The Illinois legislature was busy in 2025, changing laws for employers with operations in the state.
Although less new legislation takes effect on January 1, 2026, than on New Year’s Day last year, a few notable items will require employers to update their policies and procedures. We recently covered the amendments to the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (WTA), which will require important changes to many separation agreements, but be sure to read below for further guidance on the WTA and highlights of the other significant employment-related legal developments in Illinois.
Amendments to the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act expand entitlements afforded to working, nursing mothers and apply to all Illinois employers with more than five employees. Current law requires covered employers to provide “reasonable break time” for an employee needing to express breast milk for her nursing infant child for up to one year after the child’s birth, “as needed.” Such breaks can run concurrently with any other break time already provided to the employee.
Starting January 1, 2026, these amendments will require that such breaks be paid at the employee’s regular rate of compensation, unless payment would create an “undue hardship” as defined in the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA). The IHRA expressly defines an “undue hardship” as one that is “prohibitively expensive or disruptive” when considered in light of specified factors, including the nature...
Prosecutors have indicted four individuals accused of falsely reporting sexual crimes, including a person who claimed to have been "raped" after being caught in an extramarital affair despite havi...