Employment Law Update: New Laws for 2025 (Illinois)
States and some cities were especially active this year passing workplace legislation, many of which create new compliance obligations for employers. Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI) has been tracking these laws as they worked their way through the legislative and regulatory processes before going into effect on January 1, 2025. Below is our annual summary of these new laws and regulations. This article, which focuses on laws taking effect in or around January 1, 2025, is not intended to be an exhaustive discussion of every single new employment and labor law, does not include the host of new minimum wage laws,1 and is intended to be informative but not to constitute specific legal advice for any employer.
Bill / Ordinance Number | Main Topic of Legislation | Summary | Effective Date |
Discrimination and Harassment | Prohibits employment discrimination based on an individual's family responsibilities. | 1/1/2025 | |
Pay Transparency | Requires employers with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale and benefits for a position in all job postings. | 1/1/2025 | |
Personnel Records | Specifies the categories of documents that every employee has a legal right to inspect and copy; provides that an employee can sue an employer if the state Department of Labor does not resolve their complaint under the law within 180 days. | 1/1/2025 | |
Discrimination | Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on reproductive health decisions. | 1/1/2025 | |
Discrimination and Harassment | Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to allow a court to award restitution to a person injured by a pattern or practice of discrimination; increases the civil penalty amounts for violations. | 1/1/2025 | |
Whistleblowing | Provides that an employer may not take retaliatory action against an employee who discloses or threatens to disclose information about an activity that they in good faith believe violates the law. | 1/1/2025 | |
Military/ Veterans Status Protections | Expands the definition of armed forces or uniformed services to include the U.S. Space Force for purposes of employment protections for military service members. | 1/1/2025 | |
Wage Statements | Amends the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act to require employers to maintain a copy of an employee's pay stub for at least 3 years and provide employees with copies of their pay stubs upon request. | 1/1/2025 | |
Discrimination and Harassment | Changes the statute of limitations for filing a discrimination or harassment complaint under the Illinois Human Rights Act from 300 days to two years after the civil rights violation was allegedly committed. | 1/1/2025 | |
Child Labor | Increases restrictions on employment of minors under 16, including limitations on hours of work, and sets forth additional requirements for employers employing minors. Repeals prior law and replaces it with the Child Labor Law of 2024. | 1/1/2025 | |
Mandatory Employer-Sponsored Meetings | Provides that an employer or their agent may not discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize an employee for declining to attend or participate in an employer-sponsored meeting that relates to religious or political matters, including “the decision to join or support any …labor organization.” | 1/1/2025 | |
Discrimination: Employment Eligibility Verification | Provides additional employment protections for individuals flagged by an employment eligibility verification system, including federal E-Verify, as having identification discrepancies. Prohibits an employer from imposing work authorization verification or re-verification requirements greater than those required by federal law and requires an employer to provide certain notices to employees. | 1/1/2025 |
Source(s): Littler, received on November 25, 2024