On January 20, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. While the new administration’s policies are unclear on a wide range of issues, his comments during the campaign provide some hints on positions he will take with regard to labor and employment law. At the outset, we can assume that they […]
Understanding Employer Retaliation
Employees are often hesitant when it comes to calling out their employer for doing something wrong by a complaint to management or Human Resources. Most employees are typically concerned with one thing—retaliation by their employer. That same fear of retaliation comes when an employee reports the employer to a regulator like the EEOC (for discrimination), the Department […]
New in Illinois: Non-Compete Agreements With Low-Wage Earners are Illegal
On January 1, 2017, the Illinois Freedom to Work Act went into effect. The law prohibits private employers from entering into a non-compete agreement with “any low-wage employee.” The statute makes any such agreement “illegal and void.” Under the law, a non-compete agreement applies to the many common restrictive covenants including: Any agreement that prohibits working for any other employer […]
A New Year Brings New Employment Laws For Illinois
On January 1, 2017 a number of new laws went into effect in Illinois. Whether you are an employer or an employee, here are some employment laws you should know: Social Media Password Protections House Bill 4999 makes it illegal for an employer, or potential employer, to ask you to sign into your social media account […]
What You Need To Know About The Illinois Sick Pay Leave Act
On January 1, 2017, a new sick pay law will come into effect for employees in the state of Illinois. While it is called the Illinois Sick Pay Leave Act, it does not actually require employers to provide sick leave (starting in July, most Chicago employers must provide sick leave as well as Cook County Employers). The […]
Federal Overtime Law Blocked
December 1, 2016 was supposed to be the day that about 4 million Americans were set to qualify for overtime pay under a new federal rule by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The new overtime law would have doubled the annual salary threshold from $23,660, to $47,476, which determines who qualifies for overtime pay when they work over […]
The New Overtime Law: How It Will Affect You
Effective December 1, 2016, the Department of Labor is enacting a new overtime law in which the Fair Labor Standards Act is being changed, allowing the threshold annual income below which overtime pay is required (assuming all other requirements for overtime pay are satisfied) to rise to $47,500, compared to $23,660, which was the amount […]
10 Ways a Small Business Can Control Unemployment Insurance
As we outlined in a previous blog post Employer Basics: Unemployment Insurance in Illinois, an established employer must pay a percentage of each employee’s wages, up to an annual base of $12,690, into the State’s Unemployment Fund and that percentage can range from 0.55% to 7.75%. This difference can be significant, a multiple of more than 14 times, […]
Employee Misclassifications: What You Should Know
On October 19, 2016, we posted a blog about the Chicago Minimum Wage law which became effective July 1, 2015, with an hourly wage of $10.00, increased to $10.50 July 1, 2016, and continues to increase incrementally each year into the future. The Chicago law also imposes very substantial penalties on employers who violate it, […]
Sexual Harassment Claims and McDonald’s
On Wednesday, October 15th, fifteen employees from the world’s largest burger chain, McDonald’s, filed charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of the victims by the Fight for $15 movement, alleging they were all victims of sexual harassment while on the job, in as many as 8 states, including Illinois. From being verbally […]