labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed three new employment bills into law. The laws address wage discrimination at the state level, and increase the rights of victims of domestic abuse.

Expanded Leave Rights

Every Illinois employer needs to be aware of an amendment to the Illinois Victims Economic Security and Safety Act. The new law requires employers to extend unpaid, job-protected leave to victims of domestic violence or sexual violence.

Under the new law, effective August 24, 2009, 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. 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.

This new law is notable because Illinois has no family leave law at the state level – so this is the state’s first intrusion into expanding FMLA to smaller employers. Currently, there is no Illinois law that requires an employer with 15 to 49 workers to provide leave for any reasons other than sexual violence or domestic violence.

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.

Under the law, which goes into effect on January 1, 2010, the employer cannot make employment decisions based entirely or in part on whether a worker is shielded by an order of protection.  For example, the employer could not refuse to hire Jane, a teacher, simply because she has an order of protection against her ex-husband Ted. (more…)

Illinois employers can now relax — they will not face criminal charges if an employee or customer smokes on the premises.

Governor Pat Quinn signed Public Act 95-1029 into law. The bill amends the Smoke-Free Illinois act by specifying that violators will face civil – not criminal –charges. While the penalties will still include fines, they will not include jail time.

The Smoke-free Illinois Act requires that every employer post signs prohibiting smoking within 15 feet of any doors. It also prohibits smoking in all workplaces, including bars, restaurants, schools, theaters and casinos.

The Illinois non-smoking law defines smoking as carrying a lit cigarette, pipe, cigar or any other smoking material or implement. In addition, smoking, burning, inhaling and exhaling are also defined as smoking. The law specifically prohibits herbs and weeds as well as tobacco.

Smoking is prohibited 15 feet from any windows that open or ventilation intakes that serve an indoor workplace under the new law. 

The current law replaced a less-restrictive Illinois smoking ban (more…)

A new state law that permits parents to keep sons and daughters (and other dependents) on their health insurance until age 26 will affect many Illinois employers. The law also permits parents to extend coverage for dependents who are veterans until age 30.

This new law goes into effect on June 1, 2009. Families will have 90 days after their policy is renewed, to add the dependent to an existing policy. Each year thereafter, parents will be able to enroll dependents during the normal open enrollment period.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich used his amendatory veto to interject the changes into a health care bill, House Bill 5285. The original bill allows (more…)

Three Illinois worker training programs in Elgin, Peoria and Ina are the recipients of recent grants from the U.S. Department of Labor totaling $5.6 million.

Grants to train workers for the healthcare industry were awarded to Elgin Community College in Elgin, Illinois and the Peoria Workforce Development Department. The Elgin school received $1,988,958 while Peoria received a grant of $2 million.

The third grant, to train employees for the growing energy industry, went to Rend Lake College in Ina. This grant was for $1,622,155. The school recently received a separate $1.07 million grant from the state of Illinois to construct facilities for a mining technology program. Ina is a tiny town of just 2,455 people in south central Illinois. The school serves Jefferson County and the surrounding area.

Grant applicants work closely with local employers to provide skilled workers for higher paying jobs in growth industries where qualified employees are hard to find.

The Community Based Job Training Grants provides funds for community colleges and non-profit agencies to increase the capacity to train workers for positions in the local high growth industries.

The Training Grants help meet this need by providing funds to community colleges in the areas where these industries need help. The funds go to purchase updated equipment for training, to hire qualified faculty and to establish on-the-job training experiences. The local industries collaborate with the colleges to develop training curricula to give new and existing workers the skills to meet the industry needs.

Due to advances in technology, methods and procedures, many of these high demand industries have many more jobs open than they have qualified applicants to fill them. These industries include over 14 areas of the economy, such as Automotive, Energy, Hospitality, Transportation and Information Technology. These industries are currently experiencing growth or are projected to grow in the coming years.

To achieve this goal, the U. S. Department of Labor has formed strong relationships with business and industry. The Labor Department officials believe that these partnerships help boost local economies and ensure American’s competitive capability in the world market by helping Americans go to work.

