Employers hiring for positions that will be performed in Illinois or report to a supervisor or office/worksite in Illinois will soon need to comply with pay transparency requirements recently signed into law by Gov. J.B....more
Federal agencies responsible for employment-related matters have been busy in recent weeks issuing guidance, updated workplace posters, and more. Let’s get caught up...more
6/8/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biometric Information ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
New Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Section 7 ,
Title VII
In an expansion of its protections for workers based on their gender identity, and in an effort to protect people’s reproductive and gender-affirming choices and privacy, Chicago recently amended the Chicago Human Rights...more
Last June, we provided information about the new Chicago sexual harassment training requirements pursuant to the amended Chicago Human Rights Ordinance (Chicago Municipal Code 6-10). At the time, the City indicated that the...more
Illinois and other jurisdictions have adopted, or are considering, laws establishing parameters for employer use of AI during the hiring process.
The current attention being given to ChatGPT and other technologies using...more
4/19/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Bias ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Machine Learning ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Hearing ,
Screening Procedures
Shortly after beginning his second term, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (“PLAW”), adding Illinois to a still small but growing list of states which require employers to offer paid leave to...more
The Chicago City Council recently amended the Chicago Municipal Code with respect to sexual harassment in the workplace. Failure to comply with these amendments, which take effect on July 1, 2022, could result in daily...more
In the wake of the COVID pandemic and challenging social justice issues, many employers have pledged increasing support and wellness programs for employees dealing with mental health issues. One way employers can make good on...more
A common error in both FMLA policies and communications to employees seeking Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) leave involves misuse of the word “eligibility” (or “eligible”) when in fact the intention is to refer to...more
Development: On Friday, December 17, 2021, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay that had been placed on the OSHA “Emergency Temporary Standard” (ETS) for larger private employers regarding...more
12/21/2021
/ Appeals ,
Compliance Dates ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Order to Lift Stay ,
OSHA ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Time Extensions ,
Vaccinations
As employers eye the December 6, 2021 date for the first stage of compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s “Emergency Temporary Standard” regarding COVID vaccination - including establishing a COVID...more
Eligible employees of employers covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) are entitled to take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave during the applicable 12-month period for family and medical reasons, and up to 26 weeks...more
Employees who are eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) may use their FMLA entitlement for a number of qualifying reasons. One such reason is to provide physical and/or psychological care for a...more
In addition to obtaining an initial medical certification when an employee first requests leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), employers are permitted to seek a “recertification” and even a “new”...more
Many employers are familiar with the employee notice obligations and other deadlines relating to FMLA leave, such as the obligation to give 30 days’ notice of a foreseeable need for leave, and to submit a completed medical...more
A common error in both FMLA policies and communications to employees seeking FMLA leave involves misuse of the word “eligibility” (or “eligible”) when in fact the intention is to refer to “entitlement” or vice versa. Using...more
The City of Chicago has amended its Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (the “Ordinance”), providing news reasons for taking paid sick leave under the Ordinance, and adding a new remedy for Chicago employees alleging...more
As employers make plans to modify pandemic-related work-from-home arrangements and require employees to come into the workplace, many have wrestled with “the vaccination status question.” Should employers ask employees...more
6/15/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed into law an amendment to the Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act (ESLA), permitting employees to take leave for a covered family member’s “personal care.”
...more
Pursuant to the Chicago Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance that took effect on April 21, 2021, Chicago workers – including both employees and independent contractors – now have certain protections designed to safeguard access...more
Under amendments to the Illinois Business Corporation Act and the Illinois Equal Pay Act, certain corporations will be required, beginning in 2023 and continuing thereafter, to report data concerning the gender, race, and...more
4/12/2021
/ Corporations Code ,
Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Ethnicity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Data ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Labor Laws
Restrictions on inquiring into, or using, criminal history information are not new to Illinois employers. For years, Illinois employers been precluded from using an applicant’s arrest history when making hiring or other...more
The American Rescue Plan (“ARP”), signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, does not place any new paid leave requirements on private employers who were previously covered by the Families First Coronavirus...more
With an express purpose of encouraging employees (and their family members) to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the Illinois Department of Labor (“IDOL”) recently issued guidance for employers regarding compensation and paid leave...more
COVID-19 has led to significant employee absences from the workplace. While the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may well apply to certain such absences, employers must avoid the temptation to count all...more