In 2025, large enterprise firms face an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, requiring them to stay ahead of evolving employment laws, workplace policies, and technological advancements. These HR compliance challenges of 2025 can pose risks for large organizations ill-equipped to handle these demands.
The rise of remote and hybrid work paired with heightened data privacy concerns has made processes like mergers and acquisitions much more difficult for large enterprises to navigate. Unforeseen compliance errors can lead to costly penalties, reputational damage, and impacts to the bottom line. In this guide, we cover some of the top HR compliance issues large enterprises are facing today so you and your organization can maintain compliance and smooth operations.
Understanding the Compliance Landscape for Large Enterprises in 2025
Staying on top of HR compliance challenges in 2025 is paramount to ensuring employee satisfaction while mitigating financial and reputational damage. In today’s world, frequent technological advancements, new laws and regulations, and more make it difficult to know what to be aware of, especially for a large enterprise with a robust workforce. Large enterprises also encounter increasing government oversight, evolving labor laws, and regulatory requirements that span multiple jurisdictions, all of which require HR teams to ensure legal compliance while maintaining operational efficiency.
Our first look at the 2025 compliance landscape narrows in on the multi-jurisdictional employment laws. HR teams for large enterprises with a global or multi-state presence must seamlessly navigate tax codes, employee rights and regulations, wage and labor laws, leave policies, and termination procedures in which they operate. Worker classification is also vital, especially in the remote-first world we now find ourselves in. Gig workers and independent contracts must be accurately classified to avoid fines and legal action. On top of these demands, large organizations must comply with global data protection laws, such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA/CPRA in California.
So, how are enterprises like yours handling these vast HR compliance challenges in 2025? Technology. From third-party consulting to compliance management software, organizations are turning to carefully curated solutions designed to maintain compliance, streamline operations, and reduce bottlenecks to drive operational efficiency and employee satisfaction.
Top HR Compliance Challenges Facing Large Enterprises
We now understand the basics of some of the top HR compliance issues large enterprises are facing in 2025 and beyond. Let’s take a closer look at how these challenges look and what it means for large employers.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is becoming commonplace in everyday lives and business operations. For HR teams, it’s crucial to both adopt it and learn how to identify it. HR teams can reap the benefits of AI solutions throughout the employee lifecycle by adopting and integrating HR-driven hiring, performance management, and workplace monitoring systems into their workflows. However, it’s just as important to ensure these AI solutions comply with anti-discrimination laws and data privacy requirements to avoid claims and decreased employee satisfaction. HR teams should also be well-versed in spotting AI outputs, especially in the job hiring process, where applicants can use generative AI tools like ChatGPT to produce resumes, cover letters, and job applications.
- Data Privacy and Cybersecurity: Strong data privacy and cybersecurity are paramount to protecting your workforce and organization. However, with the rise of AI and a skills shortage that makes it difficult to put together an expert in-house IT team, protecting confidential data can be a problem. Focusing on upskilling staff, training teams on identifying phishing and other cybercrimes, and enlisting the help of security solutions can help protect sensitive information and prevent data breaches.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Governments and regulatory bodies across the world are introducing stricter DEI reporting requirements that allow large corporations to demonstrate their efforts to eliminate workplace discrimination, ensure equitable pay, and promote inclusive hiring practices. At the same time, changing laws in the U.S. may restrict DEI programs tied to race or gender, and more. Navigating this complex environment compliantly is crucial for employers with defined DEI goals.
These are some of the top HR compliance challenges of 2025 that large enterprises should address this upcoming year. With a grasp on the potential issues that lie ahead, you can take proactive measures to ensure you and your organization are one step ahead when it comes to compliance and employee satisfaction.
The Impact of Mergers & Acquisitions on HR Compliance
Another key challenge large enterprises can face in 2025 is mergers and acquisitions. What is a challenge for human resource management during mergers? Mergers and acquisitions can create significant compliance challenges for HR teams as enterprises integrate workforces, policies, and regulatory obligations. When completing a merger or acquisition, it’s essential to align employment laws, benefits structures, payroll systems, and company cultures while maintaining compliance with labor regulations across various jurisdictions. For a successful post-merger integration, leaders need to understand the HR nuances at play, such as:
- Employee classification and labor law compliance: When bringing two organizations together, there can be different employment structures that include full-time workers, part-time employees, and independent contractors. Misclassifying these workers can lead to wage disputes and regulatory penalties, highlighting the importance of carefully assessing employment contracts, worker protections, and collective bargaining agreements.
- HR compliance audit: It’s important for the acquiring company to conduct an HR and compliance audit on the target company’s HR policies and practices to identify previous compliance issues, lawsuits, or government investigations. With an audit, acquiring organizations can assess risk and ensure compliance for a seamless merger.
