Last month, Governor Bruce Rauner signed Public Act 100-0554 to, among other things, combat sexual harassment in Illinois. Employers should recognize that several of the Act’s mandates go into effect in the New Year.
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Chicago City Council Committee Approves Hands Off-Pants On Ordinance to Protect Hotel Employees
On October 2, 2017, the Chicago City Council Committee on Workplace Development and Audit approved an amendment to the Municipal Code (the “Ordinance”) that, if approved by the full City Council, will require hotel employers to equip hotel employees assigned to work in guestrooms or restrooms with portable emergency contact devices and develop and implement new anti-sexual harassment policies and procedures. The Ordinance is in response to multiple reports of sexual assault and harassment targeted at hotel employees by hotel guests.
Continue Reading Chicago City Council Committee Approves Hands Off-Pants On Ordinance to Protect Hotel Employees
The Continued Uncertainty of Paid Sick Leave Laws
Just days after Cook County passed its Paid Sick Leave Ordinance on October 5, 2016, several Cook County suburbs began the process of opting out of the law. So far, four have successfully done so. On November 15, 2016, Barrington was the first to pass its own municipal ordinance opting out of Cook County’s Ordinance, which requires all employers in Cook County to allow eligible employees to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave each year. Oak Forest, Rosemont, and Bedford Park passed their own opt-out ordinances on December 13, December 15, 2016, and January 12, 2017, respectively.
Continue Reading The Continued Uncertainty of Paid Sick Leave Laws
Dissecting New Sick Leave Laws in Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago
Last month, Cook County passed an ordinance requiring employers in the County to provide eligible employees with certain paid sick leave benefits. The ordinance largely mirrors a recent amendment to the Chicago Minimum Wage Ordinance, which was passed in July 2016. Both are scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2017, and a new Illinois law pertaining to sick pay benefits is set to take effect on January 1, 2017.
Cook County’s ordinance applies to employees throughout the county except where a home rule municipality has passed its own sick leave law. So far, Chicago is the only home rule municipality in the County to have done so, although some other cities in Cook County have expressed an intent to potentially opt out of the ordinance. In addition to these two new ordinances, the state of Illinois has also passed a new law that extends sick pay benefits to family members of employees.Continue Reading Dissecting New Sick Leave Laws in Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago