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Recent Blog Posts
Fighting Against Charges of Workplace Discrimination
Several years ago, the country exploded with the #metoo movement, triggered by accusations of sexual violence and sexual harassment against producer Harvey Weinstein. The movement led to sweeping societal changes, including many states banning nondisclosure agreements that cover sexual harassment. Illinois passed such a law in 2019
Under federal law, every employee has the legal right to work in a safe and discrimination-free workplace. If an employer fails to provide that environment, the company could face significant penalties. If an employee has accused your company of workplace discrimination, contact an Illinois employment law attorney for legal assistance.
What Is Workplace Discrimination?
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency that is in charge of enforcing the laws that make it illegal to discriminate against an employee or a job applicant. The laws that fall under the EEOC’s jurisdiction apply to work issues such as benefits, firing, hiring, promotions, training, and wages.
How Vicarious Liability Could Affect Your Illinois Business
There is a myriad of risks that a business may face in all areas of operation, however, one area that some business owners overlook until it is too late is the risk that is posed by their employees’ actions. Under the law, this is known as “vicarious liability” and every business owner should be aware of what the potential legal and financial ramifications could be.
What Is Vicarious Liability
Per the legal doctrine of vicarious liability, a victim who sustains injury as a result of a business’s employee is entitled to receive financial compensation from the employer as long as the employee’s actions or conduct occurred within the scope of that employee’s employment.
One example of vicarious liability would be a delivery driver who runs a red light while rushing to make a delivery and crashes into another vehicle, resulting in the driver of that vehicle suffering serious injury. The business the delivery driver works for would be liable for the victim’s damages since the delivery driver was performing their work duties when they ran the light.
Fighting Against Accusations of Wrongful Termination in Illinois
The state of Illinois is an at-will employment state, meaning employers are generally allowed to terminate employees for whatever reason they like. However, for many employees, the loss of their job can be so upsetting that they will accuse their employer of terminating them illegally. If you have been accused of an illegal employee termination, contact a Schaumburg, IL employment attorney right away.
Wrongful Termination
There are legal protections in place to protect workers from wrongful termination. “Wrongful termination” does not necessarily mean the termination was unjustified or unfair. It means that the termination violates the law in some way.
Examples of violations include:
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The termination would violate a contract between the employer and the employee
Congress Poised to Approve New Workplace Sexual Harassment Bill
Several years ago, the #MeToo movement exploded across the country following multiple accusations of sexual abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein. The surge of women and men who came forward to share their stories of sexual assaults, abuse, and harassment permeated almost every industry and workplace. As a result of that movement – and demand for change – the United States House and Senate both have bills that will likely be voted on within the next few weeks, if not days.
The bills would allow employees to sue their employers over workplace sexual harassment or assault no matter what type of contractual restrictions there may be between the two. The bills have bipartisan support and are expected to pass in both chambers.
Workplace Sexual Harassment
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), sexual harassment can affect men or women and includes a variety of different actions and attitudes meant to threaten, intimidate, embarrass, or discriminate others. It may involve physical contact, such as assault or groping, as well as comments, gestures, and other discriminatory behaviors.
Choosing a Trademark for an Illinois Business
Many businesses develop a logo or other symbol that they use to help advertise their business. The goal is to create a “brand” that people will recognize as familiar. As business start-up owners focus their efforts on creating a business plan, deciding what advertising techniques to use, and building a website, they often forget the importance of looking into trademark issues before starting to use a brand name or logo for their businesses. This can sometimes lead to legal issues that can be avoided if the business owner works with an Illinois business attorney from the beginning.
What Is a Trademark
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design, or a combination of these that identifies particular goods. A trademark is often the very thing that distinguishes one company’s products from another company’s products. While many business owners give significant thought and consideration to what trademark to choose, they often fail to realize the importance of choosing a trademark that is both eligible for federal registration and legally defensible.
