Wednesday, November 04, 2009

3 New Illinois Laws Release

Recently there are three new employment bills signing into law by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. The laws address wage discrimination at the state level and increase the rights of victims of domestic abuse.

The first law is Expanded Leave Rights.
Illinois Victims Economic Security and Safety Act has an amendment which requires employers to extend unpaid, job-protected leave to victims of domestic violence or sexual violence. The new law will be effective August 24, 2009.

Under the new law, employers with 50 or more workers must provide up to 12 weeks of FMLA-type leave to employees who are victims of rape, sexual assault or another type of sexual violence, and the law requires employers with 15 to 49 employees to provide 8 weeks of unpaid leave. Employers must also extend the same benefits to victims of domestic violence of any kind.

The second law is New Illinois Discrimination Law.
Under a new Illinois discrimination law, victims of stalkers, domestic violence and other crimes are protected from employment discrimination. The amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits the employer from discriminating against an employee who is protected by an order of protection or a similar order issued in anther state. This law goes into effect on January 1, 2010.

Under the law, the employer cannot make employment decisions based entirely or in part on whether a worker is shielded by an order of protection.

The third one is Illinois Ledbetter Equal Pay Act.
In the final law, the state enacted protections against discrimination in pay similar to the federal Lilly Ledbetter Act. Under that law, when pay discrimination exists, each paycheck resets the statute of limitations in filing a discrimination claim under the Illinois Equal Pay Act. This law became effective on August 14, 2009.

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