Workforce Bulletin

With the holidays right around the corner, and local governments grinding to a halt during the holiday season, the City of Evanston, Illinois recently announced that it will postpone enforcement of its Fair Workweek Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) from September 1, 2023 until January 1, 2024. Although directly affecting just a relatively small number of employers that have a presence in Chicago’s neighboring municipality, the Ordinance is complex and notable for a novel hazard pay mandate.

The Ordinance Untangled

In May of 2023, Evanston’s City Council approved ...

On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a new proposed rule related to when an employer may take a tip credit and pay a lower minimum wage to tipped employees performing so-called tipped and non-tipped duties.  The proposed rule appeared in the Federal Register on June 23, 2021 and is open for public comment until August 23, 2021.  The proposal shows employers the new road that President’s Biden’s administration is paving, which is a sharp turn away from the Trump administration’s approach.

The Fair Labors Standards Act (FLSA) allows employers to pay ...

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

The Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act (“Act”) is what is known as a “kin care” law; i.e., it generally requires Illinois employers that provide paid or unpaid personal sick leave benefits to their employees to allow employees to use such leave to attend to a covered family member’s illness or injury, “on the same terms” as the employees would use their sick leave benefits for their own illness or injury. A “covered family member” means an employee's “child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild ...

The Illinois “Stay at Home” Order took effect at 5:00 p.m. on March 21, 2020, and will last through April 7 (full text here).  This post will briefly summarize the Order’s application to Illinois businesses, and then provide a one-stop-shop index pointing you to Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. (“EBG”) and governmental resources to help you comply with existing and COVID-19-specific federal, state, and local regulations.

What Does “Stay at Home” Mean for My Business?

The Order requires “all individuals currently living within the State of Illinois” to “stay at home ...

This Employment Law This Week^® Monthly Rundown discusses the most important developments for employers in August 2019.

This episode includes:

• Increased Employee Protections for Cannabis Users
• First Opinion Letters Released Under New Wage and Hour Leadership
• New Jersey and Illinois Enact Salary History Inquiry Bans
• Deadline for New York State Anti-Harassment Training Approaches
• Tip of the Week

See below to watch the full episode – click here for story details and video.

We invite you to view Employment Law This Week^® – tracking the latest developments that could ...