Thought Leadership

We previously reported, in 2016, that the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a decision in Columbia University that paved the way for graduate students to unionize at private higher education institutions. In the years since, under the current Republican-controlled Board, unions […]

Originally posted on our Wage and Hour Insights Blog Among the bills awaiting signature by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is an amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 that would ban employers from asking job applicants for information about their wage, salary or benefits […]

Earlier this week, on June 2, 2019, the Illinois General Assembly passed SB75, which creates three new laws and amends a number of others to increase protection for employees who are victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual violence, […]

Amid the flurry of activity late in the legislative term in Springfield, the General Assembly passed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, making possession and consumption of cannabis legal in Illinois. Governor Pritzker is expected to sign the bill into […]

Those who pay attention to the Supreme Court may have seen several recent headlines about how a new decision makes it easier for employees to pursue employment discrimination claims. Headlines like “High Court Weakens Employer Defense to Job Bias Claims” […]

Originally posted on our Wage and Hour Insights Blog The City of Chicago has flirted with enacting a “Fair Workweek” ordinance, aimed at ensuring predictable work schedules for workers, for several years. While the ordinance failed to gain traction in its prior iterations, […]

Last night, an updated version of the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance was introduced in the Chicago City Council. Prior versions of this ordinance were proposed in 2017 and 2018 but failed to gain traction. Like its predecessors, the ordinance would […]

Scabby, the gnarly, diseased, inflatable rat, has long been recognized as a symbol of a labor protest. During the Obama-era, the National Labor Relations Board likened the use of Scabby to peaceful, protected activities such as hand-billing and found that […]