Applicant Tracking Strategies to Stay Ahead of Hiring Law Changes

“As of January 1, 2026, employers with 25 or more employees must disclose in any publicly advertised job posting if AI is used to screen, assess, or select applicants.” – Jeffrey Adams, Spring Law.

 Hiring is no longer just about finding the right candidate. It now comes with growing legal expectations around transparency, candidate communication, and the use of technology in recruitment. Manual spreadsheets and ghosting are no longer just bad practices: they are a legal liability. Many Canadian and United States employers are discovering that their existing hiring process is not designed for this level of complexity.

That’s where applicant tracking systems (ATS) come in, playing an increasingly important role in helping employers adapt to these perpetually evolving rules and regulations. ATS can reduce risk, improve consistency, and make it easier to respond to legal changes as they emerge.

Key Takeaways

• • Recent changes in Ontario, New York City, and across North America show that regional hiring laws are converging around pay disclosure, fairness, and AI oversight.
  • Applicant tracking systems can help employers manage regional compliance by enabling configurable workflows, consistent documentation, and clearer hiring practices.
  • Treating transparency and compliance as ongoing priorities reduces legal risk while improving trust and clarity for candidates.

Examples of Recent Changes to Hiring Practices Across North America

Ontario, Canada: Transparency and AI Disclosure in Job Postings

• • Ontario’s Working for Workers Four Act marks one of the most comprehensive recent updates to hiring requirements in Canada. Effective January 1, 2026, employers advertising publicly posted jobs must disclose if artificial intelligence is used in the screening, assessment, or selection of candidates and salary or wage ranges. Ontario has also moved to prohibit unnecessary barriers in job ads, such as blanket requirements for Canadian work experience. These changes aim to improve fairness, reduce bias, and give candidates clearer insight into how hiring decisions are made.

New York City, United States: AI Bias Audit Requirements

• • In the United States, regulation around the use of artificial intelligence in hiring is also evolving. One of the most notable examples is New York City’s Local Law 144, which directly regulates the use of automated employment decision tools. Under this law, employers using automated tools to screen candidates must conduct annual bias audits and publicly disclose the use of these tools. While this regulation applies only to New York City, it has had broader implications. Many employers with national hiring operations are reassessing their use of AI screening tools to ensure consistency and reduce risk across jurisdictions.

North America: Pay Transparency Requirements Expanding

• • Beyond provincial or state lines, pay transparency is becoming a common feature of hiring regulation across multiple jurisdictions. Provinces such as British Columbia and Prince Edward Island have announced pay transparency legislation that requires employers to include compensation ranges in job postings. These laws are designed to address wage gaps, improve equity, and give candidates clearer expectations before entering the hiring process. Similar trends are occurring in the United States, where several states now mandate salary disclosures in job ads.

For employers hiring across regions, these changes create a growing compliance challenge. Job postings that are acceptable in one jurisdiction may fall short in another, especially when compensation details are omitted or inconsistently applied.

Five Strategies To Stay Ahead of Hiring Law Changes

1. Use an Applicant Tracking System That Supports Region Specific Compliance

Choose an applicant tracking system that allows you to configure hiring workflows by province or state, rather than relying on a single, generic process for all locations. As hiring laws become increasingly regional, employers need systems that can support location-specific requirements such as salary disclosures, AI transparency statements, and posting standards. Managing these differences manually increases the risk of non compliance. Here are some popular ATS to check out:

• • Greenhouse: A robust, enterprise-level ATS known for structured recruiting workflows, candidate tracking, and reporting. It’s widely used by mid-sized and large teams that need customizable pipelines and compliance support.
  • BambooHR: A popular choice for small and medium-sized organizations in both Canada and the U.S. that combines core HR functionality with ATS features like centralized tracking, automated job posting, and reporting.
  • Workable: Well-liked by small to mid-sized companies for its ease of use, intuitive job posting features, and candidate management tools. It also supports automated workflows that help keep hiring processes consistent and auditable.
  • Lever: Combines applicant tracking and CRM capabilities with strong analytics, which is helpful for employers managing compliance and candidate engagement at scale.
  • Zoho Recruit: A flexible ATS that works well across companies of all sizes, with automation tools and integration options that support streamlined hiring practices and multi-jurisdictional compliance needs

2. Treat Hiring Knowledge as a Shared Responsibility, Not An HR Afterthought

Ensure the people responsible for hiring decisions stay informed and involved as regulations evolve. Hiring compliance often breaks down when legal or policy knowledge stays siloed. Managers may post roles, screen candidates, or use tools without fully understanding new requirements around transparency or automation. Here are some resources to share with your team to ensure everyone stays aligned and informed:

• • Canadian HR Reporter for comprehensive, provincial employment law updates and HR guidance
  • SHRM’s Legal and Compliance Center for U.S. hiring laws and best practices

3. Limit The Time and Visibility of Public Job Postings

Post jobs only when there is a clear intent to hire, and close postings once a sufficient candidate pool has been reached. Keeping job postings open for a long period of time, unmoistened, increases the volume of personal data collected and raises expectations for candidate communication. It can also expose employers to scrutiny around transparency and fairness.

4. Create and endorse Hiring Processes That Assume Transparency

Operate under the assumption that candidates have the right to understand how hiring decisions are made. Recent laws signal a shift toward openness around pay, screening methods, and decision making. Employers who design hiring processes with transparency in mind are better positioned to adapt as regulations continue to evolve.

5. Review and Adjust Hiring Practices on a Regular Schedule

Treat hiring compliance as an ongoing process rather than a one time update. Hiring laws rarely change all at once. Instead, they evolve incrementally, often with limited notice, as new regulations, guidance, or interpretations are introduced. Waiting until issues arise can lead to rushed fixes, inconsistent practices, and increased legal risk. A more sustainable approach is to schedule periodic reviews of hiring workflows, job postings, and screening practices. This does not require a full legal audit each time. Even lightweight check-ins can help identify gaps early and ensure hiring practices still align with current expectations.

For example, teams can:

• • Review job posting templates to confirm salary ranges and disclosures are up to date
  • Revisit screening steps to ensure transparency around automation or AI tools
  • Check that candidate communication remains timely and consistent
  • Confirm regional requirements are reflected accurately across locations

Conclusion

Hiring laws are changing to reflect modern recruitment practices, from pay transparency to greater oversight of hiring technology. Employers do not need to anticipate every regulation, but they do need hiring processes that are structured, adaptable, and easy to review. By using the right systems and keeping compliance top of mind, teams can reduce risk, improve transparency, and stay prepared as hiring requirements continue to evolve.

While TimeWellScheduled is not a full applicant testing or assessment platform, it does support several early-stage screening, onboarding, and training workflows that naturally complement the hiring process. Through its onboarding, training, and file management tools, TimeWellScheduled helps employers ensure new hires are set up for success before and after their first shift. This includes:

• • Delivering training materials, policies, and role-specific documents digitally
  • Requiring acknowledgement or completion of onboarding items
  • Tracking training completion and readiness
  • Centralizing employee files and compliance-related documents

Rather than focusing on pre-hire testing alone, TimeWellScheduled is designed to support the full employee lifecycle, from scheduling and onboarding to time tracking, training, and workforce accountability. For businesses already using a dedicated applicant testing solution, TimeWellScheduled works best as the next step after the hire, ensuring employees are properly onboarded, trained, scheduled, and supported from day one.