Hiring in the United States

A foreign business can hire someone working in the United States directly through its own entity or a properly registered foreign employer, use an employer of record, or engage an independent contractor for genuinely independent services. The choice depends on the actual working relationship; direct foreign employment still requires a review of US tax filings and applicable state registration. 4dev.com is a global contractor platform working with US contractors for genuinely independent services.

Three ways to hire in the United States

Choose an employment route for a role you control and the contractor route for an independent service business that meets the applicable status tests. For federal employment tax, the IRS considers your right to control what someone does and how, alongside financial control and the type of relationship. Working remotely does not establish contractor status, and California can treat someone as an employee even when federal law does not.

Route	Legal employer	What you pay on top of salary	How you end it
Your own entity	Your employing entity; a direct foreign-employer arrangement needs the separate review below	7.65% ordinary employer FICA on covered wages below the 2026 Social Security annual base of $184,500; Medicare continues above the base. Add applicable unemployment taxes, state charges, insurance and agreed benefits.	No FLSA notice; WARN 60 days for qualifying covered plant closings or mass layoffs, subject to statutory exceptions. Review state notice rules and contractual commitments separately.
Employer of record	The provider under the employment arrangement; assess the client’s statutory employer responsibilities separately	7.65% ordinary employer FICA on covered wages below the 2026 Social Security annual base of $184,500; Medicare continues above the base. The quote also needs applicable unemployment taxes, state charges, insurance, benefits and the agreed provider charges.	No FLSA notice; WARN 60 days for qualifying covered plant closings or mass layoffs, subject to statutory exceptions. State rules, the employment terms and ending the client–provider agreement need separate review.
Contractor	No employment relationship for genuinely independent services	Agreed service consideration rather than salary; identify each party’s tax and contractual obligations for the actual arrangement.	Apply the service agreement’s ending provisions and applicable law; review any employment obligations if the relationship has been misclassified.

Employer FICA is only the starting tax component in the employment rows. Add unemployment taxes, California’s employer training tax where applicable, and insurance; California requires workers’ compensation for employers with one or more employees. The FLSA has no advance-notice rule, but WARN, state law and agreed terms can restrict how employment ends.

An employer of record arrangement, a professional employer organization (PEO) and payroll outsourcing allocate different tasks. Under the FMLA regulation, a PEO that merely administers payroll, benefits and employment paperwork does not thereby become a joint employer; the actual relationship still matters. A payroll service provider prepares employment-tax returns and handles associated tax administration, while the common-law employer generally retains its federal employment-tax duties.

An IRS-certified PEO, or CPEO, has a specific federal employment-tax status. For remuneration it pays to qualifying worksite employees, the CPEO is generally solely liable for employment taxes; for remuneration paid to non-worksite employees, both it and the customer can be liable. This allocation covers those federal taxes, leaving the client’s wage-law duties and corporate-tax position to their respective rules.

Direct foreign employment needs its own registration review

A foreign employer’s address does not remove US employment-tax obligations for someone working in the country. Social Security and Medicare withholding generally apply, with exceptions that can include an applicable totalization agreement. If your principal place of business is outside the US, the IRS requires an EIN application by phone, fax or mail rather than its online tool; the registration section explains those routes and the separate state-account steps.

A foreign corporation engaged in a US trade or business generally must file Form 1120-F even where the relevant income is treaty-exempt. Whether income is attributable to a US permanent establishment depends on the treaty; protective filing can still matter for preserving deductions and credits. Neither question replaces state business qualification, payroll-account registration or state tax-nexus analysis.

Oregon’s Department of Revenue says independent representatives performing repair or warranty services for your customers establish corporate nexus. That example concerns the specified customer-service activity; it does not establish a universal result for a remote developer or a small US team. Base the nexus assessment on the actual work and presence, including when you use a provider.

The US labour market: compare occupations and metropolitan areas

Compare candidates using the same occupation, geography and wage measure. The metropolitan tables show software-developer annual medians and percentiles; the national table shows annual means across occupations. Account for those different populations and measures before interpreting a difference as a salary premium for a particular candidate.

Software-developer pay across metropolitan areas

O*NET displays BLS 2025 software-developer wages for the selected metropolitan areas below. The annual medians hold the occupation, year and statistic constant. Metropolitan boundaries extend beyond the named cities, so use the full area when matching a candidate’s location to a wage reference.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — annual median	$186,640	O*NET — San Francisco local wages
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — annual median	$167,280	O*NET — Seattle local wages
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — annual median	$166,830	O*NET — New York local wages
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — annual median	$134,120	O*NET — Texas local wages
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — annual median	$133,290	O*NET — Texas local wages

The 25th and 75th percentiles show the spread within each metropolitan wage distribution. They describe the occupation’s wages, not junior, middle or senior job levels. Use the range alongside the role’s responsibilities and employment terms when discussing an offer.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — annual percentiles	25th: $163,500; 75th: $219,670	O*NET — San Francisco local wages
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — annual percentiles	25th: $132,800; 75th: $211,860	O*NET — Seattle local wages
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — annual percentiles	25th: $130,650; 75th: $205,970	O*NET — New York local wages
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — annual percentiles	25th: $104,000; 75th: $168,730	O*NET — Texas local wages
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — annual percentiles	25th: $105,660; 75th: $164,100	O*NET — Texas local wages

Salary reference points

The national all-occupations reference is $69,770 / year — mean, from the BLS May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. For a technology role, the matching occupation gives a more specific salary reference. These national annual means should remain labelled separately from the metropolitan software-developer medians.

All occupations — national annual mean	$69,770	BLS — May 2025 national wage table
Software developers — national annual mean	$148,100	BLS — May 2025 national wage table
Software quality assurance analysts and testers — national annual mean	$111,490	BLS — May 2025 national wage table
Data scientists — national annual mean	$126,800	BLS — May 2025 national wage table
Information security analysts — national annual mean	$132,510	BLS — May 2025 national wage table
Web developers — national annual mean	$98,770	BLS — May 2025 national wage table
Web and digital interface designers — national annual mean	$117,490	BLS — May 2025 national wage table
Computer and information systems managers — national annual mean	$192,160	BLS — May 2025 national wage table

OEWS includes full- and part-time employees and excludes self-employed people, owners and partners in unincorporated firms, household workers and unpaid family workers. Its wage measure is gross straight-time pay: it includes base pay, incentive pay and production bonuses, but excludes overtime, severance, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, employer benefit costs and tuition reimbursements. That scope makes the figures employee-wage references rather than contractor rates or a complete compensation package.

For most occupations, BLS converts the hourly mean into an annual figure using a standard work year of 2,080 hours. Where no hourly mean is published, it calculates the annual wage directly from reported survey data; annual-only and hourly-only occupation exceptions remain. This standardization does not make the survey a full-time-only sample or measure the average amount employees actually received over a year.

Use the relevant occupation’s annual mean as a gross-salary reference, then add employer taxes, insurance and agreed benefits when building the budget.

The employee’s work location changes the hiring budget

The employee’s work location determines which wage, overtime and leave rules enter the offer. California’s minimum-wage guidance requires the stricter applicable standard where federal, state and local requirements overlap. Establish location and legal coverage before quoting a wage or overtime schedule.

The selected federal, California and Washington examples connect wage floors with scheduling, leave and final-pay obligations. Each cell retains its coverage conditions, including whether leave requires paid time off or protects the job; the selection is not a complete state survey.

Jurisdiction	Wage floor	Overtime trigger	Leave rule	Final-pay rule
Federal baseline	$7.25 per hour for covered, nonexempt employees; higher applicable state or local floors can apply	Generally at least 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek for covered, nonexempt employees	The FLSA does not require pay for vacation, sick leave or holidays; assess other federal leave coverage separately	Check the applicable state final-wage deadline; advance notice and final-wage timing are separate questions
California	General statewide floor of $16.90 per hour from 1 January 2026; higher local or industry floors can apply	Generally 1.5 times the regular rate after eight through twelve hours in a workday, and double time after twelve; seventh-day rules and exceptions also need review	Qualifying employees must be allowed to use at least five days or forty hours of paid sick leave annually, whichever is more; local requirements can differ	Generally immediate wages, including accrued vacation, on discharge. Quitting deadlines depend on notice and contract conditions
Washington	Statewide $17.13 per hour for most workers in 2026; higher local floors can apply	Review the applicable Washington overtime rule and exemption category before relying on a federal-only schedule or salary test	From 1 January 2026, most employers with at least 25 employees must provide Paid Leave job protection to eligible employees with 180 calendar days’ tenure; benefit eligibility is separate	Check the Washington final-wage deadline for the proposed exit

California’s daily overtime trigger can add cost even when a weekly schedule stays within the ordinary federal threshold. For exempt roles, the category, duties and salary basis matter alongside salary. Washington’s covered exemption categories require $80,168.40 per year in 2026 and the relevant duties tests, so a federal-only salary test is insufficient.

Illinois’s Paid Leave for All Workers Act lets covered workers earn up to forty paid hours annually for any reason at one hour per forty hours worked, subject to exclusions and local regimes. California treats earned vacation as wages and generally includes accrued vacation in final pay. These rules affect both the budget and staffing, including the cost of an agreed vacation policy on exit.

For Washington’s 2026 Paid Leave job-protection employer test, count Washington-payroll employees each workday for at least twenty calendar weeks in the current or preceding year. The actual employer and employee must qualify under the program’s definitions; a provider’s worldwide workforce or your US team size alone cannot establish coverage.

Before requesting a salary or provider quote, keep these practical offer-review records:

• The employee’s work address, state and locality, plus any planned work in another jurisdiction.
• The role’s actual duties, intended schedule and the exemption category being considered.
• The legal employer and the payroll or workforce information needed for each relevant coverage test.
• The agreed leave and benefits, including how earned vacation will be handled at exit.
• The applicable local and industry wage rules, state accounts and final-wage process.

If the employee moves or begins working across states, reassess wage, leave and payroll requirements for the new location. Remote work and the provider’s registered address alone cannot settle those duties. Keep the corporate-tax nexus assessment with the setup records alongside the employee-entitlement review.

Registering as a US employer, step by step

Employer setup covers federal tax identification, applicable state accounts, insurance and reporting processes. An employer identification number, or EIN, identifies the business for federal tax purposes; it does not complete state payroll registration or business qualification. California provides the state example below.

