Employment discrimination against individuals with or perceived to have family caregiving responsibilities will soon be unlawful in Illinois under a law set to take effect on January 1, 2025.

Quick Hits

• Illinois enacted a law prohibiting discrimination against employees who must care for family members at home.
• The law will not require employers to make accommodations or modifications to reasonable workplace rules and policies to allow employees to fulfill their caregiving responsibilities.
• The law will take effect on January 1, 2025.

On August 9, 2024, Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill (HB) 2161, Illinois’s family caregiver discrimination legislation, adding Illinois to the small but growing list of states with such protections.

Specifically, the legislation amends the state’s employment discrimination law to make it unlawful to refuse to hire, deny a promotion, or discharge an employee based on the employee’s “actual or perceived” responsibility to provide “personal care” to a family member.

‘Family Responsibilities’

HB2161 adds “family responsibilities” to the list of protected classes under the Illinois Human Rights Act. The term “family responsibilities” is defined as “an employee’s actual or perceived provision of personal care to a family member.” The law refers to definitions under the Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act, which defines “personal care” as “activities to ensure that a covered family member’s basic medical, hygiene, nutritional, or safety needs...

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