Important Changes to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act
The first of the year often means New Year’s resolutions for many people. In Illinois, the first of the year also often means new laws and amendments to existing laws that were voted in by state lawmakers and signed by the governor go into effect. That is exactly the case with Senate Bill 672 (SB 672). This new law – which takes effect January 1, 2022 - amends the Illinois Freedom to Work Act, specifically in the area of noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements.
The Illinois Freedom to Work Act
The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which went into effect in January 2017, stated that employers were barred from requiring “low-wage” employees to enter into noncompete agreements. The law also stated that these agreements would be deemed illegal and void.
In the original law, a low-wage employee was classified as any employee who earned the greater of the following categories:
Are There Legal Consequences for Employers Who Ignore an Employee’s Child Support Wage Garnishment Order?
In the best of circumstances, a parent who is ordered by the court to pay child support obeys that order and meets that obligation according to the schedule set by the court. Unfortunately, there are many parents who – for a variety of reasons – do not make their payments and an arrearage begins to build up. In these situations, the parent who is not receiving the payments can request the court to garnish the non-paying parent’s wages. In most situations, the court agrees, and a wage garnishment order is issued. In these cases, what are the obligations of the employer and what happens if the employer fails to comply with the order?
Wage Garnishment Process
When a parent petitions the court for wage garnishment of the employee who is not making their child support payments, that garnishment can address both back payments the employee may owe, as well as current and ongoing payments. It can also include any interest the employee owes. The court can order that up to 50 percent of the employee’s wages can be deducted from their checks each pay period. If there are no other obligations of child support the employee has for other children, then the court can order up to 60 percent of the employee’s pay can be deducted. The court can also order an additional five percent of the wages garnished if the employee is more than three months behind in their obligation.
New Rules on Subminimum Wage for Disabled People Now in Effect in Illinois
Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed an executive order that prevents any company that contracts with the state of Illinois from paying disabled workers less than the minimum wage. The current minimum wage in Illinois is $11 per hour and $6.60 per hour for tipped workers. When signing the order, the governor said that his action was also geared to pushing Congress to change the federal law that currently allows companies to pay disabled people less than the minimum wage.
Does Your Company Contract with the State?
According to the order, any vendor that currently pays a wage that is below the minimum will be required to renegotiate their contracts with the state. However, the governor did state that his order will not cost any worker who is being paid a subminimum wage their job. Instead, the state will work with their employers to make sure these companies will be able to keep providing disabled people with meaningful work opportunities while earning standard pay.
Illinois Governor Signs Restrictive Covenant Bill Into Law
On August 13, 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law an amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act (820 ILCS § 90), which imposes restrictions on the use of non-competition and non-solicitation (employee and customer) restrictive covenants for Illinois employees. The law takes effect on January 1, 2022, and only applies to restrictive covenants entered into after January 1, 2022.
Below are some of the key provisions of the law:
- The law prohibits employers from entering into non-competition agreements with employees who earn $75,000 per year or less and also prohibits employers from entering into non-solicit agreements with employees who earn $45,000 per year or less.
- For non-compete agreements, the salary threshold amounts will increase every five years by $5,000 until January 1, 2037, when the amount will equal 590,000. For non-solicit agreements, the salary threshold amounts will increase every five years by $2,500 until January 1, 2037, when the amount will equal $52,500.
Chicago Passes New Sick Leave and Wage Theft Protection Ordinance
In June, the Chicago City Council voted yes to a new ordinance that addresses sick leave and wage theft protections for people who work in the city. This new ordinance is in addition to another new ordinance our firm discussed in a prior post regarding the minimum wage change Chicago enacted and the potential penalties for violations.
New Law
The ordinance, SO2021-2182, applies to any business that employs four or more employees. If the employee is a domestic worker, then the law applies to businesses with one or more employees. The new ordinance is for any employee who works two or more hours within the city limits of Chicago during any two-week period.
Under the new ordinance, which went into effect July 1, employees can use their paid sick leave for the following reasons:
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