Illinois is not yet on the salary history ban wagon. For the second time since 2017, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a law that would prohibit employers from seeking salary history information from prospective employees, among other fair pay provisions.
Articles About Illinois Labor And Employment Law.
Illinois Amends IHRA to Extend Filing Deadlines, Simplify Procedures, and Reduce Administrative Backlog
For years, Illinois employment lawyers have had the frustrating experience of trying to explain the quirks of Illinois Human Rights Act1 (IHRA) practice before the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) and Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC) to out-of-state clients and colleagues. For instance, the IDHR required a verified response, styled like an answer, to be submitted within 60 days, and did not permit extensions. It also maintained a 180-day charge-filing deadline, despite the fact that most charges in Illinois are cross-filed with the EEOC, which has a 300-day deadline, resulting in confusion as to timeliness.
Illinois Expands Protections for Nursing Mothers in the Workplace
On August 21, 2018, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed House Bill 1595 (“HB 1595”) amending the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act1 (the “Act”). Effective since 2001, the Act applies to employers with more than five employees and grants reasonable break time each day to an employee needing to express breast milk for her infant child. HB 1595 makes several significant changes to the Act, including to the compensability of break time under the Act, and the scope of an employer’s ability to avoid providing the required break time to its employees.
Illinois Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program No Longer Mandatory?
The future of the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Secure Choice) is uncertain following Governor Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto that could make employer participation in the Secure Choice program optional.
Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program – A Mandatory Retirement Plan
Employers in Illinois with at least 25 employees must comply with the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Secure Choice) or offer employees an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Secure Choice is set to roll out in November 2018.
What Employers Need to Know About the Illinois Secure Choice Mandatory Retirement Savings Program
Employers in Illinois with at least 25 employees must comply with the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Secure Choice) or offer employees an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Secure Choice is set to roll out in November 2018.
Chicago and Cook County Paid Sick Leave: One Year Later
July 1, 2018 marked the one year anniversary of the effective dates of the Chicago and Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinances. A year later, more than 80% of the municipalities in Cook County have opted-out of the requirements of the Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance.
Chicago Considers Fair Workweek Ordinance
The Chicago City Council currently has before it a proposed ordinance entitled the “Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance,” which, if passed, would severely limit Chicago employers’ ability to change employees’ posted schedules, and would otherwise encumber employers in employee scheduling.
Illinois Jury Rejects Transgender Worker’s Discrimination Claim
A federal jury in Illinois has rejected a transgender employee’s claim that she was discriminated against and illegally fired after she told her employer that she was transitioning.
City of Chicago Requires Airport Service Providers to Enter into Labor Peace Agreements
Executive Summary: As of July 1, 2018, the City of Chicago, as owner and operator of Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport (the “Airports”), will require that certain users of the Airports enter into a “labor peace agreement” with labor organizations as a condition of their license to provide services at the Airports. The requirement is the result of a recent amendment to Municipal Code Section 2-20-020 (the “2017 Ordinance”) which requires companies that provide baggage handling, passenger services, aircraft cleaning, and other similar services to airline carriers (“Service Providers”) to enter into these agreements in exchange for unions agreeing not to economically interfere with the Service Providers. While the stated purpose behind labor peace ordinances is to promote labor harmony and preclude actions that disrupt the provision of services to the public, they generally make it easier for unions to organize employees, which can have a significant impact on businesses subject to such ordinances.
Non-Compete News: Is Your Non-Compete Clause Too Broad? An Illinois Court Offers Guidance
Executive Summary: When drafting restrictive covenants, employers face a common dilemma about the scope of activities to be restrained. On the one hand, highly focused non-compete language tends to be more enforceable but might not protect the company’s legitimate business interests. On the other, a one-size-fits-all blanket prohibition is more comprehensive but runs the risk it will be unreasonably broad and unenforceable. A recent decision by a federal court in Illinois, Medix Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Dumrauf (N.D. Ill. Apr. 17, 2018), draws a bright line regarding when a non-compete clause is overbroad as a matter of law. Notably, the court rejected language used frequently in non-compete covenants throughout the country, finding the language so all-encompassing as to be entirely unreasonable.
Recent Illinois Appellate Court Ruling Could End The Recent Flood Of Class Action Lawsuits Against Employers Under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act
Since mid-September 2017, more than 50 employers that use “biometric timeclocks” in Illinois have been targeted with class action lawsuits alleging violations of the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”). A unanimous ruling issued on December 21, 2017, by the Illinois Appellate Court, could reduce the flood to a trickle. The case holds that to state a claim under BIPA, a plaintiff must allege more than a mere failure to comply with BIPA’s requirements to provide notice and obtain consent before collecting biometric data.1
Illinois Court of Appeals Holds BIPA Plaintiffs Must Allege Some Actual Harm
In a ruling that may have significant impact on the recent wave of biometric privacy suits, an Illinois state appeals court held that plaintiffs must claim actual harm to be considered an “aggrieved person” covered by Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), in a dispute arising from the alleged unlawful collection of fingerprints from a Six Flags season pass holder.
The Second Circuit Provides A Roadmap For Employers Defending Claims Under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act
While the emergence of biometric technology in the workplace is not a new phenomenon, employers being sued for utilizing this technology is a new trend. Over the past three months, more than 30 class action lawsuits have been filed in Illinois state and federal courts against employers that use timeclocks that scan an employee’s fingerprint, retina, or iris to clock employees into and out of work (“biometric timeclocks”).1 The lawsuits allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), which governs the collection, use, and disclosure of biometric data2 by entities in Illinois.
Clear as Mud: Illinois Courts Continue to Grapple With The “Adequacy” Of Consideration for Non-Compete Agreements
It is axiomatic that a contract requires consideration to be binding. Ordinarily, courts only inquire into the existence, but not the “adequacy,” of consideration.