Friday, Governor Pritzker signed Senate Bill 3650 (SB 3650), which amends the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act (the “Act”) -- AGAIN. This is the 3rd major amendment to the Act in just over a year. The impact of...more
8/12/2024
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Training ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Illinois ,
Job Duties ,
Labor Disputes ,
Seniority ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Temporary Employees ,
Wage and Hour
On June 24, 2024, a federal district court judge enjoined parts of the United States Department of Labor’s (US DOL's) August 23, 2023 prevailing wage rule that greatly expanded the definition of “construction” on federal...more
7/11/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Construction Workers ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Prevailing Wages ,
SCOTUS ,
Supply Chain ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wage and Hour
A federal judge in Texas denied a private company’s request to halt the U.S. Department of Labor’s FIRST PHASE of its new FLSA salary level rule. As you recall, the first phase of the new rule went into effect on July 1,...more
7/3/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Texas ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On May 26, 2024, the Illinois Legislature passed Senate Bill 3649 – titled the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act.” The legislation prohibits virtually all Illinois employers from discharging or disciplining any employee, or from...more
1. Higher Salary Overtime pay salaryThreshold for OT Exempt Employees… The annualized salary level for anyone classified as exempt from OT pursuant to the FLSA’s white-collar exemptions (executive, administrative,...more
4/24/2024
/ Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiduciary ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Over-Time ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement ,
Salaried Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
In a case Employment book with gavelfiled in the Northern District of Illinois (Staffing Services Association of IL, et. al. vs. Jane Flanagan, Director of the IL Department of Labor), a federal district court granted...more
With the January 1, 2024, effective date of the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (IPLAWA) quickly approaching, employers need to ensure they are analyzing their existing paid leave policies to determine what changes...more
On July 28, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed into law a number of amendments to Illinois’ Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA), including HB 3370, which amends the IPWA to include “power washing.” Specifically, the term “public works”...more
Hold onto your hard hat! What you thought you knew about federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law is changing --- substantially changing decades of well-established rules, precedent and interpretations as to the applicability...more
9/20/2023
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Construction Workers ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Green Energy ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Entering 2023, the union membership rate dropped to a new historic low of 10.1%. Among private sector workers, the numbers were even more bleak for unions: just 6% of the overall private sector workforce is now unionized...more
The Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, new legislation passed under House Bill 2862 further adds in the regulation of temporary labor, including substantial new safety obligations and training mandates employers...more
8/17/2023
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Training ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Illinois ,
New Legislation ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Temporary Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
Webinars ,
Workplace Safety
Illinois temporary staffing agencies are already highly regulated under the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act. New legislation passed under House Bill 2862 goes leaps and bounds further in the regulation of...more
2022 is now “in the books” and organized labor has to be reeling seeing the latest news. Despite all of those sensational headlines involving a few high profile employers facing union organizing drives last year, the union...more
Employers with 100 or more employees in Illinois have begun receiving notice that it is time for their business to comply with obtaining their Equal Pay Act Registration Certificate (“EPRC”). In order to obtain the EPRC from...more
Court decisions dealing with and interpreting the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act do not occur with great regularity. So when an interesting decision comes down, we feel it is worth reporting on and should be noted by those...more
Last year Illinois enacted amendments to its own Equal Pay Act, which requires unprecedented reporting of race, gender, and ethnicity statistics along with pay data of Illinois based employees. This reporting requirement is...more
If you have frequented the SmithAmundsen Labor & Employment Blog, you may recall that we previously reported on one of the very first actions taken by Governor Pritzker immediately following his inauguration in January 2019....more
Good, bad or otherwise… no matter your own personal or professional viewpoint, the fact is the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is poised to usher in new reforms and implement pro-labor priorities with the intent of...more
Employers of all sizes and industries, operating anywhere in the U.S., need to conduct HR Audits regularly. In 2021 and beyond, it is critical to carefully evaluate all aspects of how to properly and lawfully administer and...more
As we previously blogged about, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill 1480, which, in relevant part, provides that unless otherwise authorized by law, an employer may only consider an individual’s criminal conviction...more
Contractors, developers, architects, owners, project managers and even public bodies often ask the same obvious question when dealing with any type of prevailing wage ordinance or law, “what are my obligations?” While...more
Back in early 2019, one of the very first actions taken by the new administration in Illinois was to amend the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA). While many changes took effect in 2019, one material change was set to become...more
On August 13, 2019, Illinois Comptroller, Susana Mendoza, signed an Executive Order (EO) aimed at enforcement of the state’s prevailing wage law (aka mandatory top line union wage/benefits scale) for “construction” projects...more
Organized labor wasted no time in securing Governor Pritzker’s signature on legislation that undoubtedly calls for the Illinois prevailing wage rate to fall in lock step with the area union contracts. ...more
Having handled countless prevailing wage disputes, the local, state or federal administrative agency assigned to administer compliance (i.e. the US Department of Labor) is the only government entity that can lawfully...more