Aaron Harris | Executive Director, Employment Law Council | 312-596-5899
The mission of the Employment Law Council is to effectively represent Illinois employers on employment law issues such as workers compensation, unemployment insurance, employment discrimination, workplace mandates and other management/employee issues. We advocate public policy actions that advance the interests and viewpoints of employers, and to assist in creating a political climate conducive to improving Illinois' ability to create and retain jobs.

The Council accomplishes its mission with the involvement of hundreds of employers who participate in our three committees: Workers' Compensation; Employment Law & Litigation; and Unemployment Insurance. Through the efforts of these committees we develop policies and strategies that are implemented by the Council and Illinois Chamber staff.
Unemployment Insurance Agreement Approved
 
During the recently concluded veto session, the Illinois Chamber, joined by other business groups and labor interests were able to come to an agreement that will save Illinois employers nearly a billion dollars in higher unemployment insurance taxes. On the final General Assembly approved the agreement in SB 1698 and Governor Pritzker signed the measure into law as PA 102-1105 on December 8. The new law goes into effect January 1, 2023. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) is preparing the 2023 employer tax calculations which is estimated to be mailed to Illinois employers the first week of January.
The objectives of the Illinois Chamber to the negotiations were to lessen tax increases on employers, establish better predictability for employers and bring greater stability to the UI Trust Fund. The agreement reduces employer taxes by $913M over the next 5-years. The Trust Fund year-end balance over the next 5 years is estimated to remain above $1.5 billion.
At the beginning of 2020, the Illinois UI Trust Fund was over $2 billion. With the COVID-19 pandemic taking hold and business shut-downs taking effect, the Trust fund plunged to a deficit of over $4.5 billion requiring borrowing from the federal government.

Agreement Details
  • The State pays the remaining $1.363 billion in Title XII borrowing. Because Illinois failed to pay off our federal debt by the federal deadline, Illinois employers lose a portion of our FUTA tax credit and incur in 2023 a $21 per employee tax for employees earning $7,000. The FUTA tax gross revenue of $114 million will be deposited into the Illinois Trust Fund. 
 
  • The target balance for the Adjusted State Experience Factor (ASEF) will increase from $1.0 billion to $1.75 billion. Labor had originally asked that it be increased to $3 billion.
 
  • The Taxable Wage Base (TWB) will increase over a five-year period by 2.4% per year. The TWB was last increased in 2009. Labor had asked that the TWB be increased by an average of 2.4% per year forever. The agreement provides for a fixed 2.4% increase per year for the first five years and then the TWB is frozen at that number. The TWB will increase from $12,960 to $14,592 over five years and will then be frozen at $14,592.
 
  • An additional $450 million of State monies will be loaned, interest free, to the UI Trust Fund. These monies will help protect against the possibility of the predicted recession being deeper than expected. The loan will be paid back, interest free, by Illinois employers over a ten-year period beginning in 2024. If in any year the July 1st Trust Fund balance is less than $1.2 billion, the $45 million repayment will be suspended for that year and the payment schedule will be extended another year.
 
  • “Speed bumps” are created to bring both sides back to the table in two years. IF no legislative agreement is reached a $500M benefit cut for labor and a $500M tax increase for business is triggered. These speed bumps have served their purposes of bringing the parties to the negotiating table and have never been enacted.
 
The financial portion of the agreement (payoff of federal debt and insertion of $450 million into the Trust Fund) is embodied in SB 2801 which was approved by the Senate. The House will be taking up the measure when it returns for a lame duck session scheduled to start on January 4, 2023. The Trust Fund year-end balances are projected as follows:

  • 2022 - $62 million deficit;
  • 2023 - $1.58 billion;
  • 2024 - $1.76 billion;
  • 2025 - $1.71 billion;
 

Projected Tax Parameters 2022-2025 (from the IDES Advisory Board meeting 12/8/22)

Based on outside economic forecasts provided to IDES, the prior pessimistic scenario from the third quarter 2022 has now become the baseline projected forecast. This updated table consequently has had increased changes to the 2024 and 2025 average and maximum rates.  
Equal Pay Registration Certificate: Forthcoming Rules From IDOL
 
Last summer, we submitted written and verbal comments in response to proposed rules from the Illinois Department of Labor's (IDOL) regarding the implementation of Section 11 of the Equal Pay Act pursuant to PA 101-656. We’ve received a response from the agency and most of the recommendations from the Chamber were accepted. One important concern that was not addressed was that an employee has the ability to look back up to 10 years of wage data provided to IDOL. Committee members should review the department’s response as it provides important guidance regarding implementation. for a copy of the response contact Jay Shattuck at [email protected]. We’ve also provided key highlights below. 
 
At the December 2nd New Employment Laws Conference, IDOL announced that it will not be sending notices of requirements to file wage data until the end of the first quarter of 2023. IDOL agreed with the Chamber that to require filing wage data at the end of the year and early next year would be burdensome given all the year-end responsibilities of employers and their HR departments. 
 
At the December 13th meeting of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), the IDOL rule was heard for the purpose of its second notice. JCAR provided no additional comments or motions to object or suspend. Consequently, the IDOL rule will move to an adopted status in the next few weeks.
 
