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A new year always brings updates in state employment laws and 2024 will be no exception. Below is a review of the laws going into effect in Illinois. All laws will be effective January 1, 2024 unless otherwise indicated.
Paid Leave for All Workers Act
The Paid Leave for All Workers Act will mandate up to 40 hours of paid leave for any reason during a 12-month period. Workers in Illinois can begin using their time off on March 31, 2024 or 90 days after they begin their employment.
Chicago Paid Time Off
In addition to the Illinois law, the City of Chicago just recently passed the Chicago Paid Time Off ordinance which guarantees up to forty hours of paid time off and forty hours of paid sick time for all employees in Chicago. The paid time off may be used for any reason of the employee’s choosing, subject to the terms of the employer’s reasonable paid leave policy. The sick leave may be used for when the employee or employee’s family member is ill, injured or in need of care. The ordinance will go into effect on December 31, 2023.
Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act
In addition to Paid Leave for any reason, Illinois employees will also be provided unpaid, job-protected leave under the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act (“CEBL”) should they experience the loss of a child by suicide or homicide. The CEBL will require employers who have 250 or more full-time employees to provide up to 12 weeks of leave per year, while employers who have 50 to 249 full-time employees will be required to provide up to six weeks of leave per year. Employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees are exempt from the CEBL.
Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act
Already in place as of August 2023, the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act (“DTLS”) provides significant new protections to day and temporary workers. The DTLS is mandating new obligations on both temporary labor services agencies and their third-party clients to notify and train temporary workers on safety hazards at the workplace. In addition, temporary labor services agencies will be required to pay temporary workers who are assigned to a third-party client for more than 90 days wages and benefits equal to the lowest-paid comparable direct-hire employee at the third-party client. The DTLS further imposes an obligation on temporary labor service agencies to notify the temporary workers in a language they understand of a strike or labor trouble at the third-party client’s workplace to which the worker is assigned. Finally, the DTLS is expanding the available penalties and provides for a new right of action for an aggrieved party but only after exhausting administrative remedies with the Illinois Department of Labor.
Gender Violence Act
Illinois’ Gender Violence Act which is already in place will now extend protection to employees who experience gender violence in the workplace. Employees will be able to sue their employer if they experience gender-related violence committed by a co-worker or agent of their employer and the violence arises “out of an in the course of employment with the employer.”
Freelance Worker Protection Act
Effective July 1, 2024, the Freelance Worker Protection Act will require employers to pay freelance workers (defined as independent contractors who provide products/services worth at least $500) all compensation due under a contract within 30 days of completion of the contracted services. The FWPA will prohibit the hiring entity from conditioning timely payment on the freelance worker’s acceptance of less compensation once they have begun performing the contracted services.
Illinois Personnel Record Review Act
The Illinois Personnel Record Review Act (“PRRA”) has been amended under HB3733 to require employers to provide employees with copies of the personnel records via email or mail regardless of whether the employee can prove that they are unable to view the records in person. Employers may continue to charge the requesting employees a fee for making copies of the personnel records up to the actual cost of the copies. HB3733 also requires employers to distribute the mandatory notices under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, Illinois Equal Pay Act, Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, and Illinois Child Labor Law to employees via email, by posting to the employer’s website, or by posting materials on the employer’s intranet site. The employer should use the website or intranet site only in the instance that it uses the site to regularly communicate with employees. The amendment takes into consideration the increase in remote employees who do not regularly go to the workplace where the notices would ordinarily be posted.
Should employers in Illinois have any questions or just want to confirm that they are in compliance with the new state laws, they should contact their counsel as soon as possible. Segal McCambridge’s team of employment lawyers is always available to advise regarding updates in the law and to review an employer’s company policies.
