In its final 2026 executive session the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee advanced eight bills — including a measure to void most noncompetition agreements, a ban on employer-mandated microchipping, a PTSD-treatment pilot for workers' comp, and a wage-recovery account to speed relief to unpaid workers — sending most measures to Rules or Ways & Means.

AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler told Washington State Labor Council delegates in Wenatchee that organizing must be the movement's top priority, urged unions to shape AI policy with privacy and bargaining protections, and called for large-scale election protection efforts ahead of 2026.

Labor advocates told a House subcommittee that AI-powered surveillance can erode privacy and chill union organizing; they urged mandatory disclosure of monitoring, stronger enforcement of labor laws, and increased funding for agencies.

A House Education and Workforce subcommittee hearing featured competing views: industry and employer representatives urged measured federal standards and warned that a patchwork of state laws will hamper innovation, while labor advocates and Democrats called for stronger worker privacy safeguards, enforcement funding, and new data collection to track AI’s effects.

Representative Casar and other members pressed industry witnesses about whether employer-configured in‑cab cameras and AI systems could record private calls or be used to identify union organizers; the Samsara witness said extended recording is "theoretically possible" but said he was not aware of customers using it that way.

After a floor discussion about concerns tied to Ethosphere, the company founded by appointee Evan M. Smith, the City Council confirmed his appointment to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission on a 5–3 vote April 14.

Substitute Senate Bill 6106 would amend the state's layoff-notice law to exclude tribes and wholly tribal-owned businesses from the employer definition, exempt employee names/addresses from public disclosure, and limit name/address requirements to notices to ESD and bargaining representatives; ESD and business groups supported the privacy and tribal-exemption changes while growers urged an ag-season exemption to avoid unintended liabilities.

Witnesses told the committee Substitute Senate Bill 60 14 restores prior practice on minor pregnancy accommodations and creates a public-records exemption to protect complainants’ identities and medical information as enforcement moves from the attorney general to L&I in 2027.

Ohio mandates minimum wage enforcement and employee privacy under Section 34a.

Bureau adopts rules ensuring safe working conditions and privacy for domestic workers.

Witnesses told the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development that S.2665 would require employers to post a one-page notice when ICE or DHS schedules an I-9 inspection, giving workers time to gather documents and seek counsel; supporters said Massachusetts privacy rules and Illinois’ 2025 law offer precedents.

Legislation mandates labor organizations protect confidential communications for individuals they represent.

Legislation protects confidentiality of leave information for home healthcare workers

An Amazon delivery-station worker told a California Assembly committee that handheld devices and 'time-off-task' reports track employees’ locations and discourage breaks and training completion; labor and worker-privacy advocates urged statutory worker-centered protections and enforcement.

H.B. 396 requires second-tier subcontractors on public projects to provide employee and licensing information to general contractors and allows verification by the division of professional licensing; lawmakers removed a provision requiring Social Security digits after privacy objections. Vote: passed 27-0.