A few of these went into effect this past July, but employers doing their new year review should ensure they've been implemented in the workplace:
1. Minimum Wage is $11 (increasing by a buck a year until 2025).
2. All employees are covered by the Illinois Human Rights Act, making it illegal to discriminate or retaliate against workers based on numerous protected categories regardless of workforce size (a covered employer is no longer 15+ employees).
3. Annual sexual harassment training is mandatory.
4. C19: Employers may continue to require: employees to go and stay home if exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms; masks and social distancing in the workplace; temperature screening; a doctor's note or negative Covid-19 test before returning to work after quarantine; and details about an employee's symptoms when calling in sick to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
5. Ensure compliance with 2019's Workplace Transparency Act, which requires, among other things, changes to: discrimination prohibition as now applicable to actual and perceived protected characteristics and certain nonemployees (contractors, vendors, and consultants at the workplace); arbitration agreements exclusions; non-disclosure/non-disparagement provisions requiring certain terms; and annual disclosure reports related to adverse judgments and settlement agreements.