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…
The fight between the Lake County Circuit Clerk’s Office and the county headed before the Illinois Labor Board over allegations the Clerk’s Office committed various violations, including retaliation against an employee and bargaining in bad faith. The Illinois chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is headquartered in Springfield and represents over 58,000 public employees throughout the…
Enacted in 2003, the Illinois Equal Pay Act makes it illegal for any employer, public or private, to pay men and women unequal wages based purely on difference in gender. Male and female employees with equal job skills, responsibilities, and effort under similar working conditions must be paid comparable wages. While the original iteration of the law provided moderate penalties…
In a year filled with more robust protections and benefits to workers, Illinois has passed a new law, the Employee Sick Leave Act, which now allows employees more flexibility to use their accrued sick time. Starting January 01, 2017, any employer that provides paid sick time to their staff must allow employees to use the time to take care of sick family members.…
The state of Illinois has recently signed new legislation giving more rights to lower wage Illinois workers when they leave their jobs to seek employment elsewhere. On January 01, 2017, the Illinois Freedom to Work Act will go into effect, making non-compete clauses for low income workers illegal in the private sector. The language of the law explicitly states employers may not enter into a…
As part of a summer that has seen a dramatic expansion of workers’ rights throughout the state, Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed the Child Bereavement Act, which immediately expands the types of leave individuals can take under federal labor laws. Effective immediately, most workers in Illinois may take up to 10 non-paid days off from work to mourn the loss of…
Illinois will soon become the seventh state in the U.S. to adopt laws extending special protections to domestic workers like nannies, housekeepers, and home care givers. Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed the Illinois Domestic Workers Bill of Rights which will take effect on January 1st, 2017 and amend four different state labor laws directed at domestic workers. The bill’s passage is a…