Protecting Employers Since 1985
Over the last month, nearly half the calls I receive are about Illinois’s new recreational cannabis law which takes effect on January 1, 2020. Employers have many questions about the new law. Below are some of the most commonly asked questions that I have received. QUESTION No. 1: When does the new law go into…
Read MoreThe first thing to check is: Was the Charge of Discrimination filed “timely”? A Charge of Discrimination must be filed within 300 days after the alleged discriminatory actions, or one year for a fair housing case. Employers accused of discrimination are required to preserve any records pertinent to the Charge. Additionally, employers are prohibited from…
Read MoreThe Illinois Department of Human Rights (“IDHR”) is the agency that administers the Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”), the state law that outlaws discrimination, harassment and retaliation by most employers in Illinois. The IDHR’s federal counterpart is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), which administers the federal laws preventing the same type of violations. In…
Read MoreNo matter what your political view is regarding Justice Kavanaugh’s lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, employers can expect Justice Kavanaugh to be a strict constructionist of the many labor and employment statutes that employers must abide by. Prior to being appointed to the high court, Justice Kavanaugh was appointed to the U.S. Court…
Read MorePlacing new legal burdens on employers in Illinois, on August 26, 2018, Governor Rauner signed into law an amendment to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA), requiring employers to reimburse their employees for all expenses within the scope of “necessary expenditures incurred by the employee within the employee’s scope of employment and directly…
Read MoreOn May 21, 2018, in a 5-4 majority decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis ruled that employers can require as a condition of employment that workers waive their rights to participate in class action lawsuits by entering into a mandatory arbitration clause in their employment agreement. Supreme Court Justice Neil…
Read MoreI. Illinois Amends State Genetic Information Privacy Act Illinois has amended the state Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA). Amended Law Under the amendment, an employer is prohibited from penalizing an employee who does not disclose his or her genetic information or does not choose to participate in a program requiring disclosure of the employee’s genetic…
Read MoreOn November 15, 2017, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued its annual performance and accountability report. In the report the EEOC states that: “offices deployed new strategies to more efficiently prioritize charges with merit and more quickly resolved investigations once the agency had sufficient information. Together with improvements in the agency’s digital systems, these…
Read MoreAs 2017 comes to an end, many companies will perform their annual employee performance reviews. Companies typically do performance reviews at the beginning of the calendar or their fiscal year or at the employee’s anniversary with the company. No matter when you perform reviews, companies need to be careful that managers do not over rate…
Read MoreAs 2017 comes to an end and 2018 is about to begin, it is a very good time to conduct a HR self-audit to make sure your company is in compliance with all HR and employment laws Every HR audit is different but the goal of the audit is to determine if your company is…
Read MoreCOVID-19 Resources
Stay up-to-date about developments in the Midwest.
Schedule your confidential consultation
Contact Wessels Sherman if you would like to speak with one of our experienced labor and workplace attorneys, contact any of our four office locations and schedule a consultation.