Employers with employees in Illinois should take note that the state has several new and newly amended employment laws. The following is a summary of the laws with the most noteworthy changes and the effective date of those changes.
Military Leave Act (Effective Aug. 1, 2025)
Senate Bill (SB) 0220 amended the state’s Family Military Leave Act to require employers with 51 or more employees to provide leave of eight (8) hours per month, up to at least 40 hours per year, for qualifying employees to participate in a military funeral honors detail. The provided leave must be paid at the qualifying employee’s regular rate of pay and in addition to the employee’s normally accumulated paid time off benefits. A qualified employee must be trained to participate in (or be an authorized provider of) such a funeral honors detail and be a retired or active member of the armed forces.
Workers’ Rights and Worker Safety Act (Effective Aug. 14, 2025)
Senate Bill 1976 established the Workers’ Rights and Worker Safety Act, which effectively requires Illinois to ensure that the standards required under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act as of April 28, 2025, act as a floor for Illinois’ own safety and health standards even if the federal government repeals, revokes, amends or newly interprets one of those standards. This Act states that the Illinois Department of Labor will adopt any of the federal standards in Illinois as soon as it practically can after any of the standards are repealed, revoked, amended or more leniently interpreted by the federal government. Therefore, employers should know that, even if a federal health and safety standard is changed, it will be adopted to be maintained in Illinois, nonetheless.
Amended Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (Effective Jan. 1, 2026)
House Bill (HB) 3638 amended the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act to expand protections for employees in several noteworthy ways:
- First, when the amendments become effective on January 1, 2026, the law will expand to prohibit enforcement of agreements that restrict employees from being able to engage in concerted activity to address work-related issues
- Second, the law already prohibits agreements that restrict employees from reporting unlawful employment practices, but the amendment expands the law’s definition of “unlawful employment practice” to mean “any unlawful practice actionable under state or federal employment law.”
- Third, the amendment will result in the law providing that employers may not use a contract to shorten the statute of limitations of any claims, apply non-Illinois law to claims that would otherwise be based in Illinois law, or mandate that claims be brought outside of Illinois if doing so would deny the employee a right or remedy concerning an unlawful employment practice – unless the contract is mutual, written, supported by mutual consideration, and acknowledges the employee may still report unlawful conduct to a government agency and participate in any investigations or proceedings regarding unlawful employment practices.
- Fourth, any settlement and termination agreements containing a confidentiality provision must be supported by consideration in exchange for the confidentiality provision that differs from the consideration provided for the release agreement more generally.
- Fifth, the amendment allows plaintiffs suing under the Act to recover consequential damages when an employer violates this Act.
Amended Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act (Effective Jan. 1, 2026)
Senate Bill 0212 will amend the state’s Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act to provide that nursing mothers are entitled to 30 minutes of break time, compensated at their regular rate of pay, each time the nursing employee needs to express milk during the one-year period following their child’s birth. Employers may not require nursing employees to use paid leave or reduce their compensation for this break. Nursing employees may use other paid break time or mealtime for any time they need to express milk exceeding 30 minutes.
Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (Effective Jan. 1, 2026)
House Bill 2978 establishes the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act, which will require employers with at least 16 employees to provide Illinois employees unpaid leave when their child is in the neonatal intensive care unit. The provided leave must be up to 10 days for employers with 16-50 total employees and up to 20 days for employers with more than 50 total employees.
Amended Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act (Effective Jan. 1, 2026)
House Bill 1616 will amend the Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act to permit all employees, including part-time employees, to use up to 10 days of leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor.
Amended Illinois Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (Effective Jan. 1, 2026)
House Bill 1278 will amend the Illinois Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act to prohibit employers from discharging, refusing to hire, or discriminating or retaliating against an employee for using employer-issued equipment to record a crime of violence against that employee or their family or household member. Under the Act, employers may not deprive an employee of the issued equipment for recording or attempting to record such a crime. In fact, employers must provide the employee access to any photos or videos captured by the capturing device.
Amended Illinois Human Rights Act (Effective Jan. 1, 2026)
Senate Bill 2487 will amend the Illinois Human Rights Act to remove the Act’s requirement that employers participate in a fact-finding conference when a charge of discrimination is filed against them. Participation in this conference remains optional.
Employers who have questions about how these laws apply to them or those who would like assistance drafting company policies that comply with these laws should contact their Lathrop GPM attorney.