour unpaid requirement. Check the guidance carefully if you rely on a front-loaded policy.

Change 2: Expanded Covered Reasons

Employees can now use ESSTA leave for a broader set of circumstances, including:

• Caring for a minor child or other care recipient
• Responding to a workplace violence incident
• Handling matters related to subsistence benefits or housing
• Public disasters — declared emergencies, severe weather events, or a government order to stay indoors

Change 3: Paid Prenatal Leave Now Formally in ESSTA

The 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave that New York State already required (since January 2025) is now formally incorporated into ESSTA. That means NYC's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection can enforce it and assess penalties for violations — $500 per employee, per calendar year, plus restoration of the lost hours. This leave runs separately from PFL and sick leave and cannot be denied.

Temporary Schedule Change Act

The Temporary Schedule Change Act was scaled back as part of these amendments — employees no longer get two guaranteed temporary schedule changes per year. However, employers must still respond to requests and cannot retaliate against employees who ask for a schedule change.

Pay Stubs and Required Notices

Pay stubs must now separately show paid and unpaid protected time off balances as line items. DCWP has published an updated Notice of Employee Rights in multiple languages — you are required to distribute it to all current employees and include it with new-hire onboarding paperwork.

What's Prohibited

New York State employers — regardless of size — cannot request or use an applicant's or employee's consumer credit history for hiring, compensation, promotions, or any other terms or conditions of employment. The law amends New York's Fair Credit Reporting Act and extends statewide what New York City has prohibited since 2015.

"Credit history" is defined broadly: credit reports, credit scores, information on accounts and debts, bankruptcies, judgments, and liens. It doesn't matter whether you obtain that information from a background screening company or directly from the applicant — both are prohibited.

Narrow Exceptions

The law does include specific exceptions, but they are tightly written:

• Law enforcement positions
• Roles requiring a federal or state security clearance
• Roles that must be bonded under state or federal law
• Positions with signatory authority over $10,000 or more in third-party funds
• A handful of other specifically defined roles

In New York City, the local law is even narrower — if you have NYC employees and believe a role qualifies for an exception, check both the state and city rules. If you rely on an exception, document in writing why that specific position qualifies before you pull or use any credit information.

Enforcement and Liability

Non-compliance is treated as an unlawful discriminatory practice. Applicants and employees have a private right of action — meaning they can sue directly for damages and attorneys' fees. This isn't a regulatory fine you might never encounter; it's litigation exposure that starts with a single improper inquiry.

What to Do Now

Review all job applications, online and paper, and remove any questions about credit history. Contact your background screening vendor and confirm they are not returning credit information on New York reports — some vendors include credit data by default unless you specifically opt out. Update your hiring managers and HR team so they know not to ask applicants about credit in interviews either.

Who's Covered

Employers covered by Secure Choice are those that: (1) have been in business for at least two years, (2) had 10 or more employees in New York during 2025, and (3) do not currently offer a qualified retirement plan such as a 401(k), 403(b), SEP, or SIMPLE IRA. If you already offer a qualifying plan, you are exempt — but you must actively certify that exemption through the Secure Choice portal. Simply having a plan on file is not enough; you need to complete the certification online.

Registration Deadlines

• 30 or more employees: March 18, 2026 (deadline has passed)
• 15–29 employees: May 15, 2026
• 10–14 employees: July 15, 2026

The statute doesn't specify a per-day dollar penalty for missing the deadline, but the program has indicated that regulations may include retroactive penalties. Noncompliance can also surface during a Department of Labor audit. There is no cost to register, so there's no benefit to waiting.

How the Program Works

Secure Choice is a Roth IRA payroll deduction plan. Eligible employees — those 18 or older who work at least 20 hours per week for 30 or more days and don't already have a workplace retirement plan — are automatically enrolled at a 3% default contribution rate. Employees can opt out or change their rate at any time. Employers do not contribute; they facilitate the payroll deduction and remit it to the program. Accounts are portable — employees keep them when they change jobs.

StaffPro Can Handle This

We've built out a complete Secure Choice packet: a registration checklist, employee notice template, and a new-hire automation workflow that integrates with onboarding. Email securechoice@staffproonline.com and we'll walk you through the full process — at no extra charge, it's included in what you're already paying for.

NY Minimum Wage and Exempt Salary Thresholds

A quick reminder of where the numbers landed for 2026 — pay audits still regularly turn up employees being paid below the threshold:

• NYC, Long Island, Westchester: $17.00/hr minimum wage; $1,275.00/week exempt salary (approximately $66,300/year)
• Rest of New York State: $16.00/hr minimum wage; $1,199.10/week exempt salary (approximately $62,350/year)

If a salaried exempt employee falls below the applicable weekly threshold, they are no longer exempt — they're entitled to overtime pay for all hours over 40 in a week. Starting in 2026, New York also added a 15% surcharge on unpaid wage judgments, which increases the financial exposure for wage-and-hour errors significantly.

SECURE 2.0 Roth Catch-Up Rule

As of January 1, 2026, any 401(k) catch-up contribution made by an employee whose prior-year FICA wages exceeded $150,000 must be designated as a Roth contribution. If your plan does not currently support Roth contributions, this requires a plan amendment — and until that amendment is in place, those employees technically cannot make catch-up contributions at all. Confirm with your plan provider or TPA whether your plan is compliant.

AI and Automated Hiring Tools

NYC's bias-audit requirement for automated employment decision tools has been in effect since 2023, but enforcement is intensifying. If you use any AI tool for resume screening, video interview scoring, or candidate ranking, you need a third-party bias audit on record. At least 22 states have pending AI-in-hiring legislation. Document what each tool does, how it was selected, and what testing has been done for discriminatory impact.

A Few More Items on the Horizon

NY disparate impact now codified. New York State amended its Human Rights Law to expressly allow disparate impact claims — a facially neutral policy that disproportionately affects a protected class can create liability under state law, even without evidence of intent. Review attendance, scheduling, leave, and pre-employment testing policies for unintended disparate effects, especially now that federal enforcement of similar theories is pulling back.

NY "Trapped at Work Act." Signed at the end of 2025, this prohibits most employers from issuing promissory notes requiring workers to repay job-related training costs. If you've used training repayment agreements, have them reviewed before you issue another one.

Pay transparency keeps expanding. 16 states plus DC now require salary ranges in job postings. For multi-state employers, the simplest path is usually to post ranges on every US job posting regardless of location.