Labor & Employment

This Act exempts from State income tax any income received by a full-time hourly wage-paid employee for overtime work performed in excess of 40 hours in a week. This exemption applies for taxable years beginning on January 1, 2026, and ending before January 1, 2028. This Act also requires each employer to provide information to the Division of Revenue about the total amount of overtime provided to full-time hourly wage-paid employees and the number of employees to whom overtime was paid in taxable years beginning January 1, 2025.

This bill changes the definition of employer in the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program to exclude anyone who employs less than 25 employees in this State.

Earned Wage Access (EWA) is a Fintech product that allows workers to voluntarily access the money they have already earned during a pay-period for work they have already completed, ahead of their scheduled payday. Users primarily access EWA services through a mobile app and are only able to withdraw wages their EWA provider has verified that they have already earned. This verification process, coupled with the fact that EWA transactions are non-recourse and credit-invisible make the product distinct from loans and credit cards. As an innovative financial product with distinct characteristics that do not fit within existing regulations, EWA requires a distinct regulatory framework. Currently, more than 100,000 workers in Delaware have already used Earned Wage Access services, which are mostly unregulated in the state. This bill helps ensure that responsible EWA providers can operate under the supervision of Delaware’s banking regulator and continue to serve users in the state of Delaware. Moreover, this bill codifies a regulatory framework that recognizes the distinct characteristics of EWA products and will keep Delawareans protected from bad actors who might seek to use the “Earned Wage Access” moniker, while instead offering a predatory product. Specifically, this bill protects consumers in Delaware by creating a new Earned Wage Access provider license, issued by the Office of the State Bank Commissioner to companies whose products meet the following criteria, ensuring that: • All users have at least one reasonable no-cost option for each transaction • All fees and gratuities are clearly and transparently represented to users before they confirm their transactions • EWA transactions are credit-invisible, that providers do not check a user’s credit before issuing EWA services, nor do they report to a credit agency if a user cancels their service • EWA providers do not pursue recourse against users including charging interest, late fees, or sending unresolved EWA transactions to collections

This Act establishes worker protections for employees who work in a warehouse distribution center. This Act requires employers to provide each employee with a written description of any quota the employee may be subject to during their scope of employment. This Act prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to meet a quota that would prevent the employee from being able to have meal and rest periods as required by Department of Labor standards. Adverse action may not be taken against an employee by an employer for failure to meet a quota that does not allow for meal and rest periods. The Act permits an employee to request a written description when they believe a quota prohibited them from receiving appropriate meal or rest periods. Any discriminatory or retaliatory action taken against an employee within 90 days of the employee making a written request or complaint creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation by the employer. The Act establishes the Secretary of Labor’s authority to enforce and pass regulations to effectuate this Act, including remedies and relief available to the Department of Labor.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution directs the Department of Health and Social Services to conduct a review of public assistance programs to identify benefit cliffs and consider these outcomes with perspective of asset-limited, income-constrained employed (ALICE) individuals. The Resolution also direct the Department of Health and Social Services to prepare a report that details its findings and recommendations by January 9, 2026.

This Act addresses information and access rights relating to bargaining units, which are defined under existing law as groups of public employees designated by the Public Employment Relations Board as appropriate for representation by an employee organization for purposes of collective bargaining. Section 1 of the Act amends the Public School Employment Relations Act in Title 14 of the Delaware Code. It provides that a public employer must provide an exclusive bargaining representative with certain contact information of bargaining unit employees, (i) within 14 calendar days of their hiring and (ii) in January and October of each year, starting in January 2026. In addition, a public employer must allow an exclusive representative to communicate with bargaining unit members using their employer-issued email addresses regarding collective bargaining, the administration of collective bargaining agreements, the investigation of grievances, workplace-related complaints and issues, and internal matters involving the exclusive representative's governance or business. Section 2 of the Act makes these same amendments to the Public Employment Relations Act in Title 19 of the Delaware Code.

The language of this Act is identical to Senate Bill No. 25 of the 153rd General Assembly. The only difference between this Act and Senate Bill No. 25 is the title, which has been changed to clarify that the language includes the Public Employment Relations Act of Title 19. This Act allows an employee organization to file a petition with the Board to become the exclusive representative of an appropriate bargaining unit for the purpose of collective bargaining. In the event an employee organization provides over 50% of the employees’ approval, through their authorized signatures, then the Board may not order an election but must certify the employee organization. This Act also makes technical corrections to confirm existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Apprenticeship and workplace-based training are “earn while you learn” systems that offer young people the chance to learn from the best trained construction workers in Delaware. Skilled craft apprenticeship programs offer the necessary capacities, resources, and flexibility needed to help low-income, minority, and female workers achieve and retain construction careers, while simultaneously assisting local construction employers obtain the skilled workforce they need to help drive growth in their local labor markets. This bill removes the “buy-out” for contractors to avoid participating in apprentice programs by paying into the Apprenticeship and Training Fund created in 2021. This “buy-out” benefits bad actors or those businesses only coming into Delaware to work on state taxpayer-funded projects whereas most Delaware merit shops and 100 percent of union shops have apprentice and training programs. The “buy out” also incentivizes contractors or never create training because the maximum cost of the buy-out is less than the cost to operate, fund, or participate in an apprentice program.

This Act requires that a contract relating to a public works project executed after December 31, 2026, must include a project labor agreement with the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council if the project is for a school district or charter school, unless there was only 1 bid for the craft under the contract. A project labor agreement is a type of collective bargaining agreement in the construction industry that is generally negotiated before construction begins. Project labor agreements are intended to provide a legally binding and enforceable contract primarily related to labor conditions and labor-management relations.

This Substitute for House Bill No. 84 prohibits employers from requiring meetings or communications the purpose of which is to convey the employer’s political or religious views, including views regarding unionization. The Act enumerates several situations to which the prohibition does not apply, including the communication of religious views by a religious employer, the communication of political views by a political party or organization, and training required to comply with civil rights laws and occupational safety and health laws. The statute also clarifies that the following communications are outside the scope of the prohibition: (1) An employer communicating to its employees any information that the employer is required by law to communicate, but only to the extent of that legal requirement; (2) An employer communicating to its employees any information that is necessary for those employees to perform their job duties; (3) An institution of higher education, or any agent, representative, or designee of that institution, meeting with or participating in any communications with its employees that are part of coursework, any symposia, or an academic program at that institution; (4) An employer that is a public entity communicating to its employees any information related to a policy of the public entity or any law or regulation that the public entity is responsible for administering; and (5) A tax exempt organization, as defined under United States Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3) communicating with its employees about policy issues that are relevant to the organization, its mission, or the people the organization serves, provided such communication is done in a non-partisan manner. The provision is added to the existing chapter dealing with discrimination in employment, and the Department of Labor is empowered to investigate employer practices, make rules and regulations, and commence civil actions if necessary. The Department of Labor is instructed to update, within 90 days of the effective date of this Act, the notices it prepares for use by employers regarding unlawful discrimination in employment to include the provisions of this Act.