In an important decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s ruling in favor of the employer and clarified that “interfering, restraining, and denying are distinct ways of violating the FMLA.”
Summertime often means summer hours and time out of the office. As such, some employers may have missed that the City of Chicago recently amended its sexual harassment ordinance to expand the definition of “sexual harassment,” to impose new policy and training requirements, to impose additional record keeping requirements, and to increase monetary penalties.
For those employers looking to think, talk and worry about something besides COVID-19, we have just the topic: the Illinois Freedom to Work Act. In August 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law an amendment to the Act that imposes new restrictions on non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. Here’s what the Omicron variant and vaccine mandates caused you to miss.
Illinois employers now have yet another law to navigate. The state human rights statute now bans discrimination based on a candidate’s or employee’s criminal conviction unless the employer can show a “substantial relationship” exists between the conviction and the job or that the employment would involve an “unreasonable risk” to property or safety.
The Illinois Trade Secrets Act (ITSA) prohibits misappropriation of trade secrets and allows recovery of attorneys’ fees in suits to enforce the Act. A recent decision by the Appellate Court of Illinois is a cautionary tale for employers wanting to protect customer lists and other information.
Illinois, like almost every other state, adheres to the centuries-old doctrine of employment at will, which means that either an employer or an employee may terminate their relationship at any time, without notice and without reason.
More than 40 years ago, the Illinois Supreme Court first recognized the tort of retaliatory discharge as an exception to the general rule that an “at-will” employee is terminable at any time and for any or no cause. Now, the court for the first time has confirmed such claims don’t cover the nonrenewal of a fixed-term contract.
Illinois, like almost every other state, adheres to the centuries-old doctrine of employment at will, which means that either an employer or an employee may terminate their relationship at any time, without notice and without reason.
