Quick Hits

• Fragmentation—not convergence—now defines the global restrictive covenant landscape.
• Remote work has weakened the logic of traditional geographic restrictions.
• Mandatory compensation regimes materially change enforcement economics in several jurisdictions.
• Trade secret litigation is rising as noncompetes narrow—and it is significantly more complex across borders.
• A single global template creates inconsistent leverage and strategic vulnerability.

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Quick Hits

• A separate department of an establishment (Betriebsteil) eligible for a works council under the German Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz (BetrVG)) can exist even if the main establishment is located abroad. This does not violate the principle of territoriality.
• For the required minimum degree of organizational independence of a separate department of an establishment,

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The Additional Instructions significantly curtail the reporting obligations that federal agencies have maintained for more than two decades under Management Directive 715 (MD-715), the Commission’s primary framework for overseeing federal agency employers’ equal employment opportunity (EEO) programs. The directive relieves agencies of the obligation to report on barrier analysis, diversity and inclusion principles, gender…

Senate Passes Bill to Fund Immigration Enforcement Agencies. On June 5, 2026, by a vote of 52–47, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to provide $70 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Republicans used the budget reconciliation process in order to pass the bill with a simple…

Quick Hits

• OCR will be divided into three divisions: the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, the Civil Rights Division, and the Health Information Privacy, Data, and Cybersecurity Division.
• HHS and plan sponsor Star Group (SG) reached an agreement to resolve alleged HIPAA violations related to Star Group’s health plan, imposing $245,000 in fines and an

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Quick Hits

• The EEOC approved a new National Enforcement Plan that rescinds and replaces the Biden-era Strategic Enforcement Plan (FY2024-FY2028).
• The plan represents a formal reorientation of the EEOC’s enforcement strategy and priorities, including the near elimination of disparate impact enforcement and the explicit targeting of DEI programs as potential intentional discrimination.
• The rebranding from

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Quick Hits

• Employers have begun enrollment in Minnesota’s Secure Choice Retirement Program according to a phased schedule with the first deadline on June 30, 2026.
• All Minnesota employers with five or more employees that do not offer a retirement plan will be required to facilitate this state program for employees via payroll contributions. 
• Employees are

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