The City of Chicago recently enacted the Chicago COVID-19 Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance....more
The nation is beginning to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Employees who have been working from their kitchen tables for 12 months are starting to look toward greener pastures. Protecting against the risks of...more
5/6/2021
/ Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Mobility ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Trade Secrets ,
Webinars
The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) has issued March 2021 guidance for employers on “Compensation, Paid Leave and the COVID-19 Vaccine,” advising employers on providing employees with time off and flexibility in order to...more
COVID-19 has not only created a plethora of workplace safety, accommodation, and leave issues, it has also created new employee mobility challenges for employers:
- How can employers maintain the “trade secret” status of...more
10/29/2020
/ Choice-of-Law ,
Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Mobility ,
Employee Relocations ,
Employment Litigation ,
Furloughs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
Layoffs ,
Legitimate Business Interest ,
Presidential Elections ,
Remote Working ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trade Secrets ,
Webinars
2020 has been an unsettling, unprecedented, and difficult year for most employers. At the same time, courts and legislatures have been directly affected by the ongoing pandemic while responding to the urgent and unusual needs...more
Last week, Illinois moved in to “Phase 4” of the state’s five-stage Restore Illinois Plan (the “Plan”). As part of this transition, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity issued updated,...more
On May 5, 2020, Governor J.B. Pritzker released “Restore Illinois” (“Plan”), a five-phased plan to safely reopen the Illinois economy. Declaring the state ready for the next phase of the Plan, Governor Pritzker recently...more
6/1/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Screening Procedures ,
Social Distancing ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Decontamination ,
Workplace Safety
In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 has changed the workplace. Travel restrictions, shelter-in-place orders, and mandatory closures have meant that it is far from business as usual for nearly all employers. ...more
What Does “Stay at Home” Mean for My Business?
The Order requires “all individuals currently living within the State of Illinois” to “stay at home or at their place of residence” – subject to three significant exceptions....more
A federal judge in Chicago recently held that an individual can be convicted of attempting to steal a trade secret, even if the information at issue did not actually constitute a trade secret, so long as the individual...more
The 2019 legal landscape of employee mobility continues to evolve, at times drastically. Courts and legislatures are giving increased scrutiny to employers’ claims to protect the confidentiality of their trade secrets and...more
6/27/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preemption ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Sherman Act ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trade Secrets
A Trending News interview from Employment Law This Week®, featuring attorney Peter Steinmeyer, Member of the Firm:
Several states have passed legislation restricting non-compete agreements that temporarily prohibit departing...more
The Illinois State Legislature expanded the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act to include a new section (820 Illinois Compiled Statues 115/9.5) (“Amendment”) that now requires every Illinois employer to reimburse an...more
On August 10, 2018, the Governor of Massachusetts signed “An Act relative to the judicial enforcement of noncompetition agreements,” otherwise known as the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (“Act”), § 24L of Chapter...more
In managing workforces, particularly when addressing employee turnover, employers often find themselves facing issues regarding how best to safeguard their confidential business information and how to protect their...more
In the past six months alone, roughly 30 employment class actions have been filed in Illinois claiming violations of a state law that some employers may have never even heard of, or are only vaguely familiar with—the 2008...more
1/4/2018
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information
California has always been a challenging jurisdiction for employers in terms of limiting unfair competition by former employees and protecting trade secrets. However, employers in the state can significantly enhance their...more
As we previously reported, the Chicago City Council enacted a sick leave ordinance (“Chicago Ordinance”), requiring employers to provide employees with up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. Following in its footsteps,...more
A major transition in government is well underway. As we look back over the past 12 months, we are reminded of employment, labor, and workforce management issues that remain top of mind to all employers. In this Take 5, the...more
12/15/2016
/ Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Sick Leave ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”), which amends the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 to provide a federal cause of action to private companies for trade secret...more
Restrictive covenants are an important tool for businesses concerned about the protection of their confidential business information and the costs of employee training and turnover. When properly crafted and utilized,...more
4/21/2016
/ Bad Faith ,
Blue Pencil Contract Modification ,
Confidential Information ,
Consideration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
FLIR System ,
Misappropriation ,
NLRB ,
Popular ,
Private Right of Action ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Trade Secrets
Two recent developments substantially affect unemployment benefits in Illinois. First, on January 3, 2016, the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act (820 ILCS 405/602(A)) (“Act”) was amended to make it much easier for employers...more
The Governor of Illinois has signed into law a bill (the "Amendment") that amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit sexual harassment against unpaid interns. The Amendment becomes effective on January 1, 2015....more
A new law that takes effect on January 1, 2015—known as the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act ("Act")—prohibits an Illinois employer with 15 or more employees from inquiring about or considering an applicant's...more
8/5/2014
/ Background Checks ,
Best Management Practices ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Discipline ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Screening Procedures
In June 2013, the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District (i.e., Cook County) held that, absent other consideration, two years of employment is required for a restrictive covenant to be deemed supported by adequate...more