By: Jessica Jackler On April 29, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter providing guidance for gig economy companies on when to properly classify workers as independent contractors versus employees. Independent contractors are not subject to minimum wage and overtime requirements imposed by the Fair Labor Standards […]

By: Cary Schwimmer Every anti-discrimination statute contains a provision prohibiting the employer from retaliating against an employee for making a discrimination claim. Employers may not retaliate against employees who make an internal discrimination complaint; file a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or similar state or local […]

By: Jessica Jackler On April 1, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its proposed rule to narrow the definition of a joint employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL has not meaningfully revised its joint employer regulation in over 60 years. According to the DOL, this proposal would […]

By: Jessica Jackler The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division has issued three new opinion letters that address compliance issues related to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An opinion letter is an official, written opinion by the DOL on how […]

By: Jessica Jackler On February 19, Gov. Pritzker signed the “Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act” into law, incrementally raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. The minimum wage is scheduled to increase with a series of hourly rate adjustments over the next five years until […]

By: Jessica Jackler On January 23, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) does not extend to disparate impact claims for job applicants. In Kleber v. CareFusion Corp., No. 17-1206 (7th Cir. 2018), the 58-year-old plaintiff applied for a senior in-house attorney position […]

By: Jessica Jackler and Storrs Downey The Illinois Supreme Court has unanimously ruled against Six Flags Entertainment Corp. in a landmark Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) case. The ruling will certainly impact claims against employers in the future for failing to properly notify and obtain consent from employees about the collection […]

By: Jessica B. Jackler Now that we have entered 2019, there are a number of changes to Illinois law that employers should be familiar with and update their policies accordingly. Recent amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) broaden employee rights and require affirmative actions by employers. Although some of […]

By: Jessica B. Jackler The 2018 Illinois General Election will take place on Tuesday, November 6. Under the current political climate, the push to encourage voters to make it to the polls is palpable. Employers may be wondering what their obligations are to provide time off for their employees to vote. […]

By: Jessica B. Jackler Earlier this month, the Seventh Circuit ruled that the district court erred in granting the defendant’s pretrial motion for summary judgment in plaintiff’s action under Title VII and the Illinois Human Rights Act. In Frey v. Hotel Coleman, No. 17-2267 (September 11, 2018), plaintiff alleged that the […]