Here are five takeaways from the post:
1. Unionization. While unionization among healthcare workers and professionals is not a new phenomena, 2024 and the beginning of 2025 have seen notable spikes in unionization efforts among resident physicians and fellows. Some experts tie the increase in labor organizing among medical professionals to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Physician unionization has massively increased since 2020, especially among interns and residents,” Rebecca Givan, PhD, associate professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., told Becker’s. “This reflects the specific strains put on healthcare workers during the pandemic and the widespread interest in unionization among young professional workers across numerous industries.”
While fewer than 10% of physicians in the U.S. are unionized, the number of official union drives among private-sector physicians each year went from between zero and six between 2000 and 2022 to 21 drives in 2023 and 12 in the first five months of 2024, according to a recent JAMA study.
Ogletree also highlighted several union-friendly rulings issued by the National Labor Relations Board in the last two years that have made it more difficult for employers to challenge majority union representation status and express concerns about the impact of unionization on the workplace.
2. Restrictions on noncompete agreements. The existence and application of noncompete agreements in healthcare has been in flux since April 2024, when the Federal Trade Commission sought to ban nearly all noncompete agreements in employment contracts. After the ban was struck down by U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in August 2020, the FTC has made attempts to appeal the decision, now likely to prove unsuccessful under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Pennsylvania recently passed legislation that set limits to noncompete agreements in physician contracts for the first time. The law, dubbed the Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act, still allows health systems and other employers to limit physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists from taking from competitors for up to a year.
3. Workplace safety concerns. Ogletree writes that workplace violence is a growing concern in healthcare. According to the post, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been preparing to propose a standard on workplace violence prevention in healthcare settings.
In 2024, one of the biggest obstacles was and is the unchecked violence increasingly observed in hospitals, clinics, emergency departments and other workplaces nationwide. “Healthcare is now noted as America’s most dangerous profession due to workplace violence,” Harry Severance, MD, adjunct assistant professor at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University School of Medicine, told Becker’s.
In 2018, healthcare workers comprised 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries due to violence, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And, according to a 2024 poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians, 91% of emergency physicians reported that either they or a colleague were the victim of violence in the last year.
4. Pay transparency compliance. According to Ogletree, at least 12 states and the District of Columbia have enacted pay transparency laws, “requiring employers to disclose in postings for new jobs and internal promotions details such as pay ranges, benefits, bonus structures, and other compensation information.”
Illinois and Minnesota enacted new pay transparency laws on Jan. 1, and similar laws in New Jersey, Vermont and Massachusetts are set to take effect later this year.
5. New immigration rules and enforcement. “Immigration is a critical issue for the healthcare industry, which relies heavily on international talent to fill various roles, from physicians and nurses to researchers and support staff,” read the blog post.
On Jan. 17, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revamped the process for H-1B visas. Additionally, in his first days in office, President Trump signed several executive orders seeking to tighten restrictions on U.S. immigration policies.