• Expanding the law prohibiting retaliation for certain disclosures by an employee to include an employer's taking an "adverse employment action" against an employee which includes discharge, suspension, demotion, or any other action that results in a substantial adverse change in the terms, and conditions of employment, including but not limited to, failing to promote, reassignment, or a decision causing a change in benefits.

• Expands liability to "any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee". We believe this addition could include defense attorneys and human resources consultants advising an employer on an employee matter.

• Defining "retaliatory action" to include the following against a worker who discloses or threatens to disclose information about an activity, policy, or practice of the employer to a court, an administrative hearing, a public body conducting an investigation, or before a legislative commission or committee, or in any other proceeding initiated by a public body, where the employee has a good faith belief that the activity, policy or practice (i) violates a State or federal law, rule, or regulation or (ii) poses a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety: 
• an employer taking or threatening to take any adverse employment action;
• taking, or threatening to take, any non-employment action that would dissuade a reasonable worker from disclosing information under this Act;
• taking, or threatening to take any action that would intentionally interfere with an employee’s ability to obtain future employment or post-termination retaliation to intentionally interfere with a former employee’s employment (blacklisting);
• taking, or threatening to take, any action prohibited by subsection (G) of Section 2-102 of the Human Rights Act; or
• contacting, or threatening to contact, United States immigration authorities, or otherwise reporting, or threatening to report, an employee’s suspected citizenship or immigration status or the suspected citizenship or immigration status of an employee’s family or household member to a federal, State, or local agency.

• "Retaliatory action" does not include: (1) conduct undertaken at the express and specific direction or request of the federal government or (2) truthful, performance-related information about an employee or former employee provided in good faith to a prospective employer.at the request of the prospective employer.

• Expands liability to an employer when it retaliates against an employee for disclosing or threatening to disclose to a supervisor an activity, policy, or practice of the employer that the employee has a good faith belief (i) violates a State or federal law, rule, or regulation or (ii) poses a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.

• Expands civil penalties to $5,000 for the first violation, and $10,000 for the second each subsequent violation within a 5-year period. Each violation of this Act for each employee the employer took or threatened to take retaliatory action against constitutes a separate and distinct violation.