What Is NELP's 2026 Policy and Advocacy Agenda?

Updated

NELP's 2026 Policy and Advocacy Agenda is the National Employment Law Project's statement of what it will push for that year: a "good-jobs economy" in which, in NELP's words, all workers can have financial stability, exercise their rights, and shape the future of their communities. It is an advocacy and policy document, not a law, a benefit program, or a service you apply for. It is most useful if you want to understand NELP's priorities, align your own advocacy or research with them, or find entry points to get involved.

What the agenda says it is trying to achieve

NELP frames the agenda as an "affirmative vision" rather than a list of complaints. Three outcomes run through it:

  • Financial stability — jobs that pay a living wage and include robust benefits. NELP's site notes the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, about $15,000 a year, which it says is not enough to support a family.
  • Exercise of rights — workers being able to use protections they already have. NELP points out that 1 in 5 workers have no paid sick time, and many who do are disciplined for using it.
  • Shaping the future of their communities — worker voice in decisions that affect them, including through organizing and enforcement partnerships.

The agenda also states who the vision is meant to include: women, Black people, immigrants, and workers with records, along with their families.

The issue areas the agenda covers

NELP organizes its work under a set of issue areas that the 2026 agenda draws on. The site lists them as:

Issue area What it addresses
Worker Power Organizing, collective action, and worker voice
Corporate Accountability Employer conduct and responsibility
Anti-Discrimination Fair treatment and addressing structural racism in work
Health & Safety Safe working conditions
Enforcing Labor Laws Making existing protections real in practice
Climate Justice Worker interests in the transition to a cleaner economy
Contracted Workers Protections for subcontracted, staffing, and gig-style work
Workers with Records Employment access for people with criminal records
Unemployment Insurance The unemployment benefit system
Minimum & Living Wage Wage floors and living-wage standards

The agenda's inclusion language maps onto several of these areas directly — anti-discrimination, workers with records, and contracted workers are where the groups it names show up most concretely.

How the agenda connects to NELP's track record

NELP presents the agenda as a continuation of work it has done for more than 55 years. Two claims on its site give a sense of scale:

  • $150 billion in raises secured for 26 million workers since the Fight for $15 launched in 2012.
  • Victories over the last decade that improved the lives of an estimated 100 million workers and their families.

These are NELP's own figures describing its advocacy impact, not independent measurements. Treat them as the organization's self-description of what its agenda has produced so far.

Who the agenda is for, and how to use it

The 2026 agenda is written for people who want to act on worker policy, not for workers seeking individual help. Practical uses:

  • Advocates and organizers can use the issue areas to frame campaigns and check alignment with a national organization's priorities.
  • Researchers and journalists can use the agenda as a map of NELP's stated positions and the statistics it cites (the $7.25 minimum wage, the 1-in-5 paid sick time figure, the 87% occupational segregation figure).
  • People who want to get involved can start from the site's "Join the fight for a good-jobs economy" path and its research and toolkit section, which includes items such as a guide on writing and submitting federal comments and a fact sheet on the Empowering App-Based Workers Act.

If your question is "what does NELP want in 2026," the agenda answers it at the level of vision and issue areas. If your question is "what does NELP offer me as a worker with a problem," the agenda is the wrong document — it describes policy goals, not case assistance.