SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

Under a new law set to take effect September 29, 2019, Illinois employers will be prohibited from, among other things, asking for an employee’s wage history during the hiring process. The law, which amends the Illinois Equal Pay Act, is designed with the intent of avoiding future pay disparity between men and women based on prior wage differences.

On July 17, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Changes to the Form I-9 instructions are fairly minimal and include:

• The Department of Justice "Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices" is now called the "Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.”
• The words “the end of” have been removed from the phrase “the first day of employment” in the description of the day on which the Form I-9 completion is required.

2016 was a busy year for employment law developments on a national level, and 2017 promises to follow suit. To help employers navigate the changes, here is a summary of major developments that may affect your business this year.

Employers should be on notice that the Department of Homeland Security has published a new edition of the Form I-9 for use beginning no later than Jan. 22, 2017.

The new Form I-9 should be used to verify identity and employment authorization for all new hires and re-verifications of expired documents.