Parental Discrimination Laws

February 17th, 2010 Posted by Madison

A recent case underscores the need for every employer to be familiar with local anti- ordinances, as well as state and federal .

 

An Illinois employer was recently forced to pay more than $300,000 for discrimination against a working mother. The award included $87,000 in attorney fees and $100,000 in damages.

 

A local Chicago ordinance prohibits employment discrimination against . While many municipalities have such laws, employers have shown little concern for them in the past, because monetary awards under such laws were rare.

 

In the Chicago case, a 39-year-old working mother of two employed by a healthcare company was paid a lower (more…)

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2008 Illinois Labor Law Posters

December 14th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

As 2008 approaches, businesses need to check their labor posters to make sure the information is up to date.

The 2008 labor law posters have gone through several changes and companies need to take appropriate action. As a result of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, the federal minimum wage rose for the first time in about 10 years from $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour. Several states raised their minimum wages at the same time.

In July, Illinois also increased the state minimum wage by 25 cents, to $7.50 per hour.

During 2007, many other states, including Texas, Maine, Utah, and North Carolina established higher state minimum wages, too.

Other changes occurred to labor laws in 2007 that required companies to modernize their posters. For example, a new tough ban on smoking at work was established in Ohio. Businesses there had to post no-smoking signs at every entrance.

The 2008 Illinois labor law posters that every employer must display are:

  • Emergency Care 
  • Victim’s Economic Security and Safety Act 
  • Equal Pay Act of 2003 
  • Unemployment Insurance 
  • Right-To-Know 
  • Minimum Wage 
  • Workers’ Compensation

In addition, under federal law, every Illinois employer must display the following posters that cover U.S. labor law:

  • Employee Polygraph Protection Act 
  • Family and Medical Leave Act 
  • USERRA – Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act 
  • Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law 
  • Federal Minimum Wage 
  • OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection

A number of states across the country enacted an increase to their state minimum wage during 2007. Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota and New Hampshire are among them.

Minimum wage wasn’t the only law that changed during 2007. Two states established new no-smoking bans.

Illinois’s new law banned smoking in almost every work environment, including casinos, restaurants and bars. In Ohio, a tough new ban on smoking at work was also enacted. Businesses were then required to post new no-smoking signs at all entrances.

Alaska amended its Child Labor Laws regarding the buying and selling of cigarettes. The law already prohibited anyone under the age of 19 from buying cigarettes, but concern arose regarding teens working in gas stations and convenience stores that sell cigarettes. Part of the concern was that these teens when unsupervised might sell cigarettes to friends who were underage. The law was changed, therefore, to also prohibit anyone under the age of 19 from selling cigarettes.

All of the changes that occurred during 2007, and those slated to occur in 2008 will require employers to update their labor law posters. If the posters are not updated, the employer could be fined.

More than a dozen states will increase their minimum wages on January 1, 2008. These include Delaware, Oregon, Washington, California, Florida, Iowa, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Vermont, Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, Montana and Ohio. The lowest rate to be increased is in Montana, where the state minimum wage will increase from $6.15 per hour to $6.25. In Missouri and New Mexico, the state rate will go to $6.50.

One of the major changes during 2007 related to minimum wage. The federal minimum wage, as a result of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, went from $5.15 to $5.85 per hour. Nearly a dozen states increased their minimum wage on the same day.

Both state and federal law require that every employer prominently display the posters in an area where they can be seen by every employee. Popular locations are a bulletin board, near the time clock or in the break room.

The most common reason for employers to update posters includes statute changes, especially to minimum wage laws. In just the past few months, employers in New Hampshire, Nevada and Maine have updated their labor law posters as the state minimum wages changed. The most recent increase was on October 1, 2007 when the New Hampshire minimum wage increased to $6.50 per hour.

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Illinois Worker Safety Slips, Trips and Falls Poster

May 30th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Employers may have questions about the worker safety  standards when it comes to slips, trips and falls in the workplace. Slips, trips, and falls account for 15% of all accidental deaths, so employers need to put a safety awareness program in place. Only motor vehicle accidents result in more deaths.

For this reason, OSHA has revised standards for surfaces used for walking and working in places of permanent employment. Places where domestic, mining, or agricultural work is the only work performed are not included.

