If you own a small or mid-sized business in Illinois, you want to ensure that you are meeting the necessary labor and employment requirements mandated by law. New labor and employment laws are passed every year and can be overwhelming and confusing for employers to properly implement. Below is a simple breakdown of three of the most recent and reformative Illinois labor and employment laws you should be aware of. It is important to note that these are Illinois state laws and may be superseded by local city and county ordinances.
1. Paid Leave for All Workers Act
The Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA), which took effect January 1, 2024, establishes a minimum paid leave standard for all Illinois workers. PLAWA mandates that Illinois workers accrue 1 hour of paid leave for every 40 hours they work, up to 40 hours per year. Employers cannot require workers to provide a reason for taking paid leave under PLAWA.
Employer Obligations Under PLAWA:
- Employers are obligated to provide paid leave to all employees. Under PLAWA, employees accrue leave throughout the year at a rate of 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. Alternatively, Employers are permitted to frontload the full 40 hours at the beginning of the 12-month period.
- Employees begin accruing paid leave the first day of employment and can begin using paid leave after 90 days of employment.
- Employees are entitled to carryover; however, employers are not required to allow for employees to use more than 40 hours of paid leave in a 12-month period. Employers that provide frontloaded paid leave at the beginning of the year are not obligated to allow employees to carry over.
- Employers must pay an employee their full, usual rate of pay during the employee’s leave.
- Employers may deny an employee’s request due to operational necessity, but the reasons for the employee’s denial must be given to the employee through a clearly communicated written leave policy.
- Employers are permitted to require up to 7 days notices of paid leave requests which are foreseeable by the employee. If an employer has a policy mandating advanced notice, it must be included in a clearly communicated written leave policy.
- If employers already have a paid leave policy that provides at least 40 hours of paid leave per year, which can be used for any reason, they do not need to modify their existing policy.
Employee Obligations Under PLAWA:
- Employees can request leave either verbally or in writing but must follow their employer’s reasonable policy for requesting leave with advanced notice
- If a paid leave request is not foreseeable, the employee must provide notice as soon as is practical.
- Employees are not required to search for or find a replacement worker to cover shifts or hours missed due to their leave.
2. Freelance Worker Protection Act
Employer Obligations Under FLWPA:
- The names and contact information of the hiring entity and the freelance worker
- An itemization of products and/or services which are being provided by the freelance worker
- The freelance worker’s rate of pay
- The method of compensation, meaning the process by which the freelance worker gets paid
- The date(s) of compensation due to the worker
- The date(s) of services to be provided by the worker
3.“Pay Transparency” Amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act
Beginning January 1, 2025, the Illinois Equal Pay Act now mandates that if an employer has 15 or more employees and publishes a specific job posting, that employer must include the pay scale and benefits of the posted position. This applies whether the posting is published on a public platform, such as LinkedIn, or the positing is only shared internally with current employees.
Employer Obligations under the “Pay Transparency” Amendment:
- When posting for a specific position, an employer must post a pay scale which reflects a good faith representation of the lowest and highest wage the employer expects to pay for the position. Employers should avoid open ended phrases such as “$50,000 and up” or “up to $50,000.”
- Along with pay scale, employers are required to post a general description of the expected benefits for the position including bonuses and stock options.
- The pay scale and benefits do not necessarily need to be included in the job positing itself—an employer is permitted to include a hyperlink to a publicly viewable webpage that includes the pay scale and benefits for the position.
- If there is no specific position or job title listed in a posting, it is not subject to the Amendment. For example, a “Help Wanted” sign in store window is not subject to the Amendment because there is no specific position listed. Alternatively, a company-wide email encouraging all employees to apply for a specific position within the company would be subject to the Amendment.
In order to protect your business, it is vital to conform to all necessary labor and employment laws. Working with an attorney can make it easier to implement and maintain practices and procedures to ensure that you are not at risk of legal ramifications. If you are interested in ensuring that you are properly conforming to current and new labor and employment laws our firm can help. Contact us today for a consultation.
Disclaimer : This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this post or contacting the author does not create an attorney-client relationship. You should consult with a licensed attorney to obtain legal advice specific to your situation. This blog post may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.