On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Americans cast their ballots for change, and former President Donald Trump is set to return to the highest office in the land in January. Once again, the country, business community, and HR function are bracing for a regulatory U-turn with a new focus on once-abandoned priorities.
But no matter how ambitious the president-elect’s first 100-day agenda, the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) chief of staff and head of government affairs, Emily Dickens, noted that the regulatory landscape won’t change overnight.
Nevertheless, here’s a look at some of the people policy-related changes HR professionals might prepare for in the next few months ahead of another Trump administration.
Labor and employment regulations. As a candidate, Trump campaigned as a pro-worker president, and repeatedly touted economic achievements during his first term as proof his policies were good for businesses and, thus, employees.
But it’s likely a Department of Labor, under Trump, would seek to roll back or slow pro-worker regulations opposed by the business community, such as the new overtime rule salary thresholds, a change to the department’s joint-employer policy, and the revised standards for independent contractors. HR and compliance professionals might expect to watch agency efforts to reverse course on these Biden-era priorities and a return to standards set by Trump’s previous agency heads.
Immigration. “Sealing the border” from a “migrant invasion” was Trump’s top campaign promise. Some immigration-related policies, such as renewed attention to building a wall on the Southern border, may not directly impact HR policies, but Trump’s campaign also pledged to conduct the mass deportations—his second top campaign promise—potentially impacting employers who lawfully employ them.
The president also opposes revamping the legal employment-based immigration system to make it easier for businesses to hire and employ immigrants. HR Brew previously reported that foreign-born workers made up 18.6% of the US civilian workforce in 2023. Experts warned then that Trump-led changes to the flow of immigration could affect the US labor supply and, by extension, people professionals.
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DE&I. Trump took a hard stance against diversity training at the federal level when he was first in office between 2017 and 2021, banning specific trainings for government workers. Since then, a coordinated campaign has taken shape against these types of programs, impacting private-sector deployments and funding. Trump has called for an end to federal DE&I programs or those that contract with the government, vowing to leverage federal funds to enforce his opposition to these programs early in his second tenure.
SHRM, in its 2024 election resource, suggested that Trump “would enforce laws against harassment and discrimination but will reprioritize the EEOC’s conciliation and mediation programs over a litigation-focused approach. A Trump-led EEOC and [sic] will challenge race- or sex-based initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion.” HR professionals in the private sector can reexamine DE&I programs and policies and make sure they’re aligned with this more narrow reading.
Abortion. On the campaign trail, Trump did not extensively address expanding abortion restrictions should he win, telling reporters he supports exceptions to abortion restrictions and suggesting the issue be adjudicated at the state level.
During the campaign, however, anti-abortion activists did suggest a second Trump administration should enforce the Comstock Act to prohibit the mailing of mifepristone and other “abortion related materials.” HR teams might need to assess how the reproductive health benefits they offer might be affected should the president-elect and Republican-controlled Congress act to further restrict abortion access.
Caregiving. Vice President Kamala Harris discussed the “care economy” on the campaign trail, but Trump scantily addressed issues facing parents and caregivers. The president-elect’s stance on revamping the Family and Medical Leave Act is unclear. Caregiver benefits might not be on the list of changes that HR teams need to anticipate.