SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

A new publication from Greensfelder and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce covering essential updates on employee leave issues is now available.

Greensfelder collaborated with the Chamber’s HR Illinois division to produce this new third edition of  “FMLA, ADA, Military and Other Leave Issues: A Guide for the Illinois Employer.” It is a 25-chapter, 160-page comprehensive guide that covers the latest on each of these important areas of employment law, providing insights on many common leave situations a manager or supervisor may encounter. Topics include disability discrimination laws, reasonable accommodations, FMLA qualifying reasons and calculations, and military leave coverage topics include USERRA, among others.

The Illinois legislature recently passed HB2862 amending the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act (the “Act”). If signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in its current form as expected, it will have significant implications for staffing agencies and their clients (i.e. employers that use staffing agencies to supplement their workforce with non-employee, temporary workers). Gov. Pritzker has 60 days from June 16, 2023, to sign the bill. Once signed, the bill takes effect immediately.

A new federal law goes into effect June 27, 2023, related to covered employers’ obligations to provide pregnancy accommodations to employees and job applicants.

As we previewed in our 2023 Federal Employment Law Forecast, Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) as an amendment to the government funding bill, which President Biden signed on December 29, 2022. The law charges the EEOC with issuing regulations interpreting the PWFA, although the EEOC has not yet indicated when it will do so.

Important update on the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act: The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) has issued its first set of frequently asked questions addressing the Act, with more to come. The full FAQs can be found here, and a summary of key points is below.

Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), issued a memorandum on May 30, 2023, finding that except in limited special circumstances, non-competition agreements – including the act of merely giving employees non-competition agreements or maintaining existing ones – violate Sections 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (Act). The memorandum states, “Except in limited circumstances, I believe the proffer, maintenance, and enforcement of such agreements violate Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.”

The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) recently adopted new regulations governing several provisions under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA). Among them, the IDOL adopted new regulations that:

1. create a five-factor test for determining when work-related expenses incurred by an employee primarily benefits the employer, such that the employer is required to reimburse the employee for those specific expenditures;
2. clarify when employers may be liable for payment of employee expenses that exceed amounts set forth in the employer’s written expense reimbursement policy;
3. create new recordkeeping requirements relating to employee-incurred expenses;
4. clarify when an employee may file a claim with the IDOL seeking reimbursement of expenses;
5. clarify what constitutes an enforceable wage deduction agreement for deductions occurring over a defined period; and
6. create enhanced penalties for violations of the IWPCA.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision on February 21, 2023, that restored pre-Trump era precedent and prohibits employers from offering employees severance agreements that contain broad confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions.

In the case at issue, McLaren Macomb and Local 40, RN Staff Council Office and Professional Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023) (McLaren), the issue was whether Michigan hospital operator McLaren Macomb violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it offered severance agreements with broad confidentiality and non-disparagement requirements to 11 employees furloughed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Illinois Supreme Court resolved a critical question in Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) cases with an answer that threatens to devastate companies and drive settlement values in pending cases through the roof: a separate claim under the statute accrues each time a private entity scans or transmits an individual’s biometric information.

The Illinois legislature recently passed the Paid Leave for All Workers (PLFAW) Act, which will require most Illinois employers to provide their employees working in Illinois with up to 40 hours of paid leave they can take for any reason during a designated 12-month period. Once signed by Governor Pritzker, the PLFAW Act will become effective on January 1, 2024.

We are finally moving past the plethora of pandemic-era employment laws that riddled this blog over the past two years. However, not all will be quiet in 2023, as the breadth of pending U.S. Supreme Court cases and issues agencies are reviewing is wide and has the potential to disrupt several industries. This recap and forecast highlights a few of those topics.