States are increasingly setting the tone for workplace regulation, from AI governance and workplace safety laws to paid leave mandates. These state-driven innovations are reshaping compliance obligations for employers — particularly those with multi-jurisdictional workforces. This session examines three of the most significant state policy trends affecting HR, explores how these developments interact with federal requirements, and concludes with a discussion on what's next for employers navigating an increasingly complex compliance landscape.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Identify emerging state workplace law trends affecting employers across multiple jurisdictions.
Evaluate compliance risks associated with evolving state requirements related to AI, wages, and employee leave.
Develop practical strategies for monitoring and responding to changing state workplace laws.
Meet the Presenters
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Moderator: Lauren R. Becker, Partner, Holland & Knight
Lauren R. Becker is a Dallas labor and employment and litigation attorney who focuses her practice on a range of matters in complex business and labor and employment arenas. Ms. Becker focuses her practice primarily on providing guidance with regard to pre-litigation labor and employment and commercial business disputes, counseling employers on a broad range of labor and employment matters, conducting labor and employment due diligence in connection with business acquisitions and sales, negotiating executive employment and related agreements, and drafting employee handbooks, policies and other labor and employment-related documents.
Ms. Becker has extensive experience advising national and international business clients and senior executives across a wide range of industries regarding labor and employment matters. Ms. Becker also is highly knowledgeable in matters involving claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), wage payment disputes, employment discrimination and harassment claims, non-compete claims and trade secret defense issues.
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AI Governance: Annette Tyman, Partner, Seyfarth
Annette Tyman provides proactive counseling and litigation advice to employers on workforce strategies that leverage data analytics, with a focus on artificial intelligence governance and risk management, equal pay, inclusion and belonging practices, and people analytics. Annette advises employers on the lawful use of data-driven and AI-enabled tools in employment decision-making, including systems used in recruiting, hiring, promotion, retention, workforce planning, and employee engagement. Her work in this area includes helping organizations assess legal risk, develop governance and documentation practices, and align workforce technologies with evolving federal, state, and global regulatory requirements.
She serves as the chair of Seyfarth’s People Analytics practice group and has provided written and oral testimony on proposed labor and employment legislation and regulations before federal policymakers.
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Workplace Safety: Dee Anna D. Hays, Shareholder, Ogletree Deakins
Dee Anna founded and co-chairs the firm’s Multistate Advice and Counseling Practice Group. She is passionate about providing legal advice and counseling to management in difficult workplace situations and has the honor of being a trusted advisor to many long-term clients. Dee Anna is Board Certified by the Florida Bar and is a nationally recognized speaker and author on labor and employment law issues. Dee Anna serves as the Director of State Legislative Affairs for the HR Florida State Council. She also co-chairs the Academy of Florida Management Attorneys’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) committee.
Dee Anna regularly assists employers with defending against OSHA inspections and citations (as well as related drug testing and workplace violence issues), developing and updating employment handbooks, policies, procedures, agreements, applications, and other documents to ensure multistate compliance, as well as handling other important tasks
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Paid Leave: Sandy Dornsife, Senior Associate, Multi-State
Sandy Dornsife is a member of the Issue Management Team. Sandy obtained her B.S. in Social Policy from Northwestern University and her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. Prior to joining MultiState, Sandy worked as an Emergency Planner with Montgomery County Maryland, developing, implementing and assessing emergency management policy in the region. She has also served as a volunteer attorney with Just Neighbors and the International Refugee Assistance Project where she worked on immigration and refugee issues. Currently, Sandy serves a specialist in HR related state policies and employment law.
SHRM certification has approved this webinar for 1 PDC toward SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP recertification. A program code will be provided at the end of the webinar.