Employment Law Changes

Employers should be aware of recent changes to Illinois and Chicago employment laws, including minimum wage increases, sexual harassment training, updates to meal and rest periods, and hairstyle discrimination.

Illinois Minimum Wage Increase

Changes to Chicago’s local minimum wage are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2023. Illinois’ minimum wage increased to $12.00 an hour for 2022 and will continue to rise to $15.00 an hour by 2025. The city of Chicago already has a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. This does not apply to all hourly employees. For example, tipped employees will see their minimum wage rise to $7.20 per hour.

Mandatory sexual harassment training

All employees must be in compliance with the City of Chicago’s Enhanced Sexual Harassment Training before the upcoming deadline of June 30, 2023. This requirement was updated in 2022 when the city amended its Human Rights Ordinance. According to those amendments, Chicago now mandates that employers provide all employees at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention and one hour of bystander training every year with the first deadline being June 30 of this year. Employers must also give managers and supervisors an additional hour of training on sexual harassment prevention.

Meal & Rest Periods

Illinois amended the One Day Rest In Seven Act to require that employees be provided with at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in any consecutive seven day period. The new law also requires both a 20-minute meal period for an employee who has worked 7.5 hours and an additional 20-minute meal period for every 4.5 hours worked beyond the initial 7.5 hours. These breaks are in addition to any reasonable time employees spend using the restroom. Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement that addresses days of rest and meal periods are exempt from these requirements. Employers should evaluate their employee scheduling and break practices.

Hairstyle Discrimination

The Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to specifically prohibit employers from engaging in discrimination based on “traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.” Employers should ensure that any dress code or other policies touching on employees’ appearances comply with this law.