Workforce Bulletin

On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, President Trump signed EO 14281, titled Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy (EO), stating a new Trump Administration policy “to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in all contexts to the maximum degree possible . . . .”

We, along with several of our colleagues, already explained this EO, but this shift in federal policy—barely noticed by most people amidst myriad controversies, memes, and crypto schemes, as well as a number of other executive orders—is important enough to warrant further consideration by anyone who manages workplaces and those of us who advise employers about civil rights laws. As a cover story in the Sunday, May 11, 2025 issue of the New York Times observed, the EO’s directive to curtail the use of disparate impact liability is part of a larger effort to “purge the consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion, or D.E.I., from the federal government and every facet of American life. . . .” and focuses on “the nation’s bedrock civil rights law.”

In a flurry of activity into the wee hours of June 2, 2021, Illinois legislators concluded a spring session that saw the passage of numerous measures that will affect employers in the state across the span of the employment relationship. Among the most significant of the many bills heading to Governor Pritzker for signature are acts amending the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (“VESSA”), and the Freedom to Work Act. It is expected that Governor Pritzker will sign all of the above-mentioned bills.

On May 25, 2021, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly approved an amendment to the State’s Wage Payment and Collection Act (“the Act”).  The change would require employers who violate the Act to pay damages of 5% of the amount of any underpayment of wages, compensation, or wage supplements for each month following the date of payment during which the amount(s) owed remain unpaid.  This represents a 150% increase to the penalty, as the statutory rate before this amendment was 2%.  The measure will take effect immediately upon signature by Governor J.B. Pritzker.

The Act

During the Covid-19 pandemic, companies should focus in the first instance on health and safety issues for workers, customers, and the public at large during a pandemic, but they cannot lose sight of the wage and hour risks that are lurking in these challenging times.

For a staggering number of U.S. businesses over the past several weeks, the early and middle part of 2020 will look something like this:

Reduced customer demand or government-ordered site closures lead to furloughs or layoffs of a significant part of the workforce. Where feasible, employees work from home. As local ...