On February 2, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a long awaited ruling on Jorome Tims et al. v. Black Horse Carriers, Inc., No. 127801, a class action lawsuit alleging violation of the Illinois Biometric Information...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, does not require employers to offer paid sick and family leave related to COVID-19. But ARPA continues to allow certain private...more
On December 27, 2020, the President signed a bill passed by Congress providing additional COVID-19 related relief and stimulus. The key provisions impacting employers and current and former employees are summarized below,...more
1/4/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans ,
Emergency Sick Leave Laws ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
IRS ,
Paid Leave ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
Time Extensions ,
Unemployment Benefits
On Friday, April 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued corrections to its temporary regulations interpreting the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Importantly, the DOL clarified the...more
This article was originally published on March 18, 2020 and has been updated in light of FFCRA developments as of March 26, 2020, March 27, 2020 and March 30, 2020. The updates to the original article are summarized...more
This article was originally published on March 18, 2020 and has been updated in light of FFCRA developments as of March 26, 2020, March 27, 2020 and March 29, 2020. The updates to the original article are summarized...more
On March 18, 2020, the President signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) into law, after its passage in the U.S. Senate. The bill was first passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 13, 2020...more
Near midnight last Friday, the U.S. House of Representative passed HB 6201, known as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Proposed FFCRA”), which we previously summarized. Yesterday, on March 16, 2020, the House...more
3/18/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Exemptions ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
First Responders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Paid Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
Small Business ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour
The House of Representatives on Friday, March 13, 2020, passed a bill, H.R. 6201, known as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). If enacted into law as currently written, it will apply to employers with...more
3/16/2020
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Paid Leave ,
Pending Legislation ,
Public Health ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
State of Emergency ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour
On Friday, August 9, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed SB 75, as part of a massive overhaul of employment laws that were passed by the Legislature earlier this year, and which we summarized previously. While requirements...more
8/19/2019
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Arbitration ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Rights Act ,
New Legislation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Severance Agreements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Transparency
In Janus v. AFSCME, Counsel 31, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for a State or labor union to require public-sector employees who are not union members to pay fees to the union....more
As reported here previously, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed amending the regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to increase the minimum salary for employees to qualify for the executive,...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s regulations generally provide that employers are not required to pay employees for “bona fide” meal breaks that ordinarily last at least 30 minutes, but rest periods of short durations, running...more
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule defining “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) so that an eligible employee in a same-sex marriage is able to take FMLA leave to care...more
On July 15, 2015, the USDOL issued guidance for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the FLSA. The main takeaway from the guidance is that when analyzing the applicable independent...more
The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the EEOC’s lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., alleging that Abercrombie violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by refusing to hire a Muslim applicant, who wore a...more
7/7/2015
/ Abercrombie & Fitch ,
Appearance Policy ,
Dress Codes ,
EEOC v Abercrombie ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interviews ,
Job Applicants ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII
McCleary v. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, an Illinois Appellate Court held that a former employee stated a claim for an unpaid bonus under a written bonus plan that expressly stated that bonuses were made at the sole...more
In Battle’s Transportation, Inc. and Jerome Kearney, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that an employer’s confidentiality agreement that barred employees from discussing “human resources related information” and...more
A series of recent federal and state court decisions provide a mixed bag for employers on the issue of mandatory meal periods. On the one hand, these decisions support an employer’s ability to provide meal periods to its...more
The United States Department of Labor (USDOL) has begun what is expected to be a year filled with regulatory changes by issuing its proposed new regulations regarding sex discrimination by federal contractors, which have not...more
2/15/2015
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
New Regulations ,
Parental Leave ,
Popular ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) made headlines earlier this year by filing a lawsuit attacking CVS Pharmacy, Inc.’s standard severance agreement, which the EEOC argued unlawfully restricts former...more
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed into law amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”) that require all employers to provide reasonable accommodations for any medical or common condition of a job applicant or...more
In Lane v. Franks, et al, Edward Lane was discharged as a program director at a state college after testifying in a criminal, public corruption case against an Alabama State Representative. Lane had previously discharged the...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has invited the public to file amicus ("friend of the court") briefs by June 16, 2014 addressing whether employees have the statutory right to use employers’ email and other...more
At the end of March, in a landmark decision, the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Chicago held that Northwestern University’s scholarship football players are “employees” who can vote to be...more