New hiring laws in Wyoming for 2027: English proficiency for truck drivers, portable benefits for contractors, pharmacist protection and federal I-9 dates

As of November 2026, Wyoming made only a few changes to hiring law in 2026; its Legislature met in a short budget session. Since March 5, 2026, HB 32 (chapter 36) has barred anyone who cannot demonstrate English proficiency under federal trucking rules from operating a commercial vehicle in Wyoming. From July 1, 2026, SF 41 (chapter 63) lets businesses, including app-based platforms, fund portable benefit accounts for independent contractors without the money counting toward employee status, and SF 121 (chapter 103) rewrites the pharmacy practice section, which as amended bars employers from discriminating against a pharmacist who declines a collaborative practice agreement. The largest recent change is still the 2025 non-compete statute.

Wyoming passed no pay transparency, salary history, ban-the-box, AI hiring or E-Verify law in 2026. Each item below links to the enrolled act on the Legislature's site. The standing checklist (the joint Department of Workforce Services registration for unemployment insurance and workers' compensation, posters, new-hire reporting) is in our Wyoming hiring hub; this page is the dated list of what is new.

Which Wyoming hiring laws changed in 2026, and what changes in 2027?

Wyoming acts and the federal rules that apply to Wyoming employers, sorted by date.

What does Wyoming's English proficiency law mean for hiring truck drivers?

HB 32 creates W.S. 31-18-608 and took effect on becoming law, March 5, 2026. It defines "proficiency in the English language" by reference to the federal driver qualification rule, 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2), which requires a driver who "can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records." Under the new section:

• "No operator of a commercial vehicle shall operate a commercial vehicle within this state if the operator is unable to demonstrate proficiency in the English language";
• a violation brings a $1,000 fine and a ban on operating a commercial vehicle in Wyoming until the driver can demonstrate proficiency;
• driving while under that ban is a misdemeanor, with an additional $1,000 fine, up to 90 days in jail, or both; and
• the Highway Patrol, other officers the transportation department designates and county and city peace officers enforce it and may issue citations.

The federal rule already applied to interstate carriers; the state law adds its own penalties and roadside enforcement for every commercial vehicle in Wyoming. For carriers and agencies that place drivers, the practical step is to test English as part of the road test and driver qualification file, using the four abilities in the federal rule, and to apply the same test to every candidate. Asking where a driver is from, or screening out accents, is not the test and risks a national origin claim.

Can Wyoming businesses fund benefits for independent contractors?

Yes, through a portable benefit account. SF 41 creates W.S. 27-1-117, effective July 1, 2026. The account is opened by the independent contractor, administered by a bank, credit union, investment firm, technology provider working through one of them, or another provider the state banking commissioner accepts, and used to buy benefits such as "health benefits, income replacement insurance, vision and dental insurance, life insurance or retirement benefits." The rules that matter to a hiring party:

• "Any person, including but not limited to an independent contractor, internet-based company and application-based company, may voluntarily contribute funds";
• a contribution "shall not be used as a criterion or factor for determining a person's employment classification," including under W.S. 27-3-104 (unemployment insurance) and the workers' compensation definition of independent contractor in W.S. 27-14-102(a)(xxiii);
• contributions may come from the hiring party's funds or from a percentage withheld from the contractor's pay, but only with a clear written agreement, an opt-in, and the contractor's right to opt out at any time; and
• a hiring party may opt out "with at least sixty (60) days of notice to the independent contractor."

The Department of Workforce Services writes the implementing rules. The law protects the contribution, not the relationship: a worker who is controlled like an employee is still an employee under the existing tests, and federal tax and wage law apply their own.

What changed for pharmacy employers?

SF 121 rewrites W.S. 33-24-124, the definition of the practice of pharmacy, from July 1, 2026. As amended, the practice includes assessing patients for the purpose of prescribing and providing pharmacist care services under Board of Pharmacy rules, and the section says "nothing in this section shall be deemed to require any pharmacist to provide collaborative pharmaceutical care" and "no employer shall discriminate against a pharmacist on the basis that the pharmacist declines to participate in a collaborative pharmacy practice agreement." Pharmacy job descriptions and offers can describe collaborative practice as an opportunity, but should not make it a condition of hiring.

Which 2025 Wyoming laws still shape hiring in 2026?

The 2025 general session's employment change was the non-compete statute. SF 107 of 2025, now W.S. 1-23-108, says "any covenant not to compete that restricts the right of any person to receive compensation for performance of skilled or unskilled labor shall be void," for contracts entered into on and after July 1, 2025. The exceptions are the sale of a business, trade secrets, recovery of a sliding share of relocation, education and training costs during the first four years, and executive and management personnel and their professional staff; physician non-competes are void outright. Ask candidates when they signed; the full test is in Wyoming non-compete law.

Which federal hiring changes apply in Wyoming?

• Form I-9. The USCIS Form I-9 page lists the 01/20/25 edition as current and the 08/01/23 edition as valid until its 05/31/2027 expiration; the printing that expired 07/31/2026 is no longer valid.
• Work permits. The DHS final rule effective October 14, 2026 ends automatic EAD extensions in the affected categories; see I-9 and the EAD automatic extension.
• E-Verify. Wyoming does not require it, but employers that use it should know that since August 11, 2026 the Status Change Report lists invalidated EADs in five categories, and that E-Verify says to reverify on Supplement B rather than open a new case. Records last updated on or before December 31, 2016 are disposed of on January 11, 2027.
• Federal contractors and criminal history. The OFCCP's Executive Order 11246 rules ended October 26, 2026, and the EEOC rescinded its 2012 criminal records guidance on October 28, 2026. Title VII still applies, and a job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) remains a sound way to decide.

What did not change in Wyoming?

• No pay range or salary history law; see Wyoming pay transparency and Wyoming salary history.
• Criminal history. No ban-the-box rule and a closed state repository; see Wyoming ban-the-box and Wyoming background check laws.
• E-Verify is still not required by any Wyoming law; see E-Verify requirements in Wyoming.
• Drug testing is still unregulated for private employers; see Wyoming drug testing laws.
• Recording interviews still needs one party's consent; see Wyoming recording consent for interviews.

What should Wyoming employers do before January 1, 2027?

1. Add an English proficiency check to every commercial driver's road test and qualification file, based on the four abilities in 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2), and apply it the same way to everyone.
2. Paper any portable benefit program with written, opt-in agreements for contractors, and keep your classification analysis separate from it.
3. Remove collaborative practice requirements from pharmacist job postings and offers.
4. Check Form I-9 versions and work permit dates, and download any E-Verify cases from 2016 or earlier by January 8, 2027.
5. Update criminal history procedures so they no longer cite the 2012 EEOC guidance and record a job-related reason for each decision.

What does this mean for staffing agencies in Wyoming?

Wyoming still licenses employment agencies under W.S. 27-8-101, as our Wyoming staffing agency guide explains; nothing in 2026 changed that. Agencies that supply drivers should confirm English proficiency before an assignment, because a driver placed out of service mid-route is the client's problem and the agency's. Marketplaces and agencies that engage independent contractors, rather than employing them, may now fund portable benefit accounts, but the contractors must still be independent under the unemployment and workers' compensation tests. Employer of record rules are in employer of record in Wyoming, and other states' 2027 changes are in new hiring laws for 2027.