  • Highlights of IDOL Response to Illinois Chamber’s comments:
 
  • IDOL agreed to accept the Chamber’s request to revise the definitions of "compliance" and "violation”
  • IDOL agreed to make several revisions to its proposed rule to provide clarification around “average wages and compensation
  • IDOL agreed to include the Equal Pay Registration Compliance Statement and Compliance Statement Template in the final rulemaking
  • IDOL agreed to increase the amount of time that businesses have to resubmit following a rejection from 5 days to 30 days per statutory requirement
 
 
Equal Pay Registration Certificate: EEO-1 Filing with the Illinois Secretary of State
 
While PA 101-656 created section 11 to the Equal Pay Act requiring certain pay data be submitted to the Illinois Department of Labor by employers of 100 or more, a lesser known provision requires employers that file EEO-1 forms at the federal level to also do so with the Illinois Secretary of State (SOS). The Chamber reached out to the SOS seeking guidance and information for employers. Below is the latest from the Secretary of State's Office regarding how they plan to implement the filing with them.
 
"In response to the query from last Friday, which is in the email stream below, the only information our Office has about the new filing requirements is in the plain language of Sec. 8.12 of the Business Corporation Act (BCA), as amended in P.A. 101-656, and as will be reflected in the amended BCA Form 8.12. Since we cannot ask for this data prior to 01-01-2023, we amended BCA Form 8.12, and the domestic and foreign annual reports available on the web page, as well as the preprinted annual reports, which will be sent after the effective date of the Act (P.A. 101-656). After 01-01-2023, the new forms will have a question as to whether the entity is subject to the requirements of the EEO-1 form. If they mark “Yes”, the filers are instructed to either attach a copy of schedule D-1 from the EEO-1 form or to append the information similar to that, as required, to BCA Form 8.12.”
 
We were told Secretary of State’s Department of Business Services hopes to provide more information on the Department’s webpage in the Secretary of State database in the near future.

 
Oppose: Employer-Funded Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program
 
There have been continued discussions around HB 5029, which would require the Department of Employment Security to create and administer a Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program that would provide 26 weeks of paid leave within any 12-month period for various reasons. Unlike most other states that offer a similar program, the bill would require employers to fund the insurance program fully and solely. For this and other reasons related eligibility, program structure, the Chamber and other business groups continue to push back on this far-reaching proposal.

 
 
Mandated Leave Laws
 
​Bereavement Leave:  SB 3120, sponsored by Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake)/Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) was sent to the Governor on April 28th. The bill will expand the Child Bereavement Act to include family members. The proposal also will expand up to 10 workdays of unpaid leave to pregnancy loss; unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure; a failed adoption match or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party; a failed surrogacy agreement; a diagnosis that impacts pregnancy or fertility; or a stillbirth. PA102-1050
 
Employee Sick Leave Act- Amendment will Establish Act as Minimum for CBAs: SB 645 sponsored by Sen. Mike Hastings (D-Frankfort) and Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) amends the Employee Sick Leave Act. As approved by both chambers, the measure will establish the Act as the minimum standard in a negotiated collective bargaining agreement. PA 102-817
 
One Day Rest in Seven Act Changes
 
SB 3146, sponsored by Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago)/Rep. Lakesia Collins (D-Chicago) increases civil penalties for violation of the law. An employer with fewer than 25 employees, the civil penalty shall not exceed $250 per offense, payable to the Department of Labor, and damages of up to $250 per offense, payable to the employee or employees affected. For an employer with 25 or more employees, the civil penalty shall not exceed $500 per offense, payable to the Department, and damages of up to $500 per offense, payable to the employee or employees affected. Provides that an offense under the Act shall be determined on an individual basis for each employee whose rights are violated. The bill also changes “calendar week” to “consecutive seven-day period”. An employee who works more than 7 1/2 continuous hours will be entitled to an additional 20-minute meal period for every additional 4 1/2 continuous hours worked. Employers covered by the Act must post and keep posted, in one or more conspicuous places on the premises of the employer where notices to employees are customarily posted, a notice, to be provided by the Director of Labor, summarizing the requirements of the Act and information pertaining to the filing of a complaint. 
 
SB 3416, sponsored by Sen. Emil Jones, Jr. (D-Chicago) and Rep. Marcus Evans, Jr. (D-Chicago), as passed by both chambers provides that specified provisions of the One Day Rest in Seven Act do not apply to employees for whom work hours, days of work, and rest periods are established through the collective bargaining process. PA 102-1012
 
Other Employment Law Legislation
 
Child Labor: SB 3161 sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg)  provides that minors under 16 years of age working as models, performers or other entertainment-related performances shall be permitted to work until 10 p.m. A waiver request for a minor to work between 12:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. may be granted if the Director of Labor, or his or her authorized representative, is satisfied that the performance by the minor during that time is critical to the success of the production, as demonstrated by true and accurate statements by the employer that filming cannot be completed at any other time of day; the filming primarily requires exterior footage of sunset, nighttime, or dawn; the filming is scheduled on the most optimal day of the week for the minor's schooling; the employer provides a schedule to the Department of Labor of schooling and rest periods on the day before, the day of, and the day after the overnight hours to be worked; and the age of the minor is taken into account as provided by the Act or any rules adopted under the Act. A waiver request must be received by the Department at least 72 hours prior to the overnight hours to be worked. PA 102-832
 
Human Rights Act-Hair: SB 3616, ​sponsored by Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) and Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act providing that "race", as used in the Employment Article, includes traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.  PA 102-1102
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