With the recent hate rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, still on everyone’s minds, employers are wondering about how this affects them and their businesses as a whole. Businesses tend to hire workers who have the same values as the company. So what happens when a business is associated with having racist white supremacist as an employee? Many Americans are trying their…
With many employers looking for fresh young talent, age discrimination is on the rise. Age discrimination occurs when an employee faces unfavorable treatment based on age. Those age 40 and older are protected by law. Age discrimination laws affect all aspects of employment, including hiring, layoffs, firing, training, pay, benefits and promotions. If you feel your employer is discriminating against you because of…
In an ideal world, employees would be hired and remain employed with companies based on their performance. Unfortunately, many people are fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation—including being transgender. There is no specific federal law banning employers from discriminating against transgender employees. However, many courts interpret transgender discrimination as a form of sex discrimination under Title VII of…
Terminating an employee creates a risk that the employee may file wrongful termination lawsuits if their employment with a company unexpectedly and unwillingly comes to an end. Even though Illinois is considered an “at-will” employment state, this does not mean that Illinois employers can terminate their employees for any reason at all. Specifically, terminating an employee because of the employee’s disability, sex,…
Being unexpectedly terminated from your employment can be a disrupting experience – especially when it comes with little or no warning. It can also be particularly troubling if you believe that you were terminated on account of your race, ethnicity, religion, or any other protected classification or characteristic. While Illinois is an at-will employment state and either you or your employer may…
Biometric information is becoming more prevalent in our society, from fingerprints that unlock cellphones to facial recognition programs that identify individuals in pictures based upon their facial features. Some Illinois employers are even utilizing technology such as time clocks that utilize and store biometric data such as fingerprints from employees. While some business owners may feel this technological advance prevents employees from…
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1890, representing approximately 700 employees of Northern Illinois University (NIU), has filed a complaint against the university after the union and the university have failed to reach an agreement after nearly one and one-half years of negotiations. The complaint was filed with the Illinois Labor Relations Board after the university threatened to declare an…
Employees have a legal right to fight for better working conditions. Indeed, that was the primary reason that unions were initially formed. Of course, you do not need to be a member of a union to have a right to make efforts to improve the conditions at your workplace. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 gives all employees the rights to…
Illinois may be an at-will employment state, but employees of local and state government agencies enjoy greater protections against termination than do private sector employees. Specifically, where public employees have a reasonable property interest in their jobs and a reasonable expectation that their job would continue, the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the government employer from arbitrarily dismissing the employee from service without affording…
While most employees may enjoy long careers with an employer, it is important to recognize that this is not always the case for those working in an “at-will” employment state. This is because in an “at-will” state the employer may terminate an employee at any time and for (almost) any reason. This holds true for employees as well: employees in…