Step	What happens	Takes
Review the employing business	Determine applicable business qualification, federal filing and work-state obligations for the proposed arrangement	Case-specific; confirm the required steps before setting a start date
Obtain an EIN through an eligible route	Check the IRS application criteria. A principal place of business outside the US requires phone, fax or mail rather than the online tool	Immediate issuance for an approved eligible online application; fax generally within four business days; mail approximately four weeks. These are EIN estimates only
Open applicable state payroll and unemployment accounts	In California, register for the EDD payroll-tax account and enroll in e-Services for Business to manage it	State-account processing duration not established; confirm with the relevant agency
Arrange insurance, forms and notices	California employers with one or more employees must provide workers’ compensation. Obtain the new employee’s Form W-4 and applicable state forms, and provide required notices	Insurance and state-form setup duration not established; arrange the applicable requirements for the hire
Set up records, withholding and tax reporting	Keep accurate hours and wage records; assign responsibility for deposits, returns and wage reports	Ongoing after setup. Tax-deposit and return deadlines are separate from registration processing
Complete eligibility and new-hire reporting	Carry out Form I-9 verification and applicable state new-hire reporting; California reports new or rehired employees working in the state to its New Employee Registry	I-9 timing follows the hire date and job duration; California reporting is due within twenty calendar days of the start of work
Total	Complete the requirements applicable to the employer, location and hiring arrangement	Not established: depends on the EIN route, state qualification, accounts and insurance. The EIN estimate is not a complete employer-setup timeline

Use the IRS EIN application guidance to choose the appropriate route. Online eligibility includes a domestic organization, a principal place of business in the US or its territories, and the responsible party’s Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number; the applicant must be the responsible party or its authorized representative. The IRS issues an approved eligible online EIN immediately and charges no application fee.

The Form SS-4 instructions give the fax and mail estimates in the table. Applicants whose principal place of business is outside the US may also apply by phone, for which those estimates provide no timeline. Plan around the route you will use and the additional state-account and insurance steps.

California’s EDD process covers the payroll account, worker reporting, withholding, tax returns, wage reports and required notices. Enroll in e-Services for Business as an employer or representative to manage the account. Assign the recurring tasks during setup; onboarding and payroll reporting carry deadlines beyond account opening.

Use this recommended sequence to plan the applicable setup steps and confirm their timing before setting a start date. Which steps apply and which can run in parallel depend on the arrangement; the EIN estimates cover that application alone.

A foreign employer still has US tax and business-presence questions

Document the Social Security and Medicare withholding treatment, including any totalization exception relied on. For a foreign corporation, also record the Form 1120-F and protective-return determination: treaty-exempt income can still carry a filing obligation. Keep these determinations with the payroll-registration records.

Have the advisers handling setup record the state registrations required by the planned activity and the facts supporting any treaty permanent-establishment conclusion. An EIN or payroll account does not establish business qualification or settle state tax nexus. Give the hiring and payroll teams these determinations with the setup records.

Hiring and onboarding: eligibility, records and local notices

Before work starts, establish the employing relationship, lawful hiring criteria and start-date documents. Turn the offer’s work location, duties, wage, leave and benefit terms into payroll instructions and assign eligibility verification and notices. Onboarding uses the accounts and processes established during registration.

Legal limits

California’s ABC test, where applicable, requires freedom from control in contract and practice, work outside the hiring entity’s usual business, and an independently established business of the same nature. Some occupations and relationships instead use the Borello test, sometimes only after additional conditions are met. Choose documents for the actual duties and working arrangement; an LLC or contractor label alone does not settle status.

Title VII prohibits covered employers from refusing to hire or discriminating in compensation and employment conditions because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Its general employer definition requires at least fifteen employees for each working day in twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year, subject to statutory exclusions. Other federal, state and local hiring protections have their own coverage, including for smaller employers.

For a younger hire, establish the applicable age, duties and schooling restrictions and any proof-of-age requirement. The FLSA prohibits covered employment of oppressive child labor, so apply the job’s relevant category rather than assume a single national hiring age. Work authorization also requires its own process: Form I-9 verification and any necessary immigration petition or approval serve different purposes.

Other hiring protections to check

• Disability: ADA Title I generally covers employers with at least fifteen employees and requires reasonable accommodation for a qualified applicant or employee unless it would impose undue hardship. Before an offer, ask about the ability to perform specific job functions rather than the existence, nature or severity of a disability.
• Age: The ADEA protects applicants and employees aged forty or older and generally covers employers with at least twenty employees. Assess the applicable state rules separately when reviewing age-related hiring criteria.
• Equal pay: The Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for men and women performing substantially equal work in the same workplace and reaches virtually all employers. Review job content and all forms of compensation, rather than relying on matching job titles or the headcount thresholds of other discrimination laws.
• Pregnancy accommodation: The PWFA generally requires covered employers to reasonably accommodate a qualified applicant’s or employee’s known limitations connected with pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Its coverage includes private and state or local public employers with at least fifteen employees.
• Military service: USERRA prohibits specified military-service-based denials of initial employment, reemployment, retention, promotion and benefits. Reemployment rights have advance-notice, service-length and timely return or application conditions, with exceptions; assess those conditions when someone returns from service.
• Background reports: If you obtain an employment background report from a consumer-reporting business, the FCRA requires a standalone written disclosure and written permission. Before an adverse decision, provide the relied-on report and the rights summary; after the decision, provide the required adverse-action notice, and review applicable state and local restrictions.
• Retaliation: Preserve a process for handling protected requests and complaints without retaliatory hiring or employment decisions. The ADA protects specified opposition and participation in discrimination proceedings, the PWFA protects accommodation requests and use, and USERRA protects its specified rights-enforcement activity; apply each law’s own scope.

Onboarding checklist

Use the accepted offer to assign the employer’s and employee’s start-date tasks. The checklist includes statutory deadlines and practical records for hiring and payroll:

• Offer record — practical: Keep the accepted terms, legal employer, job duties, work address, schedule and wage or salary terms together. Include the applicable exemption decision, leave and benefits, the payroll contact and the insurance arrangements identified during setup.
• I-9 employee step — required: Have the employee complete and sign Section 1 no later than the first day of employment for pay. It may be completed after the employee accepts the offer.
• I-9 employer step — required: The employer or authorized representative must complete and sign Section 2 within three business days of hire. If the job lasts fewer than three days, complete it no later than the first paid workday.
• Withholding setup: Obtain the new employee’s 2026 Form W-4 for federal withholding and the applicable state forms. Hand the wage and work-location information to payroll using the accounts established during registration.
• Wage records — required under the FLSA: Keep accurate records of hours worked and wages paid. Review applicable state wage-statement requirements separately from the federal recordkeeping duty.
• California new-hire reporting — required for the state’s covered new and rehired employees: Report employees working in California to the New Employee Registry within twenty calendar days of the first day services are performed for wages. A rehire after separation of at least sixty consecutive days also triggers reporting within twenty calendar days.
• Workplace notices: Identify the posters, individual notices and languages required for the employer and work location, and assign their delivery or posting. Include recurring notice tasks in the same calendar as new-hire deadlines.
• Access and data arrangements — practical: Decide which systems and information the role needs, who approves access and who answers the employee’s onboarding questions. Record the equipment, account-access and work-output arrangements with the offer implementation tasks.

California electronic new-hire reporting requires two monthly reports at least twelve and no more than sixteen days apart. Submit no report when there are no new or rehired employees to report. Configure that schedule alongside each employee’s twenty-calendar-day reporting deadline.

California’s Workplace Know Your Rights notice is an annual individual-delivery obligation, distinct from keeping posters displayed. The law took effect on 1 January 2026 and requires the yearly notice by 1 February in languages normally used at the workplace. It also required employers to allow workers to designate an emergency contact by 30 March 2026; where the law requires it, notify that contact if a worker is arrested or detained at work and the employer knows about it.

The DOL workplace-poster inventory identifies federal notice coverage. Employers with FLSA-covered employees must display its employee-rights poster; those under an OSHA-approved state plan should obtain the state’s equivalent safety poster. USERRA requires the full rights notice to reach entitled people, with posting as one permissible delivery method. Include individual delivery requirements alongside postings in the notice process.

Moving someone from foreign payroll to work in the US requires a new work-location, withholding and authorization assessment. Give payroll the wage schedule, employee reporting treatment and deposit and return responsibilities, and assign any immigration sponsorship assessment to the actual employer and job.

Visas and work authorization follow the actual employer and job

Visa sponsorship depends on the actual petitioner, job and individual’s eligibility, including in an employer of record arrangement. Form I-9 verifies employment eligibility; an employment or provider agreement does not grant immigration authorization. Establish any sponsorship requirements alongside the I-9 onboarding process.

For H-1B specialty-occupation hiring, the prospective petitioner must include a certified Labor Condition Application with Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, under USCIS petition guidance. The Department of Labor must certify that application, Form ETA-9035/9035E. Assign both steps to the proposed petitioner.

Third-party placements and H-1B

The H-1B modernization rule took effect on 17 January 2025 and removed the employer–employee relationship reference from the US-employer definition. USCIS no longer requires the petitioner to establish a right to control the beneficiary’s work under that definition. The remaining requirements include a qualifying person or organization in the US, US legal presence and amenability to service of process; applicable state formation and business-authorization rules can matter.

The petition still needs a bona fide job that meets the relevant requirements. For third-party placements, USCIS examines whether the role at that third party normally requires a bachelor’s or higher degree in a directly related specific specialty, or its equivalent. An employer of record label neither establishes nor rules out sponsorship eligibility; the role and supporting arrangement determine the assessment.

Rules that changed for cap-subject hiring

DHS’s weighted selection process for cap-subject H-1B registrations and petitions became effective on 27 February 2026 for the fiscal year 2027 registration season. It generally favors higher-skilled and higher-paid beneficiaries while retaining an opportunity at all wage levels. Selection remains separate from the petition and work-authorization requirements, so it cannot serve as a promised start date.

