A Slew of Employment Law Changes Await Illinois Employers in 2025
With the upcoming change in presidential administrations, the employment law landscape at the federal level will undoubtedly see significant upheaval, though the nature and scope of anticipated changes have yet to be fully articulated. Whatever uncertainty may cloud federal employment laws and regulations, no such lack of clarity exists at the state level here in Illinois.
A slew of new Illinois employment laws and amendments to existing ones will go into effect in 2025, and they are unlikely to be affected by whatever machinations go on in Washington. To the extent that they have not already done so, Illinois employers should understand the impact of these changes on their employment policies and practices and take the steps needed to ensure compliance. Latimer LeVay Fyock’s employment law attorneys stand ready to assist employers and guide them through the thicket of new legal obligations. Broadly speaking, however, New Year’s Day 2025 will see the dawn of new employer duties and employee rights in Illinois, including the following:
Pay Transparency
Illinois joins a host of other states and local jurisdictions in requiring employers to put their compensation cards on the table when advertising or posting job listings. Pursuant to an amendment to the Equal Pay Act of 2003 that was contained in HB 3129, and as of Jan. 1, 2025, all Illinois employers with 15 or more employees must include pay scale and benefits information in job postings.
The pay disclosure requirements apply only to those jobs that (1) will be performed, at least in part, in Illinois, or (2) will be performed outside of Illinois if the hired employee will report to a supervisor, office, or other work site in Illinois. Additional aspects of the law require disclosures relating to internal job opportunities and impose specific recordkeeping obligations.
Paystub Access and Recordkeeping
Illinois employers already have to provide employees with either printed or electronic paystubs every pay period. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, they will also need to provide paystubs to present or former employees within 21 days upon request. The paystub amendments to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act also impose new record retention requirements as well as the content of payment of paystubs.
Access to Personnel Records
Effective Jan. 1, 2025, changes to the Illinois Personnel Records Review Act expand the types of personnel records employees have a right to request and shorten the time within which employers must provide them. A maximum of two times each calendar year, an employee can ask for and is entitled to receive copies of records related to their benefits, employee handbooks, employment agreements, and employee policies and practices.
Expanded Discrimination Protections for Reproductive Health and Family Responsibilities
The Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) already contains a host of protections for employees against discrimination for a wide range of reasons, but amendments to the act, effective on Jan. 1, 2025, add two significant new categories of prohibited employment discrimination.
As of that date, Illinois employers will be prohibited from discriminating against or harassing employees due to their “reproductive health decisions,” defined in the amendments as a person's decisions regarding the use of contraception, fertility or sterilization care, assisted reproductive technologies like IVF, miscarriage management care, healthcare related to the continuation or termination of pregnancy, or prenatal, intranatal, or postnatal care.
Additionally, employers cannot discriminate based on an employee's “family responsibilities,” which means an employee’s actual or perceived provision of personal care to a family member, including the employee’s child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent or stepparent.
Extended Time For Employees To File Discrimination Charges
Another amendment to the IHRA significantly extends the time within which an aggrieved employee can file discrimination charges under the act. Currently, an employee must file a discrimination charge with the Illinois Department of Human Rights within 300 days of the alleged violation. As of Jan. 1, 2025, that deadline is extended to two years.
E-Verify Obligations and Limitations
Changes to the Illinois Right To Privacy Act, effective Jan. 1, 2025, clarified that state law does not require private employers to enroll in any electronic employment verification system, including E-Verify, unless required by federal law. Employers may choose to enroll in such systems but cannot impose work authorization requirements greater than those under federal law.
Among other changes related to employment verification, an employer that receives notification from any agency regarding a work authorization discrepancy cannot take any adverse action against the employee, including reverification, based solely on receipt of the notice and must notify the affected employee of the issue.
Limits of Forced “Political” Meetings and Communications
As of Jan. 1, 2025, employers cannot force employees to attend meetings or receive communications regarding “political matters” and cannot retaliate against those employees who refuse to attend or who opt out of receiving such communications. The Worker Freedom of Speech Act’s ban on “captive meetings” applies to a broad range of political and religious subjects and, significantly, includes those that discuss “the decision to join or support any … labor organization.”
Remedies for violations of this new law include injunctive relief, reinstatement, back pay, reestablishment of employee benefits, and any other appropriate relief.
These brief descriptions merely scratch the surface of the new Illinois employment law landscape, with each change or new law containing many nuances and details that require employers’ attention, understanding, and action. If you have questions or concerns about these changes to the law or your obligations as an employer generally, please communicate with your contact at Latimer LeVay Fyock for assistance.