Employers who invest in this Workforce Investment System gain more than just an addition to their Human Resources Department. The employers can boost profits, retain employees longer and cut recruiting costs. Also, tax credits and government training assistance are available to employers invested in the System. The programs provide referrals and screening for qualified candidates which not only fills jobs, but also increases the quality of the workforce.

The result is employees learn new skills which make them more marketable, earn higher wages, and increase eligibility for advancement. Employers get workers trained to meet their specific needs, which means increased quality of the workforce.

The competition was announced in August of 2007, and received 341 applications. The funds go to training facilities and community colleges to aid workers in competing for high-growth industry jobs.

“Preparing local residents for careers in growing hometown industries is critical to improving the quality of life of thousands of Americans,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Brent R. Orrell. “These programs will provide participants not only with the skills needed to gain employment, but the change to enter into careers that offer opportunities for advancement.”

The Community-Based Job Training Grants are aimed at areas where industries need skilled workers. The funds go to community colleges in these areas to help workers of all ages train for these skilled positions. Consider a cluster of nuclear plants in New Mexico. They need workers skilled in the energy field. A grant could be given to a local community college to train workers for those jobs.

Several factors have changed the workforce in the United States over the past few years. An aging workforce, globalization and technical innovations have put nationwide industries such as healthcare, energy and biotechnology in dire need of skilled employees.

Already several major episodes of violence in the workplace have marred 2008. That’s why ever employer should have a program to prevent workplace violence, and a plan in place to address it.

Although the federal government insists that workplace violence is decreasing, Illinois workplace violence seems to be on the uptick.

On February 2, a gunman attempted to rob the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago. The man forced the store manager and four customers into the back room, where he bound them with duct tape. When the store manager dialed 911 on her cell phone, the gunman opened fire. He killed all 5 women, and injured another employee who was just arriving for work.

A police office who was at the mall on another call responded in less than one minute, but the robber had fled.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the gunman intentionally targeted the women’s clothing store because he thought women were less likely to resist a robbery.

Also on February 14, a former graduate student at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb opened fire in an oceanography class. Five students were killed and more than a dozen, including a professor were injured in the shooting spree, before the shooter turned the gun on himself.

The gunman, dressed all in black, stormed into the classroom about 3 pm on Thursday and began firing into the crowd of 100 students. About half the students tried to run out of the lecture hall, while the others fell to the floor and hid under desks. Within seconds, 15 people were wounded and 6 were killed. One victim died of wounds in the following days.

The shooting took place just 15 minutes before the class was scheduled to end.

Authorities have identified Steve Kazmierczak, 27, a former grad student at NIU as the lone shooter. Every indication at this point is that he acted alone.

Kazmierczak was a former sociology grad student at NIU who had transferred to the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana about a year ago. He apparently chose the ocean science classroom at random, without knowing any of the students or the professor.

Kazmierczak’s motives are unclear. His knowledge of criminal justice – one of his areas of study – enabled him to conceal evidence from the police. Because Kazmierczak destroyed his computer hard drive and vital chips in his cell phone, authorities can only speculate on his motives.

Kazmierczak’s girlfriend insists that he was as much a victim here as any of the other fatally injured students. Kazmierczak was on three drugs for anxiety and depression, although he had recently discontinued one. He is described as an honor roll student who had garnered several awards.

In Illinois and throughout the United States, homicide is a major cause of workplace fatalities. The Bureau of Statistics reports that over 200 murders occurred on the job in the early 1990s. In 2006, that number had decreased to 94 murders, but homicides are still a large component of workplace violence.

Certain occupations are particularly susceptible to violence on the job. Perhaps the most obvious are persons who work in high crime areas and who work alone or in small groups late at night. Less obvious are nurses and other healthcare personnel. Statistics, in fact, show that nurses are assaulted on the job as often as police officers. The majority of incidents occur in the hospital, but some occur when nurses do home visits.

To assist in training workers, employers can obtain downloads and videos on preventing workplace violence from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).