Five Ward and Smith attorneys provided guidance on a number of legal issues with implications for the workplace, including politics, budgets and elections, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), changes to the minimum salary threshold for exempt employees, and OSHA’s proposed Heat Hazard Rule.

The rapid-fire session was a part of the firm’s annual Employment Law Symposium. It featured insights on a variety of hot-button topics with the potential to spark future changes in the business landscape.

Budgets and Elections

The state budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26 is likely to be another record-breaker, advised Whitney Campbell Christensen, a government relations attorney who served as president of the North Carolina Professional Lobbyists’ Association. “We are still expecting conservative spending for 2025, however,” said Christensen.

Several factors may cool future state revenue collections, including recently enacted tax cuts, approved tax cuts that are yet to be implemented, and the leveling off of inflation, which will moderate sales tax revenue growth. In light of these factors, leaders will likely favor non-recurring items when allocating any surplus revenue.

Those who follow politics are likely already aware that in the 2024 Short Session of the General Assembly, the North Carolina House and Senate disagreed over the state budget and a handful of major policy issues. A number of important pieces of legislation were still enacted in 2024, however.

Newly enacted House Bill...

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