The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee rule became effective on 9 September 2026 for covered H-1B and L-1 petitioners. USCIS defines the covered employer as one with at least fifty individuals employed in the US and more than 50% of those employees in H-1B, L-1A or L-1B status. The fee does not apply to an amended petition that does not seek to extend the person’s currently authorized status; review the petitioner’s coverage and filing type before including it in the budget.

The separate $100,000 requirement has a court-order implementation qualification. USCIS reports that a Massachusetts district court vacated the implementing agency guidance on 8 June 2026 and that the First Circuit denied the government’s stay request on 24 July 2026. DHS says it will comply with the order while considering its next steps, and still plans to collect the amount if the order is lifted. Use the agency’s implementation instructions for the particular petition when assessing this potential cost.

A September 2026 presidential proclamation separately extended the 2025 entry restriction until 21 September 2027, with its covered categories and exceptions. That extension and the USCIS litigation alert concern distinct instruments and must be considered together for the proposed hire. Confirm the applicable entry, petition and implementation position before scheduling the move or fixing the immigration budget.

Minimum wage: the federal floor and higher state rates

Apply the wage floor that covers the employee’s work location, occupation and employment category. The baseline is $7.25 / hour — federal, for covered, nonexempt employees under the FLSA. The selected state rates below have their own scope, and higher applicable local or industry rates can change the amount required in the offer.

Federal covered, nonexempt floor	$7.25 per hour; effective since 24 July 2009	Federal FLSA — Minimum Wage; DOL — Federal Wage History
California general statewide floor	$16.90 per hour from 1 January 2026; higher local or industry floors can apply	California DIR — Minimum Wage
Washington statewide floor for most workers	$17.13 per hour from 1 January 2026; higher local floors can apply	Washington L&I — Minimum Wage; Washington L&I — Wage History
Florida general floor	$15.00 per hour from 30 September 2026; review the applicable statutory definitions and tip-credit scope	Florida Constitution — Minimum Wage

California’s general statewide figure does not replace higher fast-food, certain healthcare or local wage rules. Establish the applicable category, including any youth, tipped, subminimum, territorial or federal-contract coverage. An overtime-exemption salary threshold addresses a different question and also requires the relevant category and duties tests.

Minimum-wage history

The general federal covered, nonexempt rate last changed to $7.25 per hour on 24 July 2009. The federal column records that unchanged hourly rate on each date; the Washington column records state hourly rates that took effect on those dates. Each series has its own coverage.

1 January 2017	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $11.00	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2018	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $11.50	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2019	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $12.00	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2020	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $13.50	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2021	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $13.69	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2022	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $14.49	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2023	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $15.74	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2024	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $16.28	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2025	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $16.66	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History
1 January 2026	Federal: $7.25; Washington: $17.13	DOL — Federal Wage History; Washington L&I — Wage History

The chart uses eight January observations, spaced by calendar year. Its segments connect selected dates and do not depict gradual daily changes in the legal wage. The table also retains 2019 and 2022, omitted from the chart, for checking those historical periods.

California’s history also needs the employer-size categories used at the time. The general rates differed for employers with twenty-five or fewer employees and those with twenty-six or more until they converged in 2023. The following table keeps both categories, with all amounts per hour and each rate effective on the named date.

California — 1 January 2017	25 or fewer employees: $10.00; 26 or more: $10.50	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2018	25 or fewer employees: $10.50; 26 or more: $11.00	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2019	25 or fewer employees: $11.00; 26 or more: $12.00	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2020	25 or fewer employees: $12.00; 26 or more: $13.00	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2021	25 or fewer employees: $13.00; 26 or more: $14.00	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2022	25 or fewer employees: $14.00; 26 or more: $15.00	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2023	25 or fewer employees: $15.50; 26 or more: $15.50	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2024	25 or fewer employees: $16.00; 26 or more: $16.00	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2025	25 or fewer employees: $16.50; 26 or more: $16.50	California DIR — Minimum Wage
California — 1 January 2026	25 or fewer employees: $16.90; 26 or more: $16.90	California DIR — Minimum Wage

Announced rates for January 2027

Washington and California have announced higher general statewide floors for 1 January 2027. New York’s rates remain unchanged under its statutory inflation off-ramp. Apply each schedule to work performed from its effective date, with the current rates kept in the earlier table.

Washington — announced statewide floor for most workers	$17.73 per hour from 1 January 2027	Washington L&I — 2027 Wage Announcement
California — announced general statewide floor	$17.40 per hour from 1 January 2027	California DIR — 2027 Wage Announcement
New York City, Long Island and Westchester County — announced general floor	$17.00 per hour on 1 January 2027; unchanged under the off-ramp	New York DOL — Minimum Wage
Rest of New York State — announced general floor	$16.00 per hour on 1 January 2027; unchanged under the off-ramp	New York DOL — Minimum Wage

For offers spanning the change, match wage terms to each period of work and account for any local or industry floor. Any linked exempt-salary adjustment also requires the category and duties assessment described under working time.

Taxes and contributions: what the federal rates leave out

Separate amounts withheld from the employee’s wages from charges the employer pays in addition to gross salary. For tax year 2026, individual income-tax rates are 10–37% federal on taxable income, with thresholds that depend on filing status and applicable state or local income tax assessed separately. Ordinary employer FICA is 7.65% on covered wages below the annual Social Security wage base; that percentage covers Social Security and Medicare, rather than the complete employer budget.

For a single filer’s 2026 taxable income, each rate applies only to the portion within its bracket. Payroll deductions also depend on withholding information and applicable rules; take-home pay cannot be read directly from the table.

Single filer — taxable income up to $12,400	10% marginal rate	IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments
Single filer — portion over $12,400 up to $50,400	12% marginal rate	IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments
Single filer — portion over $50,400 up to $105,700	22% marginal rate	IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments
Single filer — portion over $105,700 up to $201,775	24% marginal rate	IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments
Single filer — portion over $201,775 up to $256,225	32% marginal rate	IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments
Single filer — portion over $256,225 up to $640,600	35% marginal rate	IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments
Single filer — portion over $640,600	37% marginal rate	IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments

Calculate each charge using its payer, rate and taxable base. A tax’s annual wage limit applies to that charge, so reaching the Social Security cap does not stop the others:

Tax or contribution	Employee amount	Employer amount	Base and scope	Source
Social Security	6.2%	6.2%	2026 annual taxable wage base of $184,500	IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Medicare	1.45%	1.45%	Covered wages; no wage-base cap	IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Additional Medicare	0.9% withholding on Medicare wages the employer pays above $200,000 in the calendar year	No employer share	Withholding starts in the pay period that crosses the employer-paid threshold and continues through year-end	IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Federal unemployment tax, FUTA	No employee share	6.0% before credit; 0.6% only with the maximum qualifying credit	First $7,000 of each employee’s wages paid during the year; state unemployment bases can differ	IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
California unemployment insurance, UI	No employee share	New-employer rate of 3.4% for two to three years; 2026 Schedule F+ rates range from 1.5% to 6.2%	$7,000 taxable wages per employee per calendar year; use the employer’s assigned rate	California EDD — Rates and Withholding; California EDD — State Payroll Taxes
California Employment Training Tax, ETT	No employee share	0.1% in 2026	First $7,000 per employee per calendar year	California EDD — Rates and Withholding; California EDD — State Payroll Taxes
California State Disability Insurance, SDI	1.3% withholding in 2026	Employer administers employee withholding	All wages; the uncapped rule has applied since 1 January 2024	California EDD — Rates and Withholding; California EDD — State Payroll Taxes
California personal income tax	Withheld from the employee’s wages	Employer administers withholding	Apply the employee’s withholding information and applicable state rules	California EDD — State Payroll Taxes

The $200,000 Additional Medicare threshold triggers withholding on the Medicare wages that employer pays. The employee’s final personal tax position depends on their tax circumstances. There is no additional employer contribution at that threshold.

The maximum FUTA credit is 5.4%, available when state unemployment taxes are paid in full, on time and on the same wages subject to FUTA, and the state is not a credit-reduction state. California’s FUTA guidance for wages paid in 2025 warns that costs are expected to rise until its federal loan is repaid. Confirm the applicable 2026 credit-reduction position when calculating and filing the employer’s liability, rather than assuming the full-credit rate applies.

For California, obtain the employer’s assigned UI rate and workers’ compensation insurance cost. An employer of record quote must reflect the provider’s relevant employer information, which may differ from the new-employer UI example. Allocate SDI and personal income tax to employee deductions, and UI and ETT to employer charges.

Minnesota’s announced 2027 Paid Leave premium is 0.88% of covered wages. Employers may collect up to 0.44% from employees, and qualifying small employers pay a reduced share. The budget therefore needs the covered wage base, employer category and applicable plan, rather than the total premium as an employer-only percentage.

What an employee actually costs you

The hiring budget starts with gross salary plus employer taxes on their applicable bases, followed by other statutory and agreed costs. This illustration uses four BLS May 2025 annual means as hypothetical ordinary FICA-covered salaries in 2026. It adds only employer Social Security and Medicare, applying the annual Social Security cap once.

Salary scenario	Gross annual salary	Employer Social Security	Employer Medicare	Salary plus employer FICA only	Sources
All-occupations mean	$69,770	$4,325.74	$1,011.66	$75,107.40	BLS — May 2025 national wage table; IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Software-developer mean	$148,100	$9,182.20	$2,147.45	$159,429.65	BLS — May 2025 national wage table; IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Data-scientist mean	$126,800	$7,861.60	$1,838.60	$136,500.20	BLS — May 2025 national wage table; IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Computer and information systems manager mean	$192,160	$11,439.00	$2,786.32	$206,385.32	BLS — May 2025 national wage table; IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide

Each annual Social Security and Medicare component is rounded separately to the nearest cent before it is added to salary. Exact half-cent ties round to the even cent in this illustration. That calculation convention produces the displayed annual subtotals; it is not a simulation of payroll-period withholding or tax-return rounding.

These subtotals exclude federal and state unemployment taxes, state leave and training charges, workers’ compensation and other insurance, overtime, benefits, equity, bonuses and provider fees. Add the employer-specific amounts, applicable leave arrangements and other agreed employment costs to complete the hire’s budget. The salary inputs retain the survey’s population and wage scope.

