Monthly Employer Briefing: May 2026

Key Developments This Month

1. EEO-1 Component 1 filing window for the 2025 reporting year. Private employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees and a federal contract of $50,000 or more must file. The EEOC has historically opened the filing window between April and June, with a six- to eight-week filing period. Employers should monitor eeocdata.org and prepare workforce-snapshot data from a pay period between October 1 and December 31, 2025.

2. Colorado AI Act (SB 24-205) takes effect June 30, 2026. Colorado SB 25B-004 (signed August 28, 2025) postponed the original February 1, 2026 effective date. Employers operating in Colorado that use AI to make or substantially influence consequential decisions in employment - including hiring, firing, pay, and promotion - become "deployers" under the Act. May is the right month to inventory AI tools, document risk-management policies aligned with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, and prepare for the initial impact assessment due within 90 days of the effective date.

3. Form 5500 series prep window opens. Employers sponsoring calendar-year retirement and welfare benefit plans must file Form 5500 electronically through EFAST2 by July 31, 2026 for the 2025 plan year. Plans with fewer than 100 participants may file Form 5500-SF. A one-time two-and-a-half-month extension to October 15 is available by filing Form 5558 by July 31. Late-filing penalties under ERISA can exceed $2,700 per day.

4. FLSA exempt salary threshold remains $684 per week ($35,568 per year). The 2024 DOL final rule was vacated by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on November 15, 2024, and the federal appeal is pending. The highly compensated employee threshold remains $107,432. Employers in California, New York, Washington, and Colorado must comply with higher state salary thresholds.

5. Mental Health Awareness Month (May). A practical compliance angle: confirm that group health plans comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, including the non-quantitative treatment limitation comparative analysis required since 2021. EAP utilization typically rises in May; review whether your EAP description in the SPD reflects current vendor and access methods.

Compliance Deadlines

• April 30, 2026 (passed): OSHA Form 300A posting period ended. The 300A summary must remain accessible; the underlying 300 log continues to require entries for new recordable incidents.
• April 30, 2026 (passed): Form 941 (Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return) for Q1 2026 was due. Q2 return is due July 31.
• June 30, 2026: Colorado AI Act compliance obligations begin for deployers.
• July 31, 2026: Form 5500 for 2025 plan year (calendar-year plans).
• July 31, 2026: Form 941 for Q2 2026.

Employer Action Items

• Pull EEO-1 source data now. Choose the workforce-snapshot pay period (one pay period between October 1 and December 31, 2025) and validate that race, ethnicity, sex, and EEO-1 job category coding are accurate before the filing window opens.
• Inventory AI use cases for Colorado. If you employ workers in Colorado, list every AI or algorithmic system that influences hiring, scheduling, performance evaluation, pay, or termination. The deployer requirements apply only to "consequential decisions," but the inventory is the foundation of the risk-management policy the Act requires.
• Confirm Form 5500 plan administrator and signer access to EFAST2 before mid-July. The most common cause of late filings is administrator turnover and lapsed EFAST2 credentials.
• Audit lactation accommodations under the PUMP Act. The protection runs for one year after the child's birth, all employer sizes are covered, and the space cannot be a bathroom.

Looking Ahead

The federal appeal of the vacated 2024 FLSA overtime rule remains pending and could meaningfully change exempt-classification practice if the appellate court reverses. Several states have additional paid leave or wage transparency provisions taking effect on January 1, 2027 - mid-year is the right time to begin handbook revisions for multi-state employers.

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This briefing is prepared by the AEA Editorial Team based on publicly available regulatory guidance and employment law developments. All analysis reflects general observations and should not be treated as legal advice. Consult qualified counsel for guidance on specific situations.