New legislation recently took effect allowing certain ex-offenders to work in state institutions like schools and park districts a certain amount of years after their conviction and jail terms. Like many other laws taking effect this year, the law is a significant and progressive move designed at strengthening the power workers have to help provide for themselves and their families during difficult…
In 2017, more than 200 new laws are set to take effect in Illinois, many of them aimed at improving the quality of life for workers across the state and aid in their upward mobility in a rapidly changing economy. However, one law slated to take effect early this year has been pushed back to 2018 to allow businesses to prepare and…
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. settled an employment discrimination case with a former store clerk for $75,000 over allegations the company failed to accommodate a protected class. The plaintiff, a worker in the Hodgkins, Illinois store, battled cancer and needed simple, modest accommodations to allow her to perform her job but the defendant subsequently rescinded…
Six former temp workers for the Chicago office of a nationwide staffing agency recently filed an employment discrimination lawsuit alleging the defendant routinely passed over African American workers in favor of Hispanic workers. The suit, filed in a Chicago federal District Court, alleges many of the same labor law violations as another recent suit against another large staffing agency in Illinois. In…
In what is already shaping up to be a big year for Illinois workers rights, 2017 will bring expanded workplace privacy protections to keep employers from accessing sensitive information about their workers. On January 1, 2017, the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (IRPWA) goes into effect to affirm these new protections and make personal online accounts off limits from companies.…
If you are a contractor or subcontractor in the state of Illinois, you should be aware of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, which pertains to wages for construction workers, laborers, and mechanics on public works. Understanding the Act is important, as even unintentional violations of the law could have severe impacts on the economic health of a business and even prevent it from…
In Illinois, the law provides numerous protections to workers their employers must abide by or face serious fines, penalties, or injunctions. These laws cover many aspects of employment, including minimum wage, equal pay, child labor, rest and meal breaks, and leave for victims of domestic and sexual violence. Minimum wage and overtime The minimum wage in the state of Illinois is $8.25 per hour.…
In August 2016, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed Illinois Senate Bill 2982, a piece of legislation that would exclude business owners from using their own employees to perform roofing work on their own business. Now, the Illinois General Assembly is poised to override the governor’s veto and prohibit such business activities, perhaps to the detriment of businesses trying to grow and create jobs…
Cook County recently passed the Earned Sick Leave Ordinance, giving sweeping paid leave benefits to almost all employees in the county by allowing them to take time off to care for themselves and family members. The Ordinance takes effect July 2017 and is one of many new state and local employment laws passed this year in Illinois. Under the new law, employees…
Thanks to the Chicago City Council’s passage of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago Minimum Wage Ordinance in December 2014, workers throughout the city have seen steady and meaningful increases in their hourly wages. The first increase took place in July 2015 and will continue until the city’s minimum wage increases to $13 per hour in July 2019, putting Chicago as one of the…