Quick Hits

• Illinois Governor Pritzker signed several new labor and employment–related laws into effect, such as “E-Verify Limits Under Right to Privacy in Workplace Act” and the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act.”
• Amendments to current laws, such as the Illinois Human Rights Act, the Illinois Personnel Review Act, and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collections Act, expand the rights of employees.
• Most notably, the statute of limitations for actions brought under the Illinois Human Rights Act was extended from 300 calendar days to two years after an alleged violation of the act.

New Illinois Employment Laws

Senate Bill 508 (SB 508), or the “E-Verify Limits Under Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act,” amends Illinois’s Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act and prohibits employers from imposing work authorization verification or reverification requirements greater than those required by federal law.

SB 508 also enacts greater responsibility for employers to provide employees with specific documentation when either (1) the employer contends there is a discrepancy in an employee’s employment verification; or (2) when an employer receives notice from a federal or state agency, such as the Social Security Administration, of a discrepancy as it relates to work authorization.

Additionally, SB 508 requires employers to provide a notice to each employee, by posting in English and any other language commonly used in the workplace, of any inspections of I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms within seventy-two hours after receiving notice of the inspection from a government agency. Further, SB 508 provides for civil penalties for noncompliance for failure to adhere to the notice provisions.

Senate Bill 3649 (SB 3649), or the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” prohibits an “employer, or an employer’s agent, representative, or designee, to either discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize, or threaten to discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize an employee (1) because an employee declines to attend or participate in an employer-sponsored meeting or declines to receive or listen to communications from the employer or the agent, representative, or designee … if the meeting or communication is to communicate the opinion of the employer about religious matters or political matters; (2) as a means of inducing an employee to attend or participate in meetings or receive or listen to communications” that express the opinion of the employer about religious matters or political matters; or (3) “because the employee, or another person acting on behalf of the employee, makes a good faith report of a violation or a suspected violation” of the Worker Freedom of Speech Act. This law effectively bans employers from holding mandatory meetings with employees concerning religious or political matters, including discussions on union representation.

Note the law excludes nonprofit and advocacy groups where such topics may be part of the job responsibilities.

SB 3649 provides a private right of action and for a class action by an employee on or behalf of themselves and other employees similarly situated. Within thirty days after the effective date of the act, employers shall post a notice of employee rights under the act where other public notices are generally posted.

Senate Bill 3646 (SB 3646), or the “Child Labor Law of 2024,” replaced Illinois’s existing child labor law. SB 3646 covers minors under sixteen years of age and prohibits minors thirteen years old and younger from being employed “in any occupation or at any work site” unless explicitly authorized by or exempted under the act. Exemptions for minors thirteen years old and younger include work on family farms or as a babysitter.

Under SB 3646, employers must obtain an employment certificate authorizing a minor’s work. To obtain a certificate, an employer must first provide the minor with a notice of intention to employ, which then must be submitted by the minor to their school’s issuing officer, along with an application for the employment certificate, which must be filled out by the minor and the minor’s parent or guardian. The law limits the hours that a minor may work each week, including setting a limit of no more than eighteen hours per week during the school year, and no more than forty hours per week when school is not in session, and each day with a limit of eight hours per day of work and school combined.

The Child Labor Law also identifies thirty categories of work minors may not perform, including factory work; construction; and work with lead, chemicals, dust, or gases dangerous to humans. Minors are also required to have a supervisor at least twenty-one years of age and thirty-minute lunch breaks during every five consecutive hours of work. Employers are also required to post a notice regarding the Child Labor Law in the workplace and report any workplace injuries to minors to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Illinois Department of Labor, and the minor’s school.

Expansion of Current Illinois Employment Laws

Senate Bill 3310 (SB 3310) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to extend the date to file a charge of discrimination with the Illinois Human Rights Commission from 300 calendar days to two years for an alleged violation under the act.

Senate Bill 2737 (SB 2737) amends the Illinois Freedom to Work Act to prohibit noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements for certain mental health professionals. This amendment prohibits these agreements for professionals licensed in Illinois “who provide mental health services to veterans and first responders.” “First responders” are defined as emergency medical services personnel as defined in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act, firefighters, and law enforcement officers. SB 2737 is not retrospective and will only apply to agreements entered into after January 1, 2025.

Senate Bill 3208 (SB 3208) amends the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA) to provide employees greater access to wage payment records. Upon request by a current or former employee, which an employer may require to be in writing, an employer must provide the employee with a copy of the employee’s pay stubs within twenty-one calendar days of the employee’s request. Such requests are limited to two times in a twelve-month period.

SB 3208 also requires employers to retain records of names, addresses, and wages paid to each employee and furnish each employee a pay stub for each period, which reflects the hours worked, gross wages earned, deductions from wages, and unused balance of paid time off available to the employee, amending the prior requirement of furnishing an itemized statement of deductions made from the employee’s wages for each pay period. Employers are now required to retain pay stubs for both current and former employees for at least three years after the date of payment. Additionally, if an employer retains pay stubs in a manner that is not accessible by former employees during the year after the separation of their employment, SB 3208 requires employers to offer to furnish a newly separated employee with all the employee’s pay stubs for the year prior to the date of separation.

