by Robert S. Teachout, SHRM-SCP, Brightmine Legal Editor
As it adjourned its spring session, the Illinois 104th General Assembly sent many employment-related bills to the governor for consideration. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has already signed one into law and is expected to sign most of the remaining bills. Among them are the following:
- Signed by the governor June 30, 2024, and effective immediately, H.B. 2488 expanded employer coverage for the Equal Pay Registration Certificate data-reporting requirements. Now all private employers with 100 or more employees in Illinois must report their pay data, regardless of whether an employer is required to file a federal EEO-1 report. Previously, only employers that are required to file a federal EEO-1 report were required to comply.
- If signed, S.B. 212 would amend the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act to require employers to provide paid reasonable breaks for expressing breast milk for up to one year after a child’s birth, effective January 1, 2026. Compensation must be at the employee’s regular rate, and an employer may not require an employee to use paid leave.
- H.B. 2978 would enact the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act, requiring employers to provide unpaid leave for employees with a newborn child in a neonatal intensive care unit. Employers with 16 to 50 employees would be required to provide up to 10 days of leave or until the child is discharged, whichever is less; those with more than 50 employees would be required to provide up to 20 days. The new leave is in addition to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and employees may not be required to use paid time off. Like FMLA leave, leave under the new law is job-protected. If signed, it will become effective on June 1, 2026.
- S.B. 2164 expands enforcement and increases penalties for wage violations under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. Unpaid wages, damages, fines and fees would automatically become state debts after 35 days with 5 percent monthly interest accruing on unpaid amounts. In addition, the non-waivable administrative fees of $250-$1000 would increase to $500-$1,250. The bill would become effective upon the governor’s signature.
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About the author
Robert S. Teachout, SHRM-SCP
Legal Editor, Brightmine
Robert Teachout has more than 30 years’ experience in legal publishing covering employment laws on the state and federal level. At Brightmine, he covers labor relations, performance appraisals and promotions, succession and workforce planning, HR professional development and employment contracts. He often writes on the intersection of compliance with HR strategy and practice.
Before joining Brightmine, Robert was a senior HR editor at Thompson Information Services, covering FMLA, ADA, EEO issues and federal and state leave laws. Prior to that he was the primary editor of Bloomberg BNA’s State Labor Laws binders and was the principal writer and editor of the State Wage Assignment and Garnishment Handbook. Robert also served as a union unit leader and shop steward in the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild of the Communications Workers of America. Actively involved in the HR profession, Robert is a member of SHRM at both the national and local levels, and gives back to the profession by serving as the communications vice president on the board of his local chapter.
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