Employment Law Alerts

ATTENTION CHICAGO EMPLOYERS: New Sexual Harassment Poster

CHICAGO EMPLOYERS – PLEASE POST THIS NEW SEXUAL HARASSMENT POSTER NO LATER THAN JULY 1, 2022.

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CHANGES IN CHICAGO MINIMUM WAGE AND WORKING SCHEDULES

The City of Chicago has announced changes to the Chicago minimum wage and the Fair Workweek Ordinance effective as of July 1, 2022.

As of July 1, 2022, the Chicago minimum wage will be:

$15.40 for employers with 21 or more employees and all domestic workers (regardless of the number employed);
$14.50 for employers with 4-20 employees;
$9.24 for tipped employees working for employers with 21 or more employees (employers must make up the difference between any tips received and the applicable minimum wage for non-tipped workers); and
$8.70 for tipped employees working for employers with 4-20 employees (employers must make up the difference between any tips received and the applicable minimum wage for non-tipped workers).

As of July 1, 2022, scheduled enhancements to the Fair Workweek Ordinance will require:

Employers in covered industries (covered industries including building services, healthcare, hotel, manufacturing, restaurant, retail, or warehouse services) to post work schedules with at least 14 days’ notice (an increase from the previous ten days’ notice); and
The schedules of employees who earn less than $29.35 per hour, or $56,381.85 per year, are now covered by the Fair Workweek Ordinance.

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ILLINOIS EMPLOYERS – NEW REST AND MEAL BREAK LAWS EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2023

Please see the chart below for the changes to the One Day Rest in Seven Act – this is the law that addresses, among other things, meal breaks for Illinois employees —

Issue	Current	1/1/2023 Change
When 1 day rest in 7 must be provided	At least 24 hours of rest every Sunday - Saturday	At least 24 hours of rest in every consecutive 7 day period
Additional Meal Breaks	A second meal break is required only if the employee is working an additional 7 ½ continuous hours	A second 20 minute meal break is required for every 4 ½ continuous hours worked
Poster Requirement	In the regular workplace	Must also be provided on website or e-mail for remote employees or employees who travel for work
Penalties for Violation	A petty offense	A civil offense for each day of violation, with amount of fine dependent on employer size

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NEW ALERT – CITY OF CHICAGO EMPLOYERS

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/cchr/supp_info/sexual-harassment.html

Employers in the City of Chicago will be subject to additional rules effective July 1, 2022. Briefly –

All Chicago employers must have a written sexual harassment policy.
With respect to training:
1. All employees must have 1 hour of sexual harassment prevention training (the training you do to comply with Illinois law will fulfill this requirement).
2. All Supervisors and Managers must have an additional 1 hour of sexual harassment prevention training. Gregg and I can help you with this requirement.
  The City has said it will also make a module available.
3. All employees must have 1 hour of bystander training – that is, what should a “witness” do when they see something occurring? We have been teaching bystander intervention for years and can help with this if needed. The City has said it will also make a module available.
4. There will be a mandatory poster.
5. Your harassment policy will need to be translated for employees for whom English is not their first language.
6. Even if you have only one remote employee in Chicago, you need to follow the new law.

The link above provides further information and additional links.

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Illinois law prohibits smoking in the workplace.

But did you know it does not prohibit the use of e-cigarettes or vaping?????

The law of some cities does, but very few. If you want to update your “no smoking in the workplace” policy to include e-cigarettes and vaping, and need some help doing so, let us know.

Just a reminder, if you accepted expired documents in connection with the I-9 Form as temporarily permitted by the Department of Homeland Security due to the difficulty of getting documents during COVID – do know that:

• As of May 1, 2022, you can no longer accept expired documents. If you accept expired documents under the temporary policy, you have to get current documents from the employee and update the Form by July 22, 2022.

The link above has further information – call us with any questions.

CHICAGO EMPLOYERS – PLEASE POST THIS NEW SEXUAL HARASSMENT POSTER AS OF JULY 1, 2022

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