If you’ve never run open enrollment before, or you’ve been handling it informally, October is the month to get serious.

Most employer-sponsored plans run on a calendar year, which means that your enrollment window typically falls somewhere between late October and early December. If you miss it, your employees may be locked out of coverage changes until the following year.

There are a few things you’re required to do. Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) documents must go out with your open enrollment materials. If you’re subject to the ACA’s employer mandate, your plan needs to meet affordability and minimum value standards. And, depending on your size and state, you may also need to distribute COBRA, HIPAA and CHIPRA notices on time.

Beyond the compliance side, this is also when your employees are making real financial decisions about their health coverage, retirement contributions and FSA or HSA elections. If they don’t understand what’s available, they’ll either pick the wrong plan or skip enrollment altogether.

There are a few things worth doing now.

Review your current plan options with your benefits broker or carrier to confirm what’s changing for 2027. Make sure that your enrollment materials are clear and written in plain language. And build in time for employees to ask questions before the window closes.

If you’d like help with preparing for open enrollment or reviewing your benefits compliance, get in touch.

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New W-2 reporting requirements for overtime and tips taking effect in 2026

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduced tax deductions for qualified overtime pay and qualified tips. For tax year 2026, employers are required to separately report these amounts on Form W-2 using new Box 12 codes: Code TT for qualified overtime compensation and Code TP for cash tips reported to the employer.

The IRS provided penalty relief for 2025 reporting, but that relief does not apply to 2026. If your payroll system isn’t set up to track and report these categories separately, you need to fix that before year-end.

If you have hourly employees working overtime or staff who receive tips, talk to your payroll provider now to confirm that your system is ready.

Employee fired over social media posts: what the NLRA actually protects

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees have the right to discuss working conditions with each other. That includes conversations on social media.

If an employee posts about pay, safety or unfair treatment and other employees engage with the post, that activity is likely protected. The NLRB has repeatedly found that employers with broad social media policies that prohibit “negative” or “disparaging” comments are violating the law. In several cases, employees fired under those policies have been ordered reinstated.

If you have a social media policy, make sure that your employees have actually received it. And if someone posts something that you don’t like, the first step is a conversation.

States are expanding workplace accommodation requirements

A growing number of states are passing laws that require employers to provide workplace accommodations for conditions like menopause. Rhode Island was the first to mandate accommodations such as temperature adjustments, flexible scheduling and remote work for employees with menopause-related symptoms. Virginia followed with similar protections earlier this year.

At the federal level, the Menopausal Workers’ Fairness Act was introduced in Congress in July 2026. If passed, it will create a standalone right to reasonable accommodation for menopause symptoms for employers with 15 or more employees, similar to how the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act works.

Even without a federal law, the ADA may already require accommodations if an employee’s symptoms substantially limit a major life activity. And dismissing an accommodation request, even casually, can open the door to a discrimination claim under the ADA or under sex and age discrimination protections.

Getting your accommodation process in order now puts you ahead of where this is going.

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The EEOC’s new enforcement plan and what it means for your business

Earlier this year, the EEOC approved a new National Enforcement Plan that replaces the previous administration’s priorities. If you employ people, this affects how discrimination complaints against your business will be investigated.

The biggest shift is towards intentional discrimination cases. The EEOC is prioritizing claims involving direct or deliberate bias, including bias in hiring, promotion and training. It has also signaled that it will step back from disparate impact claims, which are cases built on statistical patterns rather than direct evidence of intent.

That doesn’t eliminate the risk of those claims entirely. Many states still allow disparate impact cases under their own employment laws, so the federal pullback doesn’t mean that the legal theory is gone.

The agency is also looking more closely at how employers use DEI-related programs and recruiting practices. If any of those processes create preferential treatment based on protected characteristics, they could draw scrutiny. Harassment and retaliation remain enforcement priorities as well.

Every conversation you don’t document, every termination you don’t support with a clear written reason and every complaint you don’t investigate properly is now carrying more weight. If the EEOC opens a case against you, they’ll be looking at your records first.

If your documentation practices or internal complaint processes haven’t been reviewed recently, now is the time to tighten things up. Reach out and we’ll walk you through it.

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Q&A

Can I fire someone for what they post on social media?

It depends on what they posted. Employment is at-will in most states, but the National Labor Relations Act protects employees who discuss working conditions with coworkers, including on social media. If the post is about pay, safety or treatment at work and involves other employees, firing that person could result in an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB.

Before you act, check whether the post falls into protected territory. If you’re unsure, get advice first.

What are my obligations if an employee asks for accommodations due to a medical condition, like menopause?

Menopause symptoms can qualify as a disability under the ADA if they substantially limit a major life activity. If an employee raises the issue, you’re expected to engage in the interactive process: a good-faith conversation about what accommodations might work.

Several states are passing laws that specifically require menopause-related accommodations and a federal bill is in committee. Handling these requests dismissively could expose you to claims under sex or age discrimination protections.

Take the conversation seriously.

If an employee claims harassment but never reported it to me, am I still liable?

Potentially, yes. But having a clear anti-harassment policy with a complaint process that your employees know about can work in your favor. Under federal law, if you can show that you took reasonable steps to prevent and correct harassment, and the employee unreasonably failed to use that process, you may have a viable defense.

The key word is “reasonable.” A policy that exists but was never distributed or trained on won’t hold up.