Upcoming changes to Illinois employment law

This year was very busy for the Illinois legislature and there are several employment laws going into effect in 2026. Below is a summary of each and how it impacts your business.

Illinois Right to Privacy in Workplace Act
On December 12, 2025, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 2339, which became effective immediately. SB amended the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act and provides more protections for private and public employees. Here is what employers should know:

• Employers who receive notifications from any federal agency or vendor outside of the agency responsible for immigration enforcement that pertains to a discrepancy regarding employees’ individual taxpayer identification numbers or other identifying documents must: (i) not take adverse action based on the notice alone; and, (ii) provide in person or hand delivered notice to the employee and any authorized representative as soon as practicable but not more than 5 days after receipt of the notice unless a shorter timeline is required under law or agreement.
• Interested parties which include not for profit corporations and labor organizations have standing to bring suit against employers when there is a reasonable belief of violation of this Act.
• Employees or prospective employees who recover under this act are entitