By Nancy E. Joerg, Esq., Senior Attorney and Shareholder, Wessels Sherman Joerg Liszka Laverty Seneczko P.C., www.wesselssherman.com Many employers do not feel comfortable firing employees because they are not sure they understand the "legal rules" pertaining to terminating (also called discharging or laying off) an employee in Illinois.  Be prepared (and confident) by reviewing the list below. In Illinois ...

By:  Jeffrey A. Risch – SmithAmundsen LLC www.salawus.com As we previously reported in our blog, the NLRB’s ambush (aka “quickie”) election rule went into effect on April 30, 2012.  The rule sought to dramatically shorten the time frame in which a union representation election will take place. In short, the rule limited the issues employers could raise in the pre-election process (i.e. determining which emp ...

By:  Jeffrey A. Risch – SmithAmundsen LLC, www.salawus.com, www.illinoisprevailingwage.com Having handled hundreds of prevailing wage matters and controversies over the years, here’s something I will never understand… Why on earth would a unit of local or state government (aka a “public body”) contractually require compliance with Illinois’ prevailing wage law in circumstances where the Illinois Prevailing ...

By Donna Rogers, Illinois SHRM Is compensation a numbers or a head game?  I think it is a little bit of both, and here is why.  My story with comp starts when I was just in high school and college.  I really wanted to go into accounting because I thought that numbers were fascinating.  I had taken every single business class in high school and had intended to earn a Business Administration degree because I ...

By Donna Rogers, Illinois SHRM We are heading into a time where employee retention is what is going to keep us up at night.  A time when the economy bounces back, baby-boomers retire, the knowledge drain is a reality, and the only thing that's going to keep us going is hanging on to our Rock Star employees.  I recently attended a leadership conference with an awesome keynote address by the name of Clint Swi ...

By Nancy E. Joerg, Esq., Senior Attorney and Shareholder, Wessels Sherman Joerg Liszka Laverty Seneczko P.C., www.wesselssherman.com  Employers are busy people, and most don’t have the time to record (i.e., document) all the workplace incidents of employee misconduct which arise. But, then when the employer finally decides to fire the problematic employee, the employer often regrets that there is no “paper ...

By Jonathan Hoag- SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered an emergency injunction to prevent the NLRB from issuing a rule requiring employers to post a notice about collective bargaining rights.  The rule was to go into effect April 30th and now will be delayed until the appeal is decided. In related news, last Friday, a federal district court in So ...

By Carly Zuba – SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com For countless years now, California employers have struggled with interpreting and complying with vague and ambiguous meal and rest period laws in California.  For instance, what is meant by “providing” a thirty-minute meal and rest period to employees?  Are employers required to ensure that employees actually take these mandatory breaks? When must these b ...