The Social Security cap changes the manager example

At the $192,160 manager salary, employer Social Security stops at $11,439.00 and uncapped employer Medicare is $2,786.32. Salary plus employer FICA is $206,385.32, with effective employer FICA of 7.40% of salary. Applying the cap avoids overstating annual employer FICA by $474.92. This corrects the tax component only; it measures neither complete employment costs nor savings from changing the hiring model.

Payroll records, payment dates and tax reporting

Payroll requires controls for wage payment, accurate records, tax deposits and returns. Employee withholding reduces wages; employer contributions add to the budget. Assign an owner and deadline to each reporting and deposit task alongside the agreed payday.

Wages and records

The FLSA requires accurate records of employees’ hours worked and wages paid, but does not itself require a pay stub. Set up the required federal and state record categories and retention periods, including any applicable state wage-statement duties.

California’s payday guidance generally requires payment at least twice per calendar month on regular paydays designated in advance, with category exceptions. Use the rule for the actual California job when agreeing its schedule. Final wages follow the deadlines in the termination section.

Give payroll the accepted wage terms, work location, hours records, withholding forms and exemption decision. Assign state reports and notices, and retain filing and deposit confirmations. Reconcile what was owed, paid and reported for each pay period alongside the payslip.

Returns and tax deposits are separate

Use the IRS employment-tax due dates to maintain the filing calendar, and confirm the deposit schedule separately for the employer. Form 941 generally reports a quarter’s employment taxes by the last day of the following month. When all taxes were timely deposited, the employer has ten additional calendar days to file that return; a weekend or legal-holiday due date moves to the next business day.

Form 941 — quarterly employment-tax return	Generally due 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January for the preceding quarter, with applicable timing exceptions	IRS — Employment Tax Due Dates
Form 941 — extension for timely deposits	Ten additional calendar days to file when all taxes were timely deposited	IRS — Employment Tax Due Dates
Forms W-2 with W-3 — SSA wage and withholding reporting	Generally due 31 January for the previous year’s wages and withholding; apply the applicable due-date exceptions	IRS — Employment Tax Due Dates
Form W-2 — employee statement	Generally provide by 31 January; apply the applicable due-date exceptions	IRS — Employment Tax Due Dates

Employee wages are reported on Form W-2; Forms 1099 generally should not be used for employee compensation. For covered nonemployee service payments in the course of a trade or business, the 2026 Form 1099-NEC threshold is $2,000 per payee during the year, subject to payee and payment exceptions. Review that separate reporting branch for independent contractors without using a reporting threshold to decide employment status or whether income is taxable.

Ordinary payroll outsourcing generally leaves the employer responsible for federal returns and deposits even if the third party fails to act. CPEO arrangements instead use the specific tax allocation for covered remuneration and the qualifying employee category. Document both the operational task assignment and the statutory responsibility.

Retain deposit confirmations alongside filing receipts: late-deposit penalties can arise even when the return was filed. Willful failures involving unpaid trust-fund taxes can also expose responsible people personally. The risk section gives the rates and conditions.

Working time and overtime: 40 hours is a trigger, not a maximum

The ordinary federal forty-hour rule triggers overtime pay for covered, nonexempt employees rather than setting a maximum workweek. The FLSA generally requires at least 1.5 times the regular rate after forty hours of work in a workweek, with exceptions for specified categories. It does not limit daily or weekly hours for employees aged sixteen or older or define full-time and part-time employment; assess applicable state and category rules when setting the schedule.

Daily overtime in California

California’s overtime guidance generally adds daily and seventh-day triggers for nonexempt work. Time records therefore need the workday and consecutive days alongside the weekly total. Exemptions, alternative workweek schedules and sector rules can change these ordinary thresholds:

California — more than eight through twelve hours in a workday	1.5 times the regular rate under the general nonexempt rule	California DIR — Overtime
California — more than twelve hours in a workday	Double the regular rate under the general nonexempt rule	California DIR — Overtime
California — first eight hours on the seventh consecutive workday in a workweek	1.5 times the regular rate under the general nonexempt rule	California DIR — Overtime
California — hours beyond eight on that seventh consecutive workday	Double the regular rate under the general nonexempt rule	California DIR — Overtime

For the covered nonexempt California schedule, weekly overtime after forty hours also applies. Calculate the pay period using the applicable regular-rate components and scheduling exceptions; the weekly total alone cannot establish daily overtime due.

Salary alone does not make a job exempt

Federal executive, administrative and professional exemptions generally require qualifying duties, a salary basis and the applicable salary level. Salary basis generally means a predetermined fixed salary without reductions for variations in work quality or quantity. Category exceptions and separate qualifying routes remain; salary or a technology job title alone does not establish exemption.

The technical amendment effective on 15 May 2026 restored the pre-2024 federal regulatory text. The ordinary mainland thresholds below remain compensation tests alongside the relevant duties requirements. Category exceptions and separate territorial salary levels limit their application.

Federal standard executive, administrative and professional salary level	At least $684 per week on a salary basis, with qualifying duties and applicable category conditions	DOL — Federal Exemption Restoration
Federal highly compensated employee test	At least $107,432 annual compensation, including at least $684 per week on a salary or fee basis; duties requirements still apply	DOL — Federal Exemption Restoration

Washington’s covered exemption categories require the state salary threshold and relevant duties tests. The 2026 amount applies across employer sizes:

Washington — covered exemption categories in 2026, all employer sizes

$1,541.70 per week; $80,168.40 per year, with the relevant duties requirements

Washington L&I — 2026 Wage and Exemption Announcement

From 1 January 2027, Washington’s announced thresholds differ by employer size. California has also announced a 2027 salary threshold for its applicable exemption, with duties and other requirements still applying. Match the category, employer size and effective date when updating a role’s exemption decision.

Washington — announced 2027 covered-category threshold, employers with 51 or more employees	$92,196.00 per year from 1 January 2027; relevant duties tests also apply	Washington L&I — 2027 Wage Announcement
Washington — announced 2027 covered-category threshold, employers with up to 50 workers	$82,976.40 per year from 1 January 2027; relevant duties tests also apply	Washington L&I — 2027 Wage Announcement
California — announced 2027 salary threshold for the applicable exemption	$72,384 per year from 1 January 2027; duties and other category requirements also apply	California DIR — 2027 Wage Announcement

Breaks and lactation accommodations

The FLSA generally does not require ordinary meal or rest breaks. Set the schedule using applicable state and local break rules and the agreed arrangements. Assess any proposed time-rounding practice before configuring timekeeping.

Federal lactation protections generally require reasonable break time to express breast milk for one year after the child’s birth, whenever the employee needs it, with statutory exemptions. The employer must provide a space other than a bathroom that is shielded from view and free from intrusion by coworkers and the public. A break counts as hours worked if the employee is not completely relieved of duties throughout it; other federal, state or local rules can also require payment.

An employer with fewer than fifty employees qualifies for the federal lactation-accommodation exemption only if compliance causes the statutory undue hardship. That test considers significant difficulty or expense relative to business size, financial resources, nature or structure. Employer size alone is insufficient, and other applicable protections may still require accommodations.

Leave, sick pay and parental leave depend on eligibility

Leave depends on the work-location rules, actual employer and employee eligibility. The federal summary is No FLSA paid-vacation mandate: the FLSA does not require payment for vacation, sick leave or holidays. State and local paid-leave rules, other federal protections and agreed policies can still create obligations.

Illinois’s Paid Leave for All Workers Act allows covered workers to earn up to forty paid hours annually for any reason at one hour per forty hours worked. The state mechanism has exclusions, local regimes and conditions for existing policies; it creates no national sick-leave quota.

California’s paid-sick-leave guidance generally requires qualifying employees to be allowed to use at least five days or forty hours annually, whichever is more, from 1 January 2024. The workday length matters when applying the greater-of rule, and local requirements can be more generous. Staffing-agency employees are covered: the employer or joint employer must provide the leave to qualifying employees.

California treats vacation pay as wages that vest as earned. Forfeiting unused vacation at a specified date is unlawful, although accrual caps are allowed within legal limits. These protections govern promised vacation; they do not establish a particular allowance that employers must offer.

Federal family and medical leave

FMLA entitlement requires employer coverage plus the employee’s service and worksite eligibility; tenure or workforce size alone is insufficient. The table covers ordinary private employment. Public-agency and other employer coverage can differ.

FMLA — ordinary private-employer coverage	At least fifty employees for each working day during twenty or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding year	FMLA — Coverage and Eligibility
FMLA — employee tenure	At least twelve months with the employer	FMLA — Coverage and Eligibility
FMLA — employee hours	At least 1,250 hours of service in the preceding twelve months	FMLA — Coverage and Eligibility
FMLA — employee worksite condition	At least fifty employees within seventy-five miles of the relevant worksite	FMLA — Coverage and Eligibility
FMLA — ordinary covered leave entitlement	Eligible employees may take twelve workweeks in a twelve-month period for the specified qualifying reasons	FMLA — Leave Entitlement

Covered reasons include birth and care of a child, adoption or foster placement, specified family care, the employee’s serious health condition and qualifying military exigencies. FMLA leave can generally be unpaid, with statutory rules governing its interaction with employer paid-leave policies.

For a remote employee, the personal residence is not the FMLA worksite; the reporting or assignment office determines the relevant site. For joint employment, the worksite is generally the primary employer’s assigning or reporting office, unless the employee has physically worked for at least one year at a secondary employer’s facility, in which case that location is the worksite. The seventy-five-mile test uses surface miles, so applying the headcount condition requires the actual worksite rule rather than a radius around the home address.

Under FMLA, a temporary agency supplying employees to another employer ordinarily creates joint employment. A PEO merely administering payroll, benefits and paperwork does not thereby create joint employment; its actual powers and the whole arrangement determine the result. Jointly employed employees count for both employers, but a client counts PEO or other-client employees only where it jointly employs them.

The DOL joint-employment guidance assigns the primary employer the required notices, leave, health-benefit maintenance and primary restoration responsibility. A secondary employer has conditional restoration duties where it continues to use an agency employee and the agency chooses to place the returning employee with it. The secondary employer must also comply with the prohibited-acts provisions for its jointly employed employees, even if that employer is not otherwise covered by FMLA.

