By Kyla J. Miller and Tracy M. Billows

Seyfarth Synopsis: The 4th Circuit rejected a punitive damages award won by a male AutoZone worker who accused the Company of blatantly ignoring complaints of sexual harassment by his female co-worker, finding that managers who failed to act on his complaint, without proof of intentional conduct, did not warrant a punitive
Continue Reading Punitives Are Meant to Punish: So What Happens When Management Watches & Ignores Complaints of Female-on-Male Sexual Harassment?

By Thomas M. Horan and Erin Dougherty Foley

Seyfarth Synopsis: Effective January 1, 2020, the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (WTA) amended the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to, among other items, require all employers in Illinois to provide annual sexual harassment prevention training to all employees, and further require additional, industry-specific sexual harassment prevention training for restaurants and bars. The
Continue Reading IDHR Releases Guidance on Workplace Transparency Act Compliance, Promises Model Training In February

By Condon McGlothlen, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Illinois General Assembly passed SB 1557, revising the language of the Recreational Cannabis Law to reduce but not completely eliminate employer liabilities.

As we previously blogged, the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (410 ILCS 705) (the “Legalization Act”) will legalize recreational cannabis
Continue Reading Illinois General Assembly Passes Amendments to Recreational Cannabis Law That Help Reduce Employer Liability

By Paul S.Drizner

Seyfarth Synopisis: Illinois recently enacted legislation that changes the rules for withholding income tax from non-resident employees. The new rules replace the current, somewhat more complicated rules with a more straight-forward method that is based on, among other things, the number of working days that an employee spends in Illinois.

Current Withholding Rules

Currently, every employer
Continue Reading Recent Legislation Changes Illinois Non-Resident Employee Withholding Rules

By Christine HendricksonAnnette Tyman, and Rhandi Childress Anderson

Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 31, 2019, the Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed HB0834 into law, amending the state’s Equal Pay Act.  The amendments toughen the state’s pay equity protections and includes a salary history ban, among other provisions.  This adds Illinois to the growing list of states barring
Continue Reading Illinois – the Newest State to Toughen its Equal Pay Laws with a Robust Salary History Ban

By Latoya R. Laing, Kevin M. Young, Tracy M. Billows, Sara Fowler

Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week the Chicago City Council passed the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance, arguably the most expansive law of its kind. When the law takes effect in July 2020, it will require covered employers to publish employee schedules at least ten days in advance
Continue Reading Chicago Passes Expansive Fair Workweek Law

By Kyla J. Miller and Tracy M. Billows

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Illinois Senate unanimously passed an all-encompassing sexual harassment bill, which hits all of the big ticket workplace sexual harassment hot topics, including imposing sexual harassment training and extensive reporting requirements, bans on non-disclosure agreements, arbitration clauses and non-disparagement clauses, and hefty penalties for non- compliance. Whether the House will
Continue Reading #MeToo on the Move: Illinois Responds as Senate’s Sweeping Sexual Harassment Bill Gains Traction

By Condon McGlothlen and Colton D. Long

Seyfarth Synopsis: Since 2001, Illinois has required that employers provide unpaid nursing or lactation breaks for working mothers. Effective last week, at least some of those breaks must now be paid.

On August 21, 2018, Governor Rauner signed a bill amending the Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act. The amendment took
Continue Reading Illinois Law Suddenly Requires Paid Nursing Breaks

By Pamela Q. Devata , Robert T. Szyba, and Stacey L. Blecher

Seyfarth Synopsis: Over the past few years, restrictions regarding the use of credit checks by employers on applicants and employees have been passed at various state and municipal levels, and the federal government has indicated its own concerns of potential discriminatory impact of the use of
Continue Reading Using Credit Histories in Employment Decisions: An Overview of Divergent State & Local Requirements

By Christopher W. Kelleher, Tracy M. Billows, and Joshua D. Seidman

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Illinois General Assembly will consider the proposed Healthy Workplace Act which, if passed into law, will require most Illinois employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees.

Illinois legislators have caught the paid sick leave bug that has been going around the
Continue Reading Illinois Catches The Paid Sick Leave Bill Bug