A new bill could give Illinois one of the nation’s strongest protections for whistleblowers against retaliation from employers threatening to investigate their immigration status.
The Work Without Fear Act, pending in the statehouse, would also expand protections for workers who report sexual harassment or file complaints outside of official channels.
“For immigrants, threats of deportation or repealing immigration status can influence a worker’s willingness to voice concerns about their workplace,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul told reporters Monday.
The bill will give the attorney general’s office the power to investigate and fine employers that threaten to check someone’s citizenship status or ask an employee to produce immigration documents.
Employers sometimes intimidate workers with threats to silence reports of labor violations such as wage theft, discrimination and unsafe working conditions, authors of the bill said Monday. Low-paid and immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse.
“Fear of retaliation is the single greatest factor to discourage victims of labor abuses from seeking justice,” Raoul said.
Raoul’s office wrote the bill with community organizers from the Chicago-based Raise the Floor Alliance. The bill is modeled after whistleblower protections already in place in California, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington.
If the bill becomes law, it would be “among the strongest” labor protections in the nation, said Kevin Herrera, legal director at...
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