Every year, a multitude of changes occur for the Illinois business community, including both state and federal updates. This year was no exception with many new regulations either already in place or coming in 2025. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce hosted their 11th Annual New Laws Forum on December 4, 2024, in Lisle with over 100 guests in attendance.
Laurie Silvey, VP of Business Services for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, opened the conference with a welcome, thank you to our sponsor, Amundsen Davis Law LLC, and
Jeff Risch, Co-Chair for Amundsen Davis Law LLC and Kassandra Silva, representing the Illinois Chamber’s Employment Law Council kicked off the conference with the Overview of New and Updated Illinois laws. They provided attendees with an overview of new and updated Illinois laws coming in 2025. They spoke about numerous changes that are in effect or will be implemented in the next few months, and explained the following changes:
E-Verify Limits under Right to Privacy in Workplace Act: Amends the Right to Privacy Act prohibiting an employer from imposing work authorization verification or re-verification requirements greater than those required by federal law.
Wage Payment Stubs: Requires every employer, upon an employee’s request, permit an employee to inspect his or her pay stubs along with furnishing every employee with a pay stub for each pay period.
Unlawful Discrimination – Family Responsibilities: Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Provides that it is the public policy of the State to prevent discrimination based on family responsibilities in employment.
Personnel Record Review Act expansion: Amends the Personnel Record Review Act to provide that every employee has a legal right to inspect and copy personnel-related documents. Requires an employee to make a written request to the employer before having a legal right to inspect, copy, and receive copies of specified documents, including any employment-related contracts or agreements that the employer maintains are legally binding on the employee.
They also spoke about expanded liability under the Whistleblower Act, non-compete and non-solicitation updates, and additional changes to the Day & Temporary Labor Services Act.
Kassandra concluded by highlighting her thoughts on what is likely to happen in 2025 and the need to stay informed.
Jeff Risch then gave an expanded coverage of the Pay Transparency Law Changes and Mandates which will be effective on January 1, 2025. He reviewed the history with the 2021 and 2023 amendments. Pay transparency issues require disclosure of wage/compensation range for the position to applicants as well as in job postings as well as limiting or banning the use of wage or compensation history in making hiring or wage decisions. He reviewed the amendments which lowered the threshold to employers with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale and benefits in job postings. He concluded with some best practices and review of some of the most frequently asked questions.
The next update Jeff provided us with was an Overview of Federal Developments. He noted the banning of captive audience meetings by the NLRB. He reviewed other changes by the NLRB, including the narrowing of the right of employer to discipline employees who engage in offensive conduct. He discussed the EEOC’s new guidance on the Pregnancy Workplace Fairness Act, as well as Gender Identity issues. He then talked about some laws that have been invalidated, including the FTC’s Non-compete ban, the Department of Labor’s Overtime Salary Rule, and the NLRB’s 2023 Joint Employer Rule.
A new topic for the New Laws Forum was a dive into Artificial Intelligence and Legal Implications for HR. Jeff talked about the multiple ways AI is being used for recruitment and talent acquisition as well as onboarding and training. He reviewed the EEOC and DOJ joint guidance on AI, and some challenges to watch. He finished with some best practices for HR professionals.
Jeff then discussed key 2024 case law updates and how they will affect businesses in Illinois. He talked about things to watch for as these cases conclude.
The final session of the day was a panel discussion on Navigating Through the Unique Employment Laws.
Two panelists joined Jeff Risch on stage.
Ashley Trost, Director of People and Culture for Gallagher Asphalt Corporation. Ashley functions as an HR department of one, facilitates leadership training and development and oversees the company’s marketing and communications department.
Mary Felder is the Vice President of Human Resources at Midwest Refrigerated Services, having been with the company since December 2020.
The group talked about their company culture for retaining employees, finding, and recruiting new employees, using AI in their organizations, and their biggest concerns for HR in 2025 and beyond. Ashley and Mary provided some great insight on their biggest challenges in their own industries, as well as those that apply to all businesses in Illinois.
The event ended with final networking opportunities and door prizes! We want to thank our event sponsors, Amundsen Davis LLC, and a special thank you to everyone who was able to make this event. Without you all, this wouldn’t be possible.
The 12th Annual New Laws Forum will return in December 2025.