In 2023, new laws will be introduced that affect employers in Illinois. The Illinois legislature has passed more than 180 laws that took effect January 1st. This article highlights three of his advancements for employers in Illinois. This includes rest and meal break requirements, bereavement leave updates, and hair-based discrimination protections.
Break and meal break requirements
Amendments to the One Day Rest in Seven Act (ODRISA) include five changes employers should keep in mind for the new year.
- Mandatory Rest Days: This law requires employers to give employees 24 consecutive hours of rest “every seven consecutive days” instead of the previously established “every calendar week”. Employers can no longer schedule an employee to work more than seven days in a row for two weeks without taking a single day off. Employers who want an employee to work more than her six consecutive days must obtain a waiver from the Illinois Department of Labor and cannot exceed eight weeks per year.
- Additional Meal Breaks: In addition to providing a 20-minute meal break for employees who work 7.5 hours continuously, employers are now requiring employees to take a 20-minute meal break for every additional 4.5 hours I have to allow myself to take a break. The amendment clarifies that meal breaks “do not include reasonable time spent using restroom facilities.”
- Increased Penalties for Violations: Violations now carry civil penalties up to five times the previous $100 cap. You can also pay damages directly to your employees in addition to fines to the state. Employers with fewer than 25 employees will be fined up to $250 in penalties due to the Illinois Department of Labor and in damages up to $250 per violation paid to affected employees. There is a possibility. An employer with 25 or more employees of hers may be subject to fines of up to $500 owed to the Illinois Department of Labor and damages of up to $500 owed to employees. Each week that an employee fails to provide her 24-hour break in a row is a separate violation, and each day that the employee is not provided with a meal break is a separate violation.
- Notice Requirement: The amendment would require employers to prominently post a notice in the workplace outlining information about employee rights under ODRISA and how to file a complaint, provided by the Illinois Department of Labor. Employers must also provide notice by email or on her website for traveling and remote employees.
- Excluded Employees: A second amendment to ODRISA no longer applies to employees whose working hours, working days and periods of rest have been established through a collective bargaining process. This includes excluded employees, including individuals employed in “bona fide executive, managerial, or professional capacity, or outside salesman capacity,” as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). added to the previous list of A supervisor as defined in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). A part-time employee who works less than or equal to her 20 hours per week. An employee subject to collective bargaining may waive his ODRISA requirements by making explicit alternative terms in the collective bargaining agreement, but the State Department of Labor does It states that silence leads to legal violations. His ODRISA requirements that apply to those employees regardless of union status.
Prior to 2023, affected employees could not recover damages for ODRISA violations. New Penalty Provision Allowing Employee to Recover Money Gives Employee Financial Incentive to Report Her ODRISA Violations, Increases Number of Complaints Filed Against Employers Statewide There is likely to be.
Expansion of bereavement leave
Illinois has enacted amendments to the Child Bereavement Leave Act (CBLA). The law required employers to provide employees with up to 10 days of unpaid leave per year to mourn the death of a child. This amendment expands the scope of the CBLA and renames it the Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA).
FBLA provides employees with up to 10 days of unpaid leave per year to mourn the death of “Covered Family Members”, including employees’ children, stepchildren, spouses, domestic partners, siblings, parents, stepparents and mothers-in-law. Employers are required to provide , father-in-law, grandchildren or grandparents.
FBLA requires employers to provide employees with unpaid bereavement leave.
- Attend the funeral of the target family.
- Necessary arrangements will be made due to the death of an eligible family member.
- We mourn the death of the affected family members.
- Absence from work due to a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed fertility treatment, failed adoption, failed surrogacy contract, or a diagnosis that adversely affects pregnancy or fertility.
Employees are eligible to take unpaid bereavement leave after they have been employed for 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months. The employee shall notify the employer at least 45 hours in advance of the employee’s intention to take bereavement leave unless it is not reasonable or practicable under the circumstances to provide such notice. I have to. The employee must complete the bereavement leave within 60 days from the date the employee receives notice of the death of a covered family member or occurrence of a qualifying event related to pregnancy, pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy. I have to.
Employers may require reasonable documentation to substantiate an employee’s bereavement leave request. For requests related to pregnancy, fertility, adoption, or surrogacy, employers may not require employees to identify the relevant qualifying event. The Illinois Department of Labor will issue a form to be completed by employee healthcare workers. This form certifies the occurrence of such Eligible Events, but does not specifically identify which Eligible Events have occurred.
If an employee has exhausted the leave allowed under the Family Medical Leave Act, the FBLA will not entitle the employee to additional leave.
Protection against hair discrimination
The Create Respectful and Open Workplaces for Natural Hair Act (CROWN Act) amends the Illinois Human Rights Code to include hair-based discrimination protections. The bill expands and clarifies the definition of race to include “characteristics associated with race, including hair texture and protected hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists. This amendment extends these protections to employment, housing and public facilities.
Employers may not discriminate against individuals because of their hairstyle or hair texture that is actually associated with, or perceived to be associated with, a particular race. Employers may maintain dress codes and grooming policies as long as the policy restrictions do not violate the CROWN Act. Training needs to be updated. Illinois joins at least 16 other states that have adopted similar laws.
Employers should review applicable policies to ensure they are consistent with the new law.
Kerri Feczko, Marissa Ross Ingley, Darren M. Mungerson, Jeff Nowak, Maria Palivos, Jeronimo Simonovis, and William Whalen are attorneys for Littler in Chicago. © 2022. all rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
