Labor & Employment

This House Concurrent Resolution designates March 26, 2026, as "Equal Pay Day" in the State of Delaware. The bill does not change any laws or policies but serves as a symbolic recognition of the date when women must work into the year to earn what men earned in the previous year. It affects the state by establishing an official commemorative date for awareness of wage gap issues. The resolution was passed by both the House and Senate without requiring a formal vote count.

This bill designates the week of February 15th through 21st, 2026, as "Grain Bin Safety Week" to raise awareness about safety practices in grain storage facilities. It directly affects agricultural workers, farm owners, and safety officials who operate or manage grain bins. The measure is a ceremonial recognition that promotes public education on grain bin hazards without changing laws or regulations.

Chapter 35 of Title 19 prohibits an employer from improperly classifying an individual who is an employee as an independent contractor. Not only is this improper classification unfair to employees because it violates state and federal laws related to income tax withholding, unemployment insurance, wage laws, and workers’ compensation, it is also unfair to contractors who comply with Chapter 35 and these other employment laws. When employers who violate Chapter 35 are subcontractors who have not registered as contractors as required under Chapter 36 of Title 19, the Department of Labor (Department) has no recourse for enforcing compliance with Chapter 35. This Act makes a general contractor responsible for a subcontractor’s compliance with Chapter 35 by making the general contractor jointly and severally liable for restitution and penalties assessed against the subcontractor. This Act also allows the Department to deny, suspend, or revoke the certificate of registration of a contractor who contracts with a subcontractor who has not registered on any project. In addition, Section 3 of this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This House Concurrent Resolution recognizes the significant contributions of nurses as frontline healthcare workers, recognizes the importance of basic protections and rights for this profession, and resolves that the rights of nurses are upheld and promoted throughout the state.

Pay range transparency empowers job applicants with crucial information to negotiate salaries and make informed career decisions. It also encourages businesses to proactively review compensation practices, address unjustified pay disparities, and strengthen their ability to attract and retain top talent. This Act requires that employers include salary or wage range information and a general description of benefits in all postings for job opportunities, and ensures that applicants have access to that information prior to any offer or discussion of compensation. Employers are required to maintain records relating to job descriptions and wage rates for employees for at least 3 years. The Department of Labor may bring an administrative action to enforce the pay transparency provision. This Act does not apply to employers with 25 or fewer employees. The Act takes effect 2 years after its enactment. House Substitute No. 2 to House Bill No. 105 differs from House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 105 as follows: It provides that where a job opportunity is covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the compensation or compensation range disclosed in a notification should be one that has been agreed upon for disclosure in the CBA itself. It provides that the pay transparency provision becomes applicable to postings for opportunities covered by a CBA only when the CBA is amended, modified, or renewed after the effective date of the Act, to give the parties opportunity to consider the disclosed range in the course of negotiating a CBA. It provides that an employer is not liable for job postings that are digitally replicated and published without the employer’s consent. It specifies that the pay transparency provisions in this section apply to Delaware-based jobs or non-international remote positions offered by an employer based in Delaware. It makes the record preservation requirement consistent with § 907 of Title 19.

This is a Substitute for Senate Joint Resolution No. 7. Like Senate Joint Resolution No. 7, this Substitute directs the State Employees Benefits Committee (SEBC) to utilize specific strategies and policies when interacting and contracting with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) in order to achieve lower cost pharmaceutical drug benefit plans for the State. This Substitute differs from Senate Joint Resolution No. 7 by clarifying that the SEBC has a duty to consider all of the following strategies and policies when negotiating for pharmaceuticals: 1. Drug cost transparency. 2. Formation of an independent Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. 3. Any other supply chain tactics such as a reverse auction or transparency committee. 4. Compacts with other states to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers. 5. Paying no higher price for all drugs negotiated by Medicare. 6. Requiring PBMs disclose administrative expenses for all pharmaceutical drugs. 7. Requiring PBMs bid based on lowest pricing sources, not average wholesale price. 8. Requiring the SEBC be provided all agreements between PBMs and pharmaceutical companies when those agreements are for drugs contracted for on behalf of the SEBC. 9. Performing audits when the SEBC believes it should be entitled to information to achieve transparency or clarity. This Substitute differs from Senate Joint Resolution No. 7 by directing the SEBC to prepare a report by August 1, 2026, to summarize any difficulties in implementing any of these policies and to submit the report to the Governor; the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, for distribution to all members of the General Assembly; the Director and the Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services; and the Public Archives.

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.

This substitute for House Bill No. 128, like House Bill No. 128, does the following: This Act provides that the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program is the primary payor, and other paid leave benefits must be coordinated with this benefit according to the terms of the policy or procedure governing other benefits. This Act also allows disability insurance benefits to be offset by family and medical leave benefits paid to an employee pursuant to the terms of a disability insurance policy. This Act addresses private plans, and clarifies that an employer that meets its obligations under Chapter 37 of Title 19 through a private plan does not need to provide claim documentation to the Department except if there is an appeal, complaint, audit, or specific inquiry from the Department. Private plan employers with fewer than 25 employees that voluntarily elect to provide coverage under the Chapter that is otherwise exempted due to the size of their companies will be subject to all of the provisions of the Chapter. This Act establishes a Paid Leave Advisory Committee to review issues related to the implementation and administration of the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program and to review proposed statutory and regulatory amendments to the program. This substitute differs from House Bill No. 128 as follows: This substitute does not change the calculation of an application year or change the 24-month benefit period to a 12-month benefit period. This substitute adds provisions for child support garnishment of PFMLA benefits. This substitute prohibits the practice of requiring employees to use unused accrued paid time off before accessing PFMLA benefits. This substitute allows the Paid Leave Advisory Committee to begin meeting once the Delaware LaborFirst system is functional and the steering committee has been dissolved. This substitute specifies that family and medical leave benefits cannot be assigned and are exempt from the claims of creditors. This substitute sets forth procedures for executing upon judgments for amounts due under Chapter 37 of Title 19 or other titles subject to this chapter.

This Act is intended to supplement protections under federal law for members of the military, their families, and veterans by adding “military status” as a protected class for purposes of the State’s public accommodations, housing, insurance, education, and employment laws. Technical corrections are also made to existing statutory language to conform with the requirements of the Legislative Drafting Manual. This House Substitute No. 1 adds language to clarify that distinctions or differential treatment based on military status that are allowed by State law or regulation, federal law or regulation, or government contract, are not unfair or discriminatory practices. It also updates existing statutory language that was changed by 84 Del. Laws c 429.

This Act provides a one-time increase of 3% in aggregate worker’s compensation medical expenses to correct reimbursements for medical services coded as evaluation and management (E&M) for worker compensation cases. This is needed as the E&M reimbursement rate for Workers’ Compensation cases has fallen below the reimbursement rate of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services rates. This is a critical need as the State of Delaware is in critical need of physicians to accept and treat worker compensation patients.