The Malaysia labour market test just widened, and it caught the exact salary band most startups use to hire senior engineers in Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, Ireland’s grace period for expired residence cards runs out in three weeks. In the US, the EEOC holds a public hearing today on scrapping EEO-1 reporting. Separately, a court order has already knocked work authorisation out from under some TPS employees. Four countries, four different clocks. Here is what each one costs you if you miss it.

Malaysia Labour Market Test Now Catches Mid-Salary Expat Roles

What changed on August 7

Malaysia raised the salary threshold for exemption from Labour Market Testing. It moved from MYR 15,000 to MYR 20,000 a month, reported effective August 7, 2026 (source: VisasUpdate). The threshold applies to base salary only. So allowances, bonuses and housing do not count toward it.

Immigration counsel saw it coming. Specifically, in late July, SOCSO/PERKESO briefed advisers that the increase was on the way. A formal FAQ was still pending at that point (source: Tafapolsky & Smith). Treat the MOHA and ESD published FAQ as the definitive reference before you file anything.

Why the Malaysia labour market test hits mid-market hiring hardest

Anyone you planned to pay between MYR 15,000 and MYR 19,999 now sits inside the test. In practice that means advertising the role on MyFutureJobs. You also interview local candidates first, before the Employment Pass application goes in. For a 40-person company hiring a regional product lead in Kuala Lumpur, that adds weeks. And the start date was probably already promised.

The change follows the revised Employment Pass salary framework. That framework took effect June 1, 2026, after a January 14 announcement by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Category I now starts at MYR 20,000. Category II covers MYR 10,000 to MYR 19,999, and Category III covers MYR 5,000 to MYR 9,999 (source: KPMG). So the exemption line and the Category I floor now sit at the same number. That is the logic here. It also tells you the direction of travel, because Malaysia wants expatriate hiring concentrated at the top of the pay scale.

What to do before your next Employment Pass filing

First, pull every open Malaysian requisition priced under MYR 20,000. Then decide whether to raise the offer or budget for the test. Second, check whether another exemption still covers you. Intra-company transfers, C-suite and key posts, and EP renewals stay outside it. So do investors and shareholders, regional office roles, and sports-sector positions. Third, if you employ in Malaysia without a local entity, confirm your provider has updated its filing playbook. Our guide to hiring in Malaysia covers the pass categories and documentation in more detail.

Meanwhile, there is one piece of relief in the other direction. The succession plan requirement under the same policy will not apply until January 1, 2027. That transition window is there so employers can build knowledge-transfer plans for local staff (source: MIDA).

Ireland: The IRP Concession Expires August 31

Immigration Service Delivery’s interim Notice to Employers covers workers whose Irish Residence Permit card has expired. They can keep working on existing conditions until August 31, 2026. The renewal must have been filed before the card expired. That holds no matter how many weeks have passed since expiry (source: Migrant Rights Centre Ireland). From September 1, the standard twelve-week notice period resumes and expired cards stop working for travel and re-entry.

So there are two practical consequences here. If an Irish employee is past the twelve-week mark on a renewal, their cover disappears on September 1. Unless the new card arrives first. And if anyone on your Irish payroll is travelling in September on an expired card, they may not get back in. Check Irish employment law requirements before you act. Dismissing someone over an expired card during a valid grace period exposes you to an unfair dismissal claim.

United States: The EEOC Wants EEO-1 Reporting Gone

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted to propose rescinding the EEO-1 report. The EEO-2 through EEO-6 filings and their recordkeeping rules would go too. The proposal was published in the Federal Register on July 23, 2026 (source: Federal Register). The agency estimates 110,000 private employers would be affected. A public hearing runs today, August 11, and comments stay open through August 24 (source: Fisher Phillips).

Still, this is a proposal, not a repeal. Nothing has changed yet, and the EEOC has still not opened the portal for the 2025 reporting cycle. More importantly for anyone with a distributed US workforce, state obligations are untouched. Colorado has already enacted a law requiring state-level EEO-1 style reporting. So do not delete the underlying demographic data, because you may still need it.

United States: A Court Let TPS Work Permits Lapse

On August 5, 2026, a federal court in Massachusetts let new limits on Temporary Protected Status work permits take effect. The provisions cap the duration of TPS employment authorisation documents (source: Fragomen). Work authorisation for TPS beneficiaries from El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan was already set to lapse on July 22, 2026.

But here is the trap. Affected employees cannot use the usual workaround. An expired card plus a receipt notice no longer supports work past that date. Instead, they need a card that is date-valid on its face, or they need reverification now. Run a query against your I-9 records for those three countries today, before an audit does it for you. If the categories blur together for your team, our explainer on work authorisation sets out what each document actually permits.

Quick Hits

• European Union: ETIAS has lost its late-2026 launch window. It is now expected in 2027 at the earliest, after the troubled Entry/Exit System rollout (source: Tafapolsky & Smith).
• Malaysia: the succession plan declaration for ESD and MDEC registered companies is deferred to January 1, 2027 (source: MIDA).

Action Items This Week

If you hire in Malaysia: audit every open role priced under MYR 20,000 base. The Malaysia labour market test now applies to them unless a separate exemption fits. Decide this week whether to lift the offer above the threshold. Otherwise, build the MyFutureJobs advertising window into your start-date planning.

If you employ in Ireland: list everyone with a pending IRP renewal before August 31. Warn anyone planning September travel that an expired card will not get them back in. Do not terminate on the basis of an expired card while a valid renewal is pending.

If you employ TPS holders in the US: first, reverify El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan TPS employees immediately. A receipt notice paired with an expired card no longer supports continued employment.

If you file EEO-1 reports: keep collecting the data. The comment window closes August 24, and state-level reporting obligations survive whatever the EEOC does federally.

Rules like these move faster than most internal compliance calendars do. Maybe you track pass categories, permit expiries and reverification dates in a spreadsheet. Asanify’s employer of record service handles the filings and the local employment contracts instead. A threshold change in one country then stops quietly breaking a start date in another.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Malaysia labour market test and who has to do it?

It requires an employer to advertise a role on the MyFutureJobs portal. Local candidates must be considered before an Employment Pass application goes in for a foreign hire. From August 7, 2026, roles paying below MYR 20,000 a month fall inside it. The old line was MYR 15,000. Intra-company transfers, senior management posts, EP renewals and several other categories stay exempt.

Can an employee in Ireland keep working while their IRP renewal is pending?

Yes, but only if the renewal was filed before the existing permission expired. Under the current interim notice they can work on the same conditions until August 31, 2026. From September 1, the standard twelve-week notice-to-employers window applies instead.

Do we still need to file an EEO-1 report for 2025?

As of August 11, 2026, the requirement is still on the books. The EEOC has proposed rescinding it, but the rule is not final and the reporting portal has not opened. So keep the demographic data, because several US states impose their own reporting rules regardless.

What should employers do about TPS work authorisation for El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan?

First, identify affected employees and reverify their Form I-9 documentation now. A card showing an expiry date after July 22, 2026 on its face is acceptable. An expired card combined with a renewal receipt notice is not.

Does an EOR remove the need to run a labour market test?

No. An employer of record files under the same local rules. So a test tied to the salary band still applies. What an EOR removes is the entity requirement and the local contract drafting. It also removes the risk of misfiling in a country you have never hired in.

Not to be considered as tax, legal, financial or HR advice. Regulations change over time so please consult a lawyer, accountant  or Labour Law  expert for specific guidance.