• An amendment to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act mandates reimbursement of certain employee expenses.
• Development of a detailed expense reimbursement policy for Illinois employees is strongly advised....more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously confirmed on Tuesday that the protections against age discrimination in the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) apply to all state and local government employers...more
• The number of class actions brought under Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has increased substantially each year since its passage in 2008.
• One of the main issues facing litigants is what constitutes...more
8/6/2018
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Consent ,
Data Protection ,
Data Retention ,
Data Security ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
New Guidance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Preemption ,
Railway Labor Act ,
Standing ,
Unions
• In Troester v. Starbucks Corporation, the California Supreme Court on July 26, 2018, resoundingly rejected the de minimis doctrine commonly applied under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to claims for unpaid...more
7/27/2018
/ CA Supreme Court ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Starbucks ,
State Labor Laws ,
Timekeeping ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
• The California Supreme Court's widely anticipated decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court sets a new standard for determining employee versus independent contractor status for purposes of California Wage...more
5/2/2018
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
IWC ,
Labor Code ,
Misclassification ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
• In Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Hector Navarro, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court decided 5-4 that service advisors at car dealerships are exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
• The Court held...more
4/3/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Car Dealerships ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Over-Time ,
Sales Commissions ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Wage and Hour
• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that employers are once again permitted to implement changes to terms of employment that are consistent with past practice without needing to give notice to and bargain...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that an employer's refusal to offer an employee a two- or three-month medical leave of absence following his exhaustion of his Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)...more
10/11/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
An emerging area of the law has become the focal point in a new class action lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In Baron v. Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc., et al. (No....more
5/26/2017
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fingerprints ,
Notice Requirements ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Private Right of Action ,
Statutory Damages ,
Supermarkets
In a landmark decision issued on April 4, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, No. 15-1720 (en banc) that discrimination in employment based on one's...more
The Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act took effect on Jan. 1, 2017. The act generally requires that employers who provide sick leave allow employees to use up to one-half of their available annual accrual for the care of...more
On Nov. 22, 2016, a federal district judge in Texas enjoined the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) final rule increasing the minimum salary level threshold to qualify for an exemption from the overtime requirements of the Fair...more
The Cook County (Ill.) Board on Oct. 26, 2016, passed an increase to the county's minimum wage. The county's current minimum wage of $8.25 will increase to $10 per hour on July 1, 2017, then will rise to $11 on July 1, 2018,...more
Chicago has joined a growing list of states and cities that require employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. The paid sick leave provisions were added as an amendment to the Chicago Minimum Wage Ordinance –...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on May 18, 2016, released its rule updating overtime regulations for executive, administrative and professional employees (commonly referred to as white collar employees) under the Fair...more
A newly filed lawsuit in California and a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit serve as reminders to employers that the protection of sensitive employee information from cyberthreats remains...more
5/4/2016
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Hackers ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PF Chang's ,
Phishing Scams ,
Restaurant Industry ,
W-2
The Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act (Act) provides that employees who are discharged for "misconduct" are ineligible for unemployment benefits. In Petrovic v. Department of Employment Security, 2016 IL 118562, decided...more
The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) released proposed rules regulating pregnancy discrimination and accommodation in employment. Released on July 17, 2015, these rules are authorized by the Illinois Pregnancy...more
On June 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule updating overtime regulations for executive, administrative and professional employees (commonly referred to as white collar employees). The DOL...more
In Coats v. Dish Network, the Colorado Supreme Court held that the state’s “lawful activities” statute did not limit the right of an employer to discharge an employee for the employee’s lawful (under Colorado law) use of...more
6/22/2015
/ CO Supreme Court ,
Coats v Dish Network ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability ,
Dish Network ,
Drug Testing ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lawful Activities Act ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Non-Work Hours ,
Wrongful Termination
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently published updated health care provider certification forms for employers to provide employees who request leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) due to any one of the...more
6/16/2015
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Leave ,
Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Genetic Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Healthcare ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Leave of Absence ,
Military Caregiver Leave ,
Required Forms ,
Safe Harbors ,
Title II ,
Veterans
Beginning July 1, 2015, Chicago's minimum wage will increase to $10.00 per hour. This is the first of a series of tiered minimum wage increases. The new minimum wage rate is $1.75 higher than the current Illinois minimum wage...more
On August 26, 2014, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed House Bill 8, amending the Illinois Human Rights Act by placing new obligations on employers with respect to pregnant employees. The new changes take effect on January 1,...more
Effective Jan. 1, 2015, employers in Illinois will have to follow new requirements in order to pay wages using payroll cards. The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA) currently provides for wage payment by check...more
Illinois joins the growing number of states and localities across the country that have "ban-the-box" laws. Statutes that limit inquiry about criminal history during the application and hiring process are known informally as...more