May 2026 in a Minute
Reading Time: 3 minutes - Mental Health Awareness Month is a prompt to train managers on responding to employee mental health concerns and confirm your escalation path.
- Summer brings PTO requests, heat safety, and youth employment, so clarify approval processes, coverage expectations, and minor work restrictions by state.
- Spot-check I-9s for missing dates, signatures, and inconsistent document lists, and audit a recent hiring batch under current ICE guidance.
- Pressure-test PWFA accommodation practices, since employees should not need magic words and managers should involve HR early instead of denying requests.
- Watch for off-the-clock work from events, travel, and after-hours messages, and audit a week of time records for a high-activity team.
By Stephanie Dillon · Catapult HR
As May takes off, it’s the perfect time to reflect on key midyear workplace topics and seasonal priorities. This month brings fresh opportunities and important reminders for leaders and teams — especially with Mental Health Awareness Month and summertime requests on the horizon. Here’s a quick overview of what to focus on as we move through the rest of 2026.
☀️ Mental Health Awareness Month
Mental health in the workplace can take on many forms. It’s important for employers to be aware of their obligations.
- Train managers on what to say (and not say) when an employee raises a mental health concern.
- Confirm your escalation path (HR, EAP, security, local emergency services when appropriate).
- Make sure documentation expectations are clear and consistent.
Review workplace policies and practices for summer
Summertime presents unique challenges for the workplace as employees request time off, outdoor conditions shift, and youth employment increases.
- Clarify PTO approval processes, blackout periods and coverage expectations.
- Review heat and outdoor-work safety practices, if applicable.
- If you hire minors, confirm hour restrictions and duties by state.
Tighten I-9 process quality controls
Immigration enforcement has shifted in recent years. Make sure you are up to date on the latest employer responsibilities and risks.
- Review Linda Hunter’s blog post: I-9 Compliance 2026: Reduce Risk Under New ICE Guidance.
- Spot-check forms for missing dates/signatures and inconsistent document lists.
- Standardize re-verification and retention practices.
👉 Quick action: Run a small internal audit of a recent hiring batch and fix process gaps (not just the forms). Use our Internal I-9 Audit Process resource.
Pressure-test PWFA (pregnancy-related accommodations) practices
In addition to immigration, the PWFA has seen different enforcement trends. However, it is still a relatively new law (2023) covered employers need to be educated on.
- Make sure request-intake is simple (employees shouldn’t need “magic words”).
- Train managers to avoid automatic denials and to involve HR early.
- Document the interactive process and outcomes.
Helpful Catapult resources:
- PWFA Manager Training PowerPoint Template
- PWFA Manager Training Follow-Up Quiz
- Pregnancy Accommodation Request Form
- Pregnancy Accommodation Healthcare Provider Questionnaire
👉 Quick action: Using Catapult resources, review your accommodations workflow and templates to ensure PWFA requests are routed and tracked consistently.
Watch for overtime and off-the-clock work
Events, travel, flexible schedules, and “quick” after-hours messages can quietly create wage & hour problems.
- Reconfirm who is non-exempt and must track all time.
- Reinforce overtime approval rules (and what happens when rules aren’t followed).
- Review travel time and remote-work timekeeping expectations.
👉 Quick action: Audit one week of time records for a high-activity team and look for patterns (late logins, after-hours messages, travel days).
Keep exploring
Continue exploring dozens more resources related to these topics and others in our HR Toolkits.
For detailed and practical guidance on any of these issues and more, reach out to a member of the HR Advice team.
Catapult is an employers association that has helped organizations solve workplace challenges since 1958. More than 2,300 member employers rely on the Catapult team for HR advice, employment law guidance, compensation research, and leadership training. Articles published under the Catapult HR Team byline are written and fact checked by that team.