- Employee benefits and compensation alignment: To ensure employee satisfaction at both workplaces, aligning benefits and compensation packages is a must. Through mergers and acquisitions, it’s essential to ensure equal pay for similar roles to prevent pay disparities that can lead to discrimination lawsuits by complying with pay transparency laws.
- Data privacy: HR mergers and acquisitions can be complex, involving vast amounts of data transfer. Maintaining the privacy of employee data across both organizations is vital to maintaining compliance with data privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA and ensuring peace of mind for both teams.
- Culture alignment: While bringing together two organizations is an exciting endeavor for any business, it can lead to growing pains that need to be addressed. Differences in company culture, DEI initiatives, and workplace conduct standards can create compliance risks. Carefully align employee handbooks, training programs, and anti-discrimination policies to avoid conflicts and disputes.
Form I-9 Compliance During Mergers & Acquisitions
During the merger/acquisition process, parties should also be mindful of the target’s Form I-9 processes and how they align with the parent processes. There are two basic choices when it comes to I-9s with regard to mergers and acquisitions: 1) the employees may be treated as new hires, in which case the employer need to complete a new Form I-9 and E-Verify submission, or 2) the employer may treat the employees as though they are continuing in employment, in which case the employers need to obtain and maintain the previous I-9.
Any company engaging in option 2 needs to ensure they perform some kind of audit on the prior I-9s, as they will absorb any liability associated with non-compliance. The big drawback to option 1 is that many employers allow the close date of the transaction to pass them by before they even approach the I-9 issue, and all associated new I-9s would need to be completed using the close date of the transaction as the new hire date.
Mergers and acquisitions require careful thought and planning to ensure alignment and compliance. As a large enterprise, ongoing monitoring and audits are necessary for long-term compliance with HR policies and employment laws.
Strategies for Overcoming 2025 HR Compliance Challenges
HR compliance challenges of 2025 can seem overwhelming, leaving many organizations stuck on where to begin. Enterprises must adopt proactive strategies to navigate evolving labor laws, workplace policies, and technological advancements. To overcome HR compliance issues, adopt these strategies:
- Implement HR compliance technology: Leverage software to automate compliance reporting and monitor HR policies, as well as intuitive HRIS and payroll systems that ensure payroll accuracy, tax compliance, and benefits administration.
- Stay ahead of regulatory changes: Continually monitor legislative updates by assigning a dedicated compliance officer to partner with an HR service provider who can track labor law changes at the local, state, and federal levels.
- Bolster employee training programs: Educate employees on data privacy, discrimination laws, ethical AI use, and workplace policies to foster an inclusive work environment that promotes creativity and innovation.
- Standardize policies across all operations: As your enterprise grows, create universal policies that are adaptable to local labor laws but maintain corporate consistency, ensuring policies like remote work and leave policies align across jurisdictions.
Overcoming HR Compliance Challenges in 2025
Maintaining compliance at the HR level can prove to be a challenging task for many in-house departments. These HR compliance issues are expected to continue as new laws and technologies are introduced into our daily lives. To overcome these challenges, enterprises can adopt strategies to proactively manage HR compliance issues to mitigate legal risks and ensure inclusivity throughout the workplace. From fostering a culture of compliance and ethics to properly classifying employees, strengthening DEI compliance, and managing remote and hybrid workers, you can stay ahead of roadblocks that might come your way.
The Future of HR Compliance: What’s Next for Large Enterprises?
As the workforce evolves and regulatory landscapes become more complex, large enterprises must keep up with significant challenges, like stricter labor laws, increased data privacy regulations, the implementation of AI in various processes, including HR, and a growing emphasis on employee well-being and diversity. The future of HR compliance for large enterprises encourages the adoption of HR technology tools to ensure legal adherence while fostering a positive workplace environment. With a streamlined HR department, you can improve the employee experience by maintaining satisfaction and boosting retention rates.
Proactively Managing HR Compliance in 2025 and Beyond
A proactive approach to compliance allows organizations of any size, including large enterprises spanning multiple jurisdictions, to mitigate legal risks and protect employees. As we look ahead to 2025 and the following years, businesses can partner with HR compliance providers who can monitor, interpret, and implement new laws effectively.
Automating compliance monitoring and digitizing recordkeeping with cloud-based storage for employee records and payroll data can ensure meeting the requirements of data retention laws. Additionally, conducting regular compliance audits that review HR policies, benefits administration, employee classification, and payroll accuracy can help rectify inconsistencies before they grow into larger legal concerns.
Work With the Right HR Partner
Ready to tackle HR compliance challenges in 2025? Turn to a trusted HR partner that offers the solutions your team needs to automate workflows and ensure compliance. Experian Employer Services is your trusted workforce management solution, offering a suite of services, from I-9 administration and ACA reporting to compliance forms, unemployment management, and more. Book a demo today to see what makes us the right HR partner for now and the future.