Paid family benefits and job protection

California Paid Family Leave can provide eligible claimants up to eight weeks of benefits in a twelve-month period. It does not itself protect the job, although FMLA or California’s CFRA may do so. Establish both benefit eligibility and applicable job protection when describing leave in an offer or policy.

From 1 January 2026, Washington Paid Leave job protection generally covers eligible employees with 180 calendar days’ tenure at employers with at least twenty-five employees. It has no separate restoration-hours requirement. The employer thresholds change as shown below; benefit eligibility has its own tests.

Washington Paid Leave — job protection from 1 January 2026	Most employers with at least twenty-five employees; eligible employee has 180 calendar days’ tenure	Washington Paid Leave — Job Protection
Washington Paid Leave — job protection from 2027	Employer threshold of fifteen employees; eligible employee has 180 calendar days’ tenure	Washington Paid Leave — Job Protection
Washington Paid Leave — job protection from 2028 onward	Employer threshold of eight employees; eligible employee has 180 calendar days’ tenure	Washington Paid Leave — Job Protection

For the Washington employer-size test, count employees on the Washington payroll each workday for at least twenty calendar weeks in the current or preceding year. From January 2026, employees who qualify for Paid Leave job protection must also have their existing health insurance maintained as if working, with their employee premium contributions able to continue. Apply the statutory exceptions and actual eligibility conditions when arranging leave and coverage.

Minnesota Paid Leave benefits and employee-premium deductions began on 1 January 2026. First premiums were due on 30 April 2026 using wage detail for January through March 2026. The announced 2027 premium split appears under contributions; funding, benefit eligibility and any restoration duties require their applicable tests.

Federal holidays and agreed bonuses need separate policies

Paid holidays and extra-salary commitments depend on applicable law and employment terms. The calendar summary is 11 federal; private rules vary: OPM lists federal-employee holidays, while the FLSA does not require payment for holiday time not worked. Your private policy and any state or contractual requirements determine the applicable commitments.

The holiday calendar and your private policy

OPM’s 2026 federal-employee calendar is below, including Independence Day observed on 3 July. A private employer’s policy determines its own paid dates and employee eligibility, subject to applicable law and agreed terms.

New Year’s Day	1 January 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.	19 January 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Washington’s Birthday	16 February 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Memorial Day	25 May 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Juneteenth National Independence Day	19 June 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Independence Day	3 July 2026 — observed in the federal schedule	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Labor Day	7 September 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Columbus Day	12 October 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Veterans Day	11 November 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Thanksgiving Day	26 November 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays
Christmas Day	25 December 2026	OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays

Record your policy’s paid holidays and terms for work on those dates. The FLSA does not itself require holidays off or premium pay simply because work occurs on a holiday. Overtime and other applicable wage requirements still apply.

Bonuses and a thirteenth salary

A promised thirteenth salary or other extra pay can create an employment commitment under applicable law and agreed terms. The FLSA does not require pay raises or fringe benefits, and terms outside its requirements can be agreed with employees or their representatives. State laws may allow claims for unpaid promised wages, sometimes including fringe benefits, so the federal rule alone does not settle an offer’s or policy’s obligations.

For a nonexempt employee, a bonus also needs a regular-rate review before overtime is calculated. The DOL bonus guidance generally includes nondiscretionary bonuses in the regular rate unless another statutory exclusion applies. A bonus is discretionary only when all the statutory conditions are met; the label in the policy alone does not determine whether it can be excluded.

State the bonus’s eligibility conditions, amount basis, timing and applicable legal treatment in the offer or policy. Give those terms to payroll for regular-rate and promised-wage assessment.

Health coverage, insurance and retirement depend on the employer

Benefit costs depend on the employer’s obligations and offered plans. ACA coverage, retirement standards and health-coverage continuation each have their own tests. California requires workers’ compensation for employers with one or more employees; obtain the actual policy cost when budgeting.

ACA employer counts and qualifying coverage

The ACA employer shared-responsibility regime generally applies to an applicable large employer, or ALE, averaging at least fifty full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, in the preceding year. Related employers can be aggregated to determine ALE membership, but any shared-responsibility payment is assessed separately for each ALE member. For this regime, full-time generally means at least thirty hours of service per week or 130 hours in a calendar month; those figures do not set the ordinary workweek or replace the FMLA eligibility tests above.

The IRS shared-responsibility questions and answers use the common-law employee standard. Qualifying coverage offers on an ALE’s behalf may count, including through another employer in its aggregated group, certain welfare plans or, in some cases, a staffing firm. Assess the relationship and coverage offer before relying on outsourced benefits to meet the client’s obligation.

Where a staffing firm is not the common-law employer and offers coverage under its plan on the client’s behalf, the offer counts for the client under the relevant rule only if the fee for an enrolled employee is higher than the fee for the same employee without enrollment. Obtain the plan and contractual terms needed to assess that condition. For an employer of record arrangement, identify the actual employing party and the legal basis for the coverage offer alongside the service agreement.

CPEO certification allocates specified federal employment-tax duties. It does not determine benefit-plan eligibility, ACA common-law employment or FMLA joint employment. Retain the determinations for each law with the hire’s records.

Retirement and continuing benefits

ERISA sets minimum standards for covered retirement plans that employers establish; it does not require every employer to establish such a plan. The DOL retirement-plan guidance describes participant disclosures and standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual, funding and fiduciary accountability. Title I has exclusions, including governmental plans, qualifying church plans and plans maintained solely to comply with workers’ compensation, unemployment-compensation or disability-insurance laws, so review the actual plan’s coverage.

California’s CalSavers employer guidance required eligible employers with at least one employee in 2024 to register or claim an exemption by 31 December 2025. Qualified-plan, owner-only and other listed exemptions remain; newly eligible employers follow the applicable notification and current-year process. This is a state retirement-savings access requirement without a mandatory employer pension-contribution percentage.

COBRA generally covers private-sector group health plans maintained by employers with at least twenty employees on more than 50% of their typical business days in the preceding calendar year. It also applies to state and local government plans, while federal-government and church or certain church-related plans are excluded. Check plan coverage, the qualifying event and the resulting loss of health coverage before promising continuation.

For an employee, termination other than for gross misconduct or a reduction in hours that causes a loss of coverage can be a qualifying event. The ordinary maximum continuation period for those events is eighteen months for the employee, spouse and dependent child, with extensions and other events governed separately. The DOL employer COBRA guide sets out distinct notice, election and initial-premium clocks.

COBRA — general rights notice to employee and spouse	Within the first ninety days of group-health coverage	DOL — COBRA Employer Guide
COBRA — employer notice to the plan for a covered termination or reduction in hours	Generally within thirty days; review the applicable plan and notice rules	DOL — COBRA Employer Guide
COBRA — plan election notice to qualified beneficiaries	Within fourteen days after receiving notice of the qualifying event, subject to the applicable employer/administrator and plan rules	DOL — COBRA Employer Guide
COBRA — beneficiary election period	At least sixty days from the later of the election notice or the date coverage would otherwise be lost	DOL — COBRA Employer Guide
COBRA — initial premium allowance	At least forty-five days from submission of the election form	DOL — COBRA Employer Guide

Where the employer is also plan administrator or a multiemployer plan is involved, use the applicable special notice rules. Assign each notice to the party responsible, using the event that starts its clock, and record the beneficiary’s election and initial-premium steps. Continuation remains subject to the plan and beneficiary conditions.

Benefit plan information before the offer

Before describing benefits in an offer, obtain the plan terms and employer-specific costs. Keep these practical records alongside the statutory requirements for the plan and employer:

• Identify the legal employer, plan sponsor, administrator and any provider role in making the coverage offer.
• Keep the ACA employer-count determination and the evidence supporting any coverage offer on the client’s behalf.
• Obtain the plan’s eligibility, participation, enrollment and coverage-start terms for the proposed hire.
• Record the offered benefits, employer cost and employee contribution, with any applicable state coverage or savings-access obligation.
• Assign participant disclosures, leave-related health-coverage responsibilities and qualifying-event notices to the responsible party.
• Review what changes on reduced hours, leave or termination, including any applicable continuation or retirement-plan rights.

Give payroll the agreed deductions and employer charges, distinguishing statutory duties from offered benefits. For provider plans, eligibility depends on the relevant plan terms; workforce size or tax certification alone does not establish it. State the actual commitments and costs in the offer.

Workplace safety, employee voice and enforcement

Workplace duties extend to safety, protected employee activity and access to the applicable complaint process. The employer, employee category and work location determine coverage under each regime, alongside wage records, insurance and onboarding notices.

Safety duties, incident reports and records

The OSH Act’s general duty requires employers to keep workplaces free of serious recognized hazards, alongside the applicable safety standards. Identify whether federal OSHA or an approved state plan regulates the workplace using the OSHA state-plan directory. California’s plan covers most private-sector workers and all state and local government workers, while Illinois’s plan covers state and local government workers and its private-sector workers fall under federal OSHA.

Approved state plans must protect workers at least as effectively as federal OSHA. Assign safety responsibilities under the workplace’s applicable agency, standards and reporting process, alongside workers’ compensation insurance.

Under federal OSHA jurisdiction, the incident-reporting guidance specifies an eight-hour deadline for covered work-related fatalities and a twenty-four-hour deadline for covered inpatient hospitalizations, amputations or eye loss. Those reporting duties can apply even when employer size or industry exempts the business from routine OSHA recordkeeping. Review the incident-occurrence and reporting conditions before applying the deadline to an individual event.

Many employers with more than ten employees must keep recordable injury and illness information on Forms 300, 300A and 301 or equivalents, with industry exemptions. Electronic submission has additional size and industry criteria. Those criteria determine which records and submissions a technology employer needs.

Organizing and collective bargaining

Employees covered by the NLRA have rights to act together over wages and working conditions, with or without a union. Certain individual action on other employees’ authority can also be protected concerted activity. Review the employee definition before applying the rule: independent contractors and supervisors are generally excluded, with a specific protection possible for supervisors discriminated against for refusing to violate the Act.

The NLRA applies to most private-sector employers within NLRB jurisdiction standards. Government, agricultural-only and Railway Labor Act employers are excluded. Employee exclusions also include agricultural and domestic-service workers and specified family employment; apply the relevant category to each worker.

When employees select a union representative, the employer and union must meet at reasonable times and bargain in good faith over wages, hours and other mandatory subjects. Refusing to bargain is an unfair labor practice. Any applicable collective agreement also affects employment terms and exit decisions alongside statutory rules.

The NLRB charge guidance directs complaints to a Regional Office, usually with help from an Information Officer. The office investigates and can issue a complaint if it finds the charge meritorious. Agency jurisdiction, the facts and the proceeding determine the outcome; submitting a charge does not establish an automatic recovery.

Retaliation and employee complaints

Workers can make a confidential safety or health complaint to OSHA. Employers may not fire, demote, transfer or otherwise retaliate against a worker for complaining to it. The OSH Act retaliation deadline below differs from other whistleblower and state-law processes.

The NLRA prohibits discharge or discrimination because an employee filed charges or gave testimony under the Act. FLSA protection covers complaints, proceedings and testimony under its wage-law provisions, while ADA protection covers specified disability-discrimination opposition and participation. Each law supplies its own remedy and filing clock.

OSH Act — retaliation complaint	Generally within thirty days of retaliation; review other whistleblower and state regimes separately	OSHA — Worker Rights
NLRB — unfair-labor-practice charge	Ordinarily within six months of the occurrence, with agency jurisdiction and investigation requirements	NLRB — Questions and Answers
EEOC — discrimination charge	Generally 180 calendar days; extended to 300 where a matching state or local enforcement law and agency apply, with separate age-discrimination conditions	EEOC — Filing a Charge

The EEOC charge process generally requires a charge before a lawsuit under the laws the agency enforces, except for the Equal Pay Act. For age discrimination, extending the deadline to 300 days requires a state law and state enforcement agency; a local rule alone is insufficient. Federal employees use a different process.

FLSA wage claims can expose the employer to unpaid minimum wages or overtime plus an equal amount as liquidated damages and, for a prevailing employee, attorney fees and costs, subject to the statutory and court conditions. Its retaliation provision separately permits appropriate legal or equitable relief, including employment, reinstatement, promotion, lost wages and an equal liquidated amount. Keep the alleged wage shortfall and retaliatory employment action distinct when assessing exposure; the risk section addresses the supported amounts and qualifications.

Assign responsibility for receiving complaints, preserving records and handling agency contact. Document the reasons for hiring, scheduling and termination decisions, and assess any protected activity before adverse action. Use the applicable law and work location to determine coverage and procedure.

Termination: notice, final wages and severance are different obligations

An exit requires a lawful reason, any applicable notice and payment of amounts due. The federal summary is No FLSA notice; WARN 60 days: the FLSA does not require advance employee notice, while WARN generally requires sixty days’ written notice for qualifying covered plant closings or mass layoffs. State rules, employment commitments and collective agreements may add duties.

Probation and lawful reasons

Probation is State / contract specific, with Montana providing a defined statutory example. Under its probation provision, the default is twelve months if the employer has not established a specific period or expressly provided for none before or when work begins. An extension must be made before the probationary period expires, and the original period plus extensions cannot exceed eighteen months.

Under Montana’s Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act, lack of good cause after the employer’s probationary period can make a discharge wrongful. During probation, either party may terminate at will on notice to the other, subject to the applicable statutory scope and other protections. The Act also addresses a material violation of an express written personnel-policy provision that deprives the employee of a fair and reasonable opportunity to remain employed, and termination solely because of the employee’s legal expression of free speech.

Assess discrimination and protected activity when establishing the lawful reason for dismissal, including during probation. Retain the policy, reason and applicable employer and employee scope in the exit record alongside the notice decision.

Covered layoffs under WARN

Federal WARN requires both a covered employer and a qualifying event. The employee count, part-time definition, single-site test and relevant employment-loss period matter when applying the thresholds. Assess the statutory exclusions, exceptions and aggregation rules before deciding which notice is required.

WARN — employer coverage	At least one hundred employees excluding part-time employees, or at least one hundred employees collectively working at least 4,000 non-overtime hours per week	WARN — Definitions
WARN — qualifying plant closing	Generally a shutdown producing employment loss for at least fifty non-part-time employees at a single site within thirty days	WARN — Definitions
WARN — qualifying mass layoff	Generally at least fifty non-part-time employees and at least 33% of the non-part-time employees, or at least five hundred non-part-time employees, at a single site within thirty days	WARN — Definitions
WARN — advance notice	Generally sixty days’ written notice before the covered event, subject to statutory exceptions	WARN — Notice

For a covered reduction, establish the required WARN recipients and any state notification duties. WARN notice follows the event, rather than an individual’s tenure. Its notice-breach back pay and benefits are distinct from severance; the risk table gives the limits.

California final pay

California generally requires all wages, including accrued vacation, to be paid immediately when an employee is discharged. For an employee without a definite-term written contract who quits, the notice given changes the general deadline. Review the job’s sector-specific timing exceptions before using the following branches.

California — discharge	Generally pay all wages, including accrued vacation, immediately at termination	California DIR — Paydays and Final Wages
California — quitting after at least seventy-two hours’ notice	For the covered employee who quits on the notified day, pay final wages including accrued vacation at quitting	California DIR — Paydays and Final Wages
California — quitting without seventy-two hours’ notice	For the covered employee without a definite-term written contract, generally pay final wages including accrued vacation within seventy-two hours of quitting	California DIR — Paydays and Final Wages

A willful final-pay failure can trigger the employee’s daily wage for each unpaid day, capped at thirty calendar days, subject to statutory exceptions. Prepare final wages and accrued vacation before the exit so the deadline can be met; the maximum penalty does not apply automatically to every delay.

Severance

The FLSA does not require severance. Commitments may arise from an agreement with the employee or their representative, and other applicable legal regimes can add obligations. Assess the offer, policy, collective terms and exit circumstances to establish what is owed.

Calculate severance, earned wages, accrued vacation and notice-breach liability on their respective legal or agreed bases. Offering severance alone does not discharge the other duties.

Restrictive covenants after exit

The FTC’s federal Noncompete Rule is not in effect or enforceable. State restrictions and the actual covenant still require their own assessment. Washington’s 2026 employee earnings threshold is $126,858.83, but meeting that threshold alone does not establish that a particular clause is enforceable.

Washington’s enacted covenant law takes effect on 30 June 2027. Covenants within its amended noncompetition definition become void regardless of when agreed, and entering, enforcing or threatening to enforce them violates the chapter from that date.

The definition excludes specified nonsolicitation, confidentiality and trade-secret or invention covenants, and qualifying business-ownership transactions involving at least a 1% ownership interest. Specified franchise arrangements and conditional educational-expense repayment agreements also have exclusions. Review the statutory definition and conditions before treating a restrictive clause as covered or excluded.

Proceedings commenced before the effective date use the prior chapter, while later proceedings use the amended provisions regardless of when the cause of action arose. By 1 October 2027, employers must make reasonable efforts to notify current and former employees and independent contractors whose noncompetition covenant remains within its effective period that it is void and unenforceable. Identify the existing clauses, affected people and pending proceedings when preparing for the change.

Recent changes and the next announced deadlines

Apply effective changes to the hiring process and schedule future requirements by their stated dates. Federal classification has four distinct layers: the effective regulation, WHD enforcement policy, a replacement proposal and pending OIRA review. Immigration and state changes retain their own coverage and implementation conditions.

• 11 March 2024 — federal classification rule effective. The FLSA employee–contractor regulation introduced its economic-reality analysis. Private-litigation treatment differs from the later WHD investigation policy.
• 1 May 2025 — federal WHD enforcement policy changed. WHD stopped using the 2024 analysis in its investigations and adopted a different approach for specified matters. The 2024 rule remained for private litigation pending further action, and the policy did not change underlying FLSA rights and responsibilities.
• 1 January 2026 — California annual rights-notice law effective. Individual written notice is due each year by 1 February in workplace languages, alongside continued postings. Include delivery in onboarding and the recurring notice calendar.
• 1 January 2026 — Washington Paid Leave job protection expanded. Most employers with at least twenty-five employees must protect eligible employees with 180 calendar days’ tenure, without a separate restoration-hours requirement. The leave section gives the employer-count and eligibility conditions.
• 1 January 2026 — Minnesota Paid Leave benefits and deductions began. Benefits became available and employers could start deducting the employee premium share. Apply the program’s wage and employer scope alongside any job-restoration requirements.
• Payments after 31 December 2025 — federal service-payment reporting threshold changed. The covered 2026 Form 1099-NEC threshold is $2,000 per payee annually, subject to payment and payee conditions. The US contractor guide covers reporting; this threshold establishes neither employment status nor tax-free income.
• 27 February 2026 — weighted H-1B cap selection effective. The process applies to the fiscal year 2027 registration season. Petition and work-authorization requirements still apply after selection.
• 27 February 2026 — federal contractor-rule proposal published. DOL proposed rescinding the 2024 analysis and replacing it with an approach similar to the 2021 rule, with modifications. A proposal does not establish an effective replacement.
• 30 March 2026 — California emergency-contact designation deadline. Employers had to allow workers to designate a contact. Where required, notify that person of a worker’s arrest or detention at work if the employer knows about it.
• 30 April 2026 — first Minnesota Paid Leave premiums due. These used January through March 2026 wage detail. Assign premium reporting and employee deductions to the applicable employer process.
• 15 May 2026 — federal overtime text restored. The amendment restored pre-2024 exemption provisions. The working-time section gives the duties, salary-basis and compensation tests, with state requirements also applicable.
• 8 June and 24 July 2026 — H-1B implementing guidance affected by court orders. The Massachusetts district court vacated guidance implementing the $100,000 requirement; the First Circuit later denied the government’s stay request. USCIS says DHS will comply while considering next steps and plans collection if the order is lifted. The amount is therefore not an unconditional hiring charge.
• 9 September 2026 — covered H-1B/L-1 biometric-fee rule effective. Coverage depends on the employer category and filing type, with an exception for amended petitions that do not seek a status extension. Use the work-authorization section’s conditions to assess the fee.
• 21 September 2026 — H-1B entry-restriction extension effective. The proclamation extends the 2025 restriction until 21 September 2027, subject to covered categories and exceptions. It operates alongside the distinct USCIS court-order implementation alert and does not settle litigation or every petitioner’s payment liability.
• 28 September 2026 — federal contractor replacement received for OIRA review. The OIRA registry lists RIN 1235-AA46 at the Final Rule stage with Pending Review status. This entry establishes neither publication nor an effective date; the operative rule and enforcement position govern current decisions.
• 30 September 2026 — Florida general minimum wage reached $15.00 per hour. Apply the statutory definitions and tip-credit scope. This is a general Florida floor, distinct from other state rates and higher local or industry requirements.

