New Year, New State Laws
Illinois Department of Labor to enforce new laws in 2019

 

[December 29, 2018] 

Effective January 1, 2019, the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) will enforce the following new state laws:

Public Act 100-1094 (SB2999) – Employer Reimbursements for Employee Expenses Summary: Amends the Wage Payment and Collection Act. Mandates employers reimburse employees for necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee within the employee's scope of employment and directly related to services performed for the employer. Mandates an employee submit expenses for reimbursement within 30 days or within parameters of employer reimbursement policy. Provides an employee is not entitled to reimbursement under the Act if the employer has a reimbursement policy.

Public Act 100-1140 (HB4743) – Equal Pay Summary: Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Provides that no employer may discriminate between employees by paying wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee who is not African-American for the same or substantially similar work on a job that requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and is performed under similar working conditions.

Public Act 100-0944 (SB3240) – Increased Civil Penalties for Carnival and Amusement Enterprise Operators for Failure to Conduct Criminal Background Checks on Employees Summary: Amends the Amusement Ride and Attraction Safety Act. Increases the civil penalty for carnival or amusement enterprise operators that employee workers convicted of any offenses set forth in Article II and Article 9 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, is a registered sex offender, or the employer fails to conduct a criminal background check on the employee. First offense civil penalty raised to $5,000 from $1,000, second offense civil penalty raised to $10,000 from $5,000, and subsequent offense shall result in the revocation of the operators permit.

For more information about the IDOL, visit the website at http://labor.illinois. gov.

[Illinois Department of Labor]