When it comes to preventing accidents, employers need to keep some key points in mind. For instance, if a business uses mechanical handling equipment, all the aisles in the buildings need to be wide enough for two people to pass. The aisles also need to be kept clean and free of obstructions.

If the aisles aren’t wide enough or they are blocked by obstructions, injuries to employees, along with equipment and material damage, can occur. Moreover, aisles must be wide enough so that in an emergency, employees can exit without injury.

To help workers remember the danger  that slips, trips, and falls pose, employers should post an Illinois Slips Trips Falls Poster. Workers need to clean up any spills or messes from dropped items immediately. In addition, OSHA requires that all workroom floors be kept clean and as dry as possible. If a business uses a wet process, the employer should properly maintain the drains, plus supply gratings, mats, and when necessary, raised platforms to prevent worker injuries.

Keeping workspaces clean and orderly is important in preventing worker injuries. Areas such as passageways, service rooms, and storerooms should be kept clean. Moreover, these areas should be in good repair and free from loose boards, holes, splinters, and protruding nails.

Slips, trips, and falls make up the majority of accidents that happen in general industry. Good housekeeping can help prevent these accidents.

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Illinois Labor Law Posters

October 4th, 2006 Posted by Mark

Our quest to uncover the truths and the important details about labor posters continues, this time with our focus on Labor Law Posters. We’ve covered California and Oregon on the West Coast, and New York and Connecticut on the East Coast, so it’s about time that we branch out and look at some of the Mid-America states again.

The Illinois Labor Law Posters contain the usual mix of state based and federal based posters, and we’ve looked at that mix in detail in previous blog entries, so I will not repeat myself here (and bore you there). Instead, my plan—as it’s been with other states’ labor law and employment posters lately—is to get “knee-deep,” as I like to say, in one of the posters in the Illinois Labor Law Posters.

That poster in the Illinois Labor Law Posters will be today the equal pay for equal work posting, which basically covers the issues of -based at the work site, or gender-based in other words.

The equal pay for equal work posting in the Illinois Labor Law Posters states at its very top a very interesting and revealing fact, which also explains why these posters could be necessary in the first place. The posting starts by saying that in the state of Illinois, women earn 71 cents for every one dollar that a man makes. That means that women make more than 25 percent less than men do on average for doing the same amount of work.

The posting then goes on to illustrate that unfair equation with a picture of 71 cents in change, compared to an actual dollar bill, with the words “for here” and “for him” over each picture of money.

Then this posting in the Illinois Labor Law Posters clearly states next that “Equal Pay is the Law.”

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Cartoon Safety Posters

September 15th, 2006 Posted by Mark

Sometimes safety can be a prime objective of employers, when really, employers should always have safety on their mind. Workers’ comp and disability is a major concern for employers large and small alike, and we all know how much health care costs in this country now.

That’s where Cartoon Safety Posters come in. Cartoon Safety Posters are a simple, effective, and inexpensive way to keep your employees’ minds on safety. They can be funny and educational at the same time, meaning that they’ll want to read them for the laughs, but they’ll take something valuable away from the Cartoon Safety Posters at the same time.

You might tell yourself that the key to a safer workplace is keeping it tidy, keeping it organized, and keeping it clear of tripping obstacles, slippery spills, and whatnot. And in fact, in recent surveys of employers, they believe that a safer work site can lead to safer employees.

But the key missing from that equation are the employees. They’re the ones doing the slipping and falling, they’re the ones lifting incorrectly or bending over dangerously, and they’re the ones ending up on your workers’ comp rolls.

So part of work site safety must also include educated those employees, or at least reminded them what they already know. Enter the Cartoon Safety Posters. They can cover topics from all “walks of life” in the workplace, and do so effectively.

You can find, for instance, Cartoon Safety Posters on electrical safety, on fire safety, on eye safety, on forklift safety, on Hazmat safety, on ladder safety, and on ergonomics safety.

If you’re work force is largely office bound, there are also Cartoon Safety Posters that can covers the dangers of Cartoon Safety Posters, and even cover some of the ways to exercise in the office as well to prevent eye strain, stiff backs, and sore typing fingers.

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