For offers extending into 2027, schedule wage, exemption and leave updates before they take effect. Individual notice and covenant-transition duties follow their own deadlines:

• 1 January 2027 — announced general wage schedules. Washington’s floor for most workers rises to $17.73 per hour and California’s general floor to $17.40. New York retains $17.00 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County and $16.00 elsewhere under its inflation off-ramp. Local and industry coverage still applies.
• 1 January 2027 — announced exemption salary changes. Washington’s thresholds differ by employer size; California has also announced its applicable threshold. Use the working-time tables alongside the duties and category tests.
• 2027 — Washington Paid Leave restoration threshold reduces to fifteen employees. The 180-calendar-day tenure condition and applicable employer and eligibility rules remain. Benefit eligibility uses its own test.
• 2027 — Minnesota announced Paid Leave premium remains 0.88%. Employers may collect up to 0.44% from employees, and qualifying small employers have a reduced share. Apply covered wages and employer category rather than budgeting the total as an employer-only charge.
• 1 February 2027 — California annual individual rights notice due. Deliver in the languages normally used at the workplace and continue the applicable postings.
• 30 June 2027 — Washington noncompetition law takes effect. Covenants within the amended definition become void, with the exclusions and proceeding-transition rules described under termination.
• 1 October 2027 — Washington covenant-notification deadline. Employers must make reasonable efforts to notify current and former employees and independent contractors whose covenant remains within its effective period that it is void and unenforceable. Identify the affected agreements and people for notification.

What a mistake costs and who pays

Liability follows the breached duty, responsible party and conditions for the remedy. Read the conditional damages, tax liabilities and penalty ranges below with the triggering facts; each amount applies to its specified breach.

Party	Risk	Amount
Employer under the applicable FLSA wage provisions	Unpaid covered minimum wages or overtime	Unpaid wages or overtime plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages; a prevailing employee may also recover attorney fees and costs, with statutory and court qualifications, including good-faith discretion. FLSA — Remedies
Employer responsible for a qualifying WARN event	Covered notice violation causing an employee’s employment loss	Back pay and benefits for the violation period, up to sixty days and no more than half the employee’s tenure in days, with statutory offsets and possible good-faith reductions. WARN — Remedies
Employer responsible for WARN local-government notice	Violation of the notice duty to the unit of local government	Up to $500 per day. The penalty does not apply if the employer pays each aggrieved employee the amount for which it is liable to that employee within three weeks of ordering the shutdown or layoff. WARN — Remedies
California employer	Willfully missing the applicable final-wage deadline	The employee’s daily wage for each unpaid day, up to thirty calendar days, subject to the willfulness and statutory conditions. California DIR — Paydays and Final Wages
Employer responsible for federal employment-tax deposits	Late or incorrectly made required deposits	Generally 2% at one–five days late; 5% at six–fifteen days; 10% at sixteen or more days within the initial notice window; 15% under the notice or demand conditions described below. Exceptions apply. IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Responsible person identified by the IRS	Willful failure to collect, account for or pay over trust-fund taxes	Trust-fund recovery penalty of 100% of unpaid trust-fund tax, with responsibility and willfulness determinations. This is not 100% of gross wages or all employer-side taxes. IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide
Business using the contractor route	Treating an employee as an independent contractor without a reasonable basis	Employment-tax liability for that worker can arise; any section 530 relief has conditions and does not establish contractor status. No fixed dollar amount applies to every case. IRS — Employee or Contractor Classification
Hiring business under California’s classification law	Voluntary and knowing misclassification of an employee as an independent contractor	Civil penalties of $5,000–$25,000 per violation, with the applicable tier and circumstances assessed; separate wage, insurance and tax liabilities can also apply. California LWDA — Classification Questions

For federal deposits, the 10% late-deposit band applies at sixteen or more days late but within ten days of the first IRS notice asking for the tax due. The 15% band applies to amounts still unpaid more than ten days after that first notice or at receipt of notice and demand for immediate payment, whichever is earlier. A 10% penalty can also apply to amounts that should have been deposited but were paid directly to the IRS or with a return, subject to the stated exceptions; use the IRS Employer’s Tax Guide for the applicable payment and notice conditions.

The wage, notice and final-pay remedies above address their specified breaches. Retaliation has the separate relief and proceeding conditions described under workplace protections.

Ordinary payroll outsourcing generally leaves the employer responsible for returns and deposits even if the outsourcer fails. CPEO tax allocation depends on the employee category and remuneration it pays. For wage liability, the FLSA employer definition and actual relationship govern alongside the provider agreement’s operational assignments.

The ACA uses common-law employment and qualifying coverage offers. FMLA joint employment assigns primary and conditional secondary duties as explained under leave. Certification or a service contract does not settle those law-specific responsibilities.

For the contractor route, classify the actual service relationship before agreeing terms. California’s penalty range requires voluntary and knowing misclassification. Federal employment-tax relief depends on its own conditions and does not establish contractor status.

Use the following practical checks to reduce the chance of a breach:

• Keep the duties, control, work-location and exemption or classification review with the accepted hiring terms.
• Reconcile hours, wages and deductions, and confirm required deposits separately from the return-filing receipts.
• Prepare the applicable notice, final-wage, accrued-vacation and benefit-continuation tasks before an exit.
• Identify each provider’s operational tasks and the party’s statutory responsibility for each relevant tax, wage, leave and benefit duty.

Retain the decision records and action confirmations for any agency or court review. Estimate exposure from the applicable breach and remedy, without treating unrelated maxima as a combined universal penalty.

Questions people actually ask

Can a foreign company hire someone in the United States without a US entity?

A separate US entity is not universally required: federal tax rules expressly address people employed in the US by foreign employers. Assess the foreign business’s tax filings, applicable business qualification and payroll registrations, as well as any immigration requirements for the job. An employer of record is another employment route, with its own responsibility review. Use the contractor route only where the services satisfy the applicable independence tests.

Are they raising the federal minimum wage in 2026?

The covered, nonexempt federal floor remains $7.25 per hour in 2026. Its last general rate change took effect on 24 July 2009, while state and local requirements can impose a higher applicable wage. Keep the announced January 2027 state schedules separate from this federal figure when reviewing an offer.

What is the average annual salary in the United States?

The BLS May 2025 national all-occupations reference is $69,770 / year — mean, rather than a median. It covers full- and part-time employees, excludes self-employed workers and measures gross straight-time wages rather than employer benefit costs. Most annual estimates standardize hourly wages using 2,080 hours, with occupation-specific exceptions. Use the relevant occupation and geography for the offer; the annual reference does not measure average actual yearly receipts or complete employer cost.

How many hours can you legally work in a week?

For employees aged sixteen or older, the FLSA sets no daily or weekly maximum hours. Its ordinary overtime rule generally requires covered, nonexempt work beyond forty hours in the workweek to be paid at least 1.5 times the regular rate. Check the state rules and job category before setting a schedule, including whether daily overtime or an applicable exemption changes the result.

Can you be fired without warning in the USA?

The FLSA supplies no general advance-notice obligation before dismissal, while other applicable rules and commitments can require notice. Federal WARN generally requires sixty days’ written notice for its qualifying covered closings and mass layoffs. Review the state rules, employment terms and lawful reason separately, including Montana’s post-probation good-cause conditions where its statute applies.

Do I need to follow both federal and state labour laws?

Yes, where both regimes cover the employer and employee. California requires the stricter applicable wage standard when federal, state and local requirements overlap; its general statewide floor is $16.90 per hour from 1 January 2026, with higher local or industry floors possible. Apply each law’s own coverage and conditions to overtime, leave and final wages as well, rather than using the federal wage figure to decide the entire employment arrangement.

Does an overseas bank account change the obligations for someone working in the US?

An overseas account does not by itself change the US source of income for services physically performed in the country. For personal services, source follows where the work is done, regardless of where the agreement was made, payment occurs or the payer resides. An employee working in the US for a foreign employer generally remains subject to that employer’s Social Security and Medicare withholding, with applicable exceptions assessed separately from the account location or immigration position.

Does a small US team mean health coverage and family leave do not apply?

A small local team alone does not determine coverage. The ACA generally tests the preceding year’s average of at least fifty full-time employees including equivalents, with related-employer aggregation, rather than treating the local team as the complete employer count. Ordinary private-employer FMLA coverage uses fifty employees for twenty workweeks, while employee eligibility separately needs twelve months, 1,250 hours in the preceding twelve months and the relevant fifty-within-seventy-five-miles worksite condition. Identify the employer under each law and apply the actual provider or joint-employment arrangement before deciding whether the obligations apply.

Sources

1. 4dev.com. Employer of Record in the United States. Accessed 15 October 2026. Prepared local edition reviewed; not a public-page retrieval.
2. 4dev.com. Hiring contractors in the United States. Accessed 15 October 2026. Prepared local edition reviewed; not a public-page retrieval.
3. 4dev.com. The platform for compliant contractor work worldwide — 4dev.com. Accessed 14 October 2026.
4. O*NET OnLine. Local Wages: 15-1252.00 - Software Developers (O*NET — San Francisco local wages). Accessed 14 October 2026.
5. O*NET OnLine. Local Wages: 15-1252.00 - Software Developers (O*NET — Seattle local wages). Accessed 14 October 2026.
6. O*NET OnLine. Local Wages: 15-1252.00 - Software Developers (O*NET — New York local wages). Accessed 14 October 2026.
7. O*NET OnLine. Local Wages: 15-1252.00 - Software Developers (O*NET — Texas local wages). Accessed 14 October 2026.
8. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 1. National employment and wage data by occupation, May 2025 (BLS — May 2025 national wage table). Accessed 14 October 2026.
9. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wages — May 2025, technical notes (BLS — May 2025 technical notes). Accessed 14 October 2026.
10. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Concepts (BLS — OEWS concepts). Accessed 14 October 2026.
11. California Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions (California DIR — Minimum Wage). Accessed 14 October 2026.
12. IRS. Get an employer identification number. Accessed 14 October 2026.
13. IRS. Instructions for Form SS-4. Accessed 14 October 2026.
14. California Employment Development Department. e-Services for Business. Accessed 14 October 2026.
15. IRS. Persons employed by a foreign employer. Accessed 14 October 2026.
16. IRS. Instructions for Form 1120-F (2025). Accessed 14 October 2026.
17. California Employment Development Department. Employer Payroll Taxes. Accessed 14 October 2026.
18. California Department of Industrial Relations. Workers’ compensation for employers — FAQs. Accessed 14 October 2026.
19. IRS. Publication 15 (2026), Employer’s Tax Guide (IRS — Employer’s Tax Guide). Accessed 14 October 2026.
20. US Department of Labor. Questions and Answers About the Fair Labor Standards Act. Accessed 14 October 2026.
21. IRS. Employment tax due dates (IRS — Employment Tax Due Dates). Accessed 14 October 2026.
22. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Section 2: Employer Review and Attestation. Accessed 14 October 2026.
23. California Employment Development Department. New Employee Registry. Accessed 14 October 2026.
24. California Department of Industrial Relations. New California law requires annual workplace rights notice. Accessed 14 October 2026.
25. US Department of Labor. Workplace Posters. Accessed 14 October 2026.
26. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Specialty Occupations. Accessed 14 October 2026.
27. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 206 (2024 edition) (Federal FLSA — Minimum Wage). Accessed 14 October 2026.
28. US Department of Labor. History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938–2009 (DOL — Federal Wage History). Accessed 14 October 2026.
29. Washington Department of Labor & Industries. Minimum Wage (Washington L&I — Minimum Wage). Accessed 14 October 2026.
30. Washington Department of Labor & Industries. History of Washington State’s Minimum Wage (Washington L&I — Wage History). Accessed 14 October 2026.
31. Florida Senate. Constitution of the State of Florida, Article X, Section 24—Florida minimum wage (Florida Constitution — Minimum Wage). Accessed 14 October 2026.
32. Washington Department of Labor & Industries. Washington’s minimum wage rises to $17.73 an hour in 2027 (Washington L&I — 2027 Wage Announcement). Accessed 14 October 2026.
33. California Department of Industrial Relations. ICYMI: California’s minimum wage set to increase to $17.40 per hour on January 1, 2027 (California DIR — 2027 Wage Announcement). Accessed 14 October 2026.
34. New York State Department of Labor. Your New York State Minimum Wage (New York DOL — Minimum Wage). Accessed 14 October 2026.
35. IRS. Tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (IRS — 2026 Income Tax Adjustments). Accessed 14 October 2026.
36. California Employment Development Department. Contribution Rates, Withholding Schedules, and Meals and Lodging Values (California EDD — Rates and Withholding). Accessed 14 October 2026.
37. California Employment Development Department. California State Payroll Taxes - Overview (California EDD — State Payroll Taxes). Accessed 14 October 2026.
38. California Employment Development Department. Federal Unemployment Tax Act. Accessed 14 October 2026.
39. California Department of Industrial Relations. Paydays, pay periods, and the final wages (California DIR — Paydays and Final Wages). Accessed 14 October 2026.
40. California Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime (California DIR — Overtime). Accessed 14 October 2026.
41. US Department of Labor / Federal Register. Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments, 91 FR 27833 (DOL — Federal Exemption Restoration). Accessed 14 October 2026.
42. Washington Department of Labor & Industries. Washington’s minimum wage going up to $17.13 an hour in 2026 (Washington L&I — 2026 Wage and Exemption Announcement). Accessed 14 October 2026.
43. California Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions. Accessed 14 October 2026.
44. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 2611 (2024 edition) (FMLA — Coverage and Eligibility). Accessed 14 October 2026.
45. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 2612 (2024 edition) (FMLA — Leave Entitlement). Accessed 14 October 2026.
46. US Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor—Employee Reinstatement: Joint Employment. Accessed 14 October 2026.
47. Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave. Job protection requirements for employers (Washington Paid Leave — Job Protection). Accessed 14 October 2026.
48. US Office of Personnel Management. Federal Holidays — 2026 schedule (OPM — 2026 Federal Holidays). Accessed 14 October 2026.
49. US Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #56C: Bonuses under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Accessed 14 October 2026.
50. Internal Revenue Service. Questions and answers on employer shared responsibility provisions under the Affordable Care Act. Accessed 14 October 2026.
51. US Department of Labor. FAQs about Retirement Plans and ERISA. Accessed 14 October 2026.
52. CalSavers. CalSavers | Employer Information. Accessed 14 October 2026.
53. US Department of Labor. An Employer's Guide to Group Health Continuation Coverage Under COBRA (DOL — COBRA Employer Guide). Accessed 14 October 2026.
54. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. State Plans. Accessed 14 October 2026.
55. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Report a Fatality or Severe Injury. Accessed 14 October 2026.
56. National Labor Relations Board. Frequently Asked Questions - NLRB (NLRB — Questions and Answers). Accessed 14 October 2026.
57. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Worker Rights and Protections (OSHA — Worker Rights). Accessed 14 October 2026.
58. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination (EEOC — Filing a Charge). Accessed 14 October 2026.
59. Montana Legislature. Montana Code Annotated 39-2-910 — Probationary period. Accessed 14 October 2026.
60. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 2101 (2024 edition) (WARN — Definitions). Accessed 14 October 2026.
61. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 2102 (2024 edition) (WARN — Notice). Accessed 14 October 2026.
62. Washington State Legislature. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1155, Chapter 149, Laws of 2026—Noncompetition and Nonsolicitation Agreements—Various Provisions. Accessed 14 October 2026.
63. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. EO 12866 Regulatory Review—Employee or Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (RIN 1235-AA46). Accessed 14 October 2026.
64. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 216 (2024 edition) (FLSA — Remedies). Accessed 14 October 2026.
65. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 2104 (2024 edition) (WARN — Remedies). Accessed 14 October 2026.
66. Internal Revenue Service. Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee? (IRS — Employee or Contractor Classification). Accessed 14 October 2026.
67. California Labor & Workforce Development Agency. Frequently Asked Questions on AB 5 (California LWDA — Classification Questions). Accessed 14 October 2026.
68. IRS. Publication 15-A (2026), Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide. Accessed 14 October 2026.
69. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 203 (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
70. 4dev.com. Complete list of countries available for contractors — 4dev.com. Accessed 14 October 2026.
71. IRS. CPEO public listings. Accessed 14 October 2026.
72. IRS. CPEO customers — What you need to know. Accessed 14 October 2026.
73. Internal Revenue Service. Third party arrangements. Accessed 14 October 2026.
74. US Department of Labor / Government Publishing Office. 29 CFR Part 825—The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (2025 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
75. Office of the Federal Register / Government Publishing Office. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29—Labor (Part 825 snapshot amended through 15 May 2026). Accessed 14 October 2026.
76. Oregon Department of Revenue. Foreign Corporations. Accessed 14 October 2026.
77. Illinois Department of Labor. Paid Leave for All Workers Act. Accessed 14 October 2026.
78. California Department of Industrial Relations. Vacation. Accessed 14 October 2026.
79. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Section 1: Employee Information and Attestation. Accessed 14 October 2026.
80. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 42 USC 2000e-2 (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
81. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 42 USC 2000e (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
82. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 212 (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
83. Department of Homeland Security / Federal Register. Modernizing H-1B Requirements, 89 FR 103054. Accessed 14 October 2026.
84. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fact Sheet: Disability Discrimination. Accessed 14 October 2026.
85. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Age Discrimination. Accessed 14 October 2026.
86. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Equal Pay/Compensation Discrimination. Accessed 14 October 2026.
87. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Accessed 14 October 2026.
88. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 38 USC Chapter 43—Employment and Reemployment Rights of Members of the Uniformed Services (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
89. Federal Trade Commission. Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know. Accessed 14 October 2026.
90. US Department of Labor. Veterans’ Employment and Career Transition Advisor—Reemployment. Accessed 14 October 2026.
91. Department of Homeland Security / Federal Register. Weighted Selection Process for Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions. Accessed 14 October 2026.
92. Executive Office of the President / Federal Register. Extension of Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers. Accessed 14 October 2026.
93. Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Paid Leave Premium Rate Unchanged for 2027. Accessed 14 October 2026.
94. Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (12/2026). Accessed 14 October 2026.
95. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 218d (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
96. California Employment Development Department. Paid Family Leave. Accessed 14 October 2026.
97. US Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor—Joint Employment and Successor in Interest. Accessed 14 October 2026.
98. Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Paid Leave confirms premium rate, remains on track for launch in 2026. Accessed 14 October 2026.
99. US Department of Labor. Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Accessed 14 October 2026.
100. IRS. Employer shared responsibility provisions. Accessed 14 October 2026.
101. Internal Revenue Service / Government Publishing Office. 26 CFR 54.4980H-4—Assessable payments under section 4980H(a) (2025 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
102. Office of the Federal Register / Government Publishing Office. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 26—Internal Revenue (section 54.4980H-4 snapshot amended through 6 October 2026). Accessed 14 October 2026.
103. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 1003—Coverage (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
104. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Help for Employers. Accessed 14 October 2026.
105. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Recordkeeping. Accessed 14 October 2026.
106. National Labor Relations Board. Employee Rights. Accessed 14 October 2026.
107. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 158—Unfair labor practices (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
108. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. 29 USC 215—Prohibited acts (2024 edition). Accessed 14 October 2026.
109. Montana Legislature. Montana Code Annotated 39-2-904 — Elements of wrongful discharge. Accessed 14 October 2026.
110. Federal Trade Commission. Noncompete Rule. Accessed 14 October 2026.
111. US Department of Labor / Federal Register. Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act; Final Rule. Accessed 14 October 2026.
112. US Department of Labor / Federal Register. Employee or Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; Proposed Rule. Accessed 14 October 2026.
113. US Congress / Government Publishing Office. Public Law 119-21—An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14, section 70433. Accessed 14 October 2026.
114. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 515 (2026), Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities. Accessed 14 October 2026.