Subject Index Employment Law

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Employers of 15 or more employees must now include pay-scale and benefits information with any specific job posting

The Illinois General Assembly passed the Freelance Worker Protection Act. The Act provides that a freelance worker shall be paid the contracted compensation amount on or before the date the compensation is due under the terms of the contract.

All public and private employers in Illinois, except school districts and park districts, must provide their employees a minimum of one hour paid leave at their regular rate of pay for every 40 hours worked, up to a minimum of 40 hours paid leave per 12-month period. Employers are required to count all time that an employee works, including overtime, for purposes of calculating accrual.

On June 20, 2023, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that section 65 of the Firearm Concealed Carry Act (“Act”) implicates a public policy that can serve as the grounds for alleging retaliatory discharge.

On May 22, 2023, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a signing bonus did not constitute consideration for an employee’s confidentiality and nonsolicitation agreement because the signing bonus was not specifically designated as such.

The Department of Labor amended the Part titled Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act. The amendment expands protection under the Part to victims of gender violence and is now applicable to all employers with at least one employee.

The Child Bereavement Leave Act has been renamed the Family Bereavement Leave Act. The Act has been expanded to allow for unpaid bereavement leave for employees in the case of the death of an employee’s child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent.

The Department of Central Management Services amended the Merit and Fitness Part. The director may no longer remove candidates on the state employment eligibility list for addiction to narcotics or alcohol.

On April 14, 2022, the Fourth District of the Illinois Appellate Court held individuals made out a valid prima facie racial discrimination claim against the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District for demotions, but not for failure to promote employees.

The Consumer Coverage Disclosure Act is enacted to require an employer that provides group health insurance coverage, upon request, to furnish a list that compares its group coverage benefits with the individual health insurance coverage benefits mandated by the state.

The Department of Labor adopted new rules to implement and enforce the Child Bereavement Act, which will affect employers and eligible employees as defined in the Family Medical and Leave Act.

On Dec. 17, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a community college violated the Public Community College Act when the college laid off tenured faculty members and within months hired adjunct instructors to do the work that the laid-off faculty were able to do.

On Nov. 19, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court held that union lawyers are immune from personal liability for actions taken as union representatives under a collective bargaining agreement.

On May 21, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court was forced to dismiss a labor-related appeal after a justice recused himself and the remaining justices were unable to secure the four-judge majority constitutionally required to issue a decision.

An amendment to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (820 ILCS 115/4.1) makes it clear that tips are the property of employees and that employers are prohibited from keeping tips.

Under an amendment to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, employers must reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by employees.

This proposed legislation would amend the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act by clearly establishing the jurisdiction of the Legislative Ethics Commission and the Legislative Inspector General.