SB 3208 adds a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation of failing to provide a current or former employee with his or her requested pay stubs or any other violation of the IWPCA.

House Bill 2161 (HB 2161) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to prohibit discrimination based on an employee’s “family responsibilities,” which is defined as “an employee’s actual or perceived provision of care to a family member, whether in the past, present, or future.” In addition, HB 2161 provides that it is a violation of the IHRA for a person, or two or more persons, “to conspire to retaliate against a person because he or she has opposed that which he or she reasonably and in good faith believes to be discrimination based on family responsibilities.”

Importantly, HB 2161 provides that nothing in the IHRA obligates an employer, employment agency, or labor organization to make accommodations or modifications to reasonable workplace rules or policies for employees based on family responsibilities, such as accommodations or modifications related to leave, scheduling, productivity, attendance, absenteeism, timeliness, work performance, referrals from a labor union hiring hall, and benefits, as long as the employer’s rules and policies are in accordance with the IHRA.

House Bill 4867 (HB 4867) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to prohibit discrimination based on “reproductive health decisions.” Under HB 4867, reproductive health decisions are defined as “a person’s decisions regarding the person’s use of contraception; fertility or sterilization care; assisted reproductive technologies; miscarriage management care; healthcare related to the continuation or termination of pregnancy; or prenatal, intranatal, or postnatal care.”

House Bill 3763 (HB 3763) amends the Illinois Personnel Record Review Act (IPRRA) and expands employees’ right to inspect and copy personnel-related documents. HB 3763 adds additional documents that an employer must provide an employee, after the employee’s request, to include documents used to determine an employee’s benefits, any employment-related contracts or agreements that the employer maintains are legally binding on the employee, any employee handbooks the employer made available to the employee or the employee acknowledged receiving; and any written employer policies or procedures the employer contends the employee was subject to and that concern qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, compensation, benefits, discharge, or other disciplinary action.

HB 3763 adds the requirement that an employee’s written request to inspect, copy, and receive copies of personnel-related records must be “made to a person responsible for maintaining the employer’s personnel records, including the employer’s human resources department, payroll department, the employee’s supervisor or department manager, or to an individual as provided in the employer’s written policy.” Similarly, HB 3763 adds the requirement that an employee’s written request must (1) identify which personnel records the employee is requesting or if the employee is requesting all records allowed to be requested under the IPRRA; (2) “specify if the employee is requesting to inspect, copy, or receive copies of the records”; (3) “specify whether records be provided in hardcopy or in a reasonable and commercially available electronic format”; (4) “specify whether inspection, copying, or receipt of copies will be performed by that employee’s representative, including family members, lawyers, union stewards, other union officials, or translators”; and (5) “if the records being requested include medical information and medical records, include a signed waiver to release medical information and medical records to that employee’s specific representative.”

HB 3763 also prohibits employers from imputing the cost of time spent duplicating the information, the purchase or rental of copying machines, the purchase or rental of computer equipment, the purchase, rental, or licensing of software, or other similar expenses to the requesting employee.

House Bill 3773 (HB 3773) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to expressly prohibit the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a manner that results in illegal discrimination in employment decisions and employee recruitment as defined under state law. HB 3773 prohibits the use of artificial intelligence by an employer in Illinois that has the effect of subjecting employees to unlawful discrimination based upon legally protected classes, “[w]ith respect to recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or the terms, privileges, or conditions of employment.” Furthermore, HB 3773 mandates that employers must notify employees when using artificial intelligence for any of the purposes described above. HB 3773 does not go into effect until January 1, 2026.

House Bill 5561 (HB 5561) amends the Illinois Whistleblower Act (IWA) to expand liability for employers. HB 5561 amends the definition of covered “employers” and “employees” under the Act. Further, HB 5561 provides that an employer is prohibited from taking retaliatory action, or threatening to take retaliatory action, “against an employee who discloses or threatens to disclose to a public body conducting an investigation, or in a court, an administrative hearing, or any other proceeding initiated by a public body, information relating to an activity, policy, or practice of the employer where the employee has a good faith belief that the activity, policy, or practice” either (1) violates a federal, state, or local law; or (2) “poses a substantial and specific danger to employees, public health, or safety.”

HB 5561 adds additional damages and penalties for employers found in violation of the IWA, including permanent or preliminary injunctive relief and liquidated damages up to $10,000. HB 5561 provides that the terms of this amendment only apply to claims arising or complaints filed on or after January 1, 2025.

House Bill 3129 (HB 3129) amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003 and requires employers to include the pay scale and benefits for a position in any job posting (or disclose this information when requested by an applicant). HB 3129 defines pay scale and benefits as “the wage or salary, or the wage or salary range, and a general description of the benefits and other compensation, including, but not limited to, bonuses, stock options, or other incentives the employer reasonably expects in good faith to offer for the position, set by reference to any applicable pay scale, the previously determined range for the position, the actual range of others currently holding equivalent positions, or the budgeted amount for the position, as applicable.”

Key Takeaways

Employers may want to evaluate their existing employment practices and determine if any new laws will require revisions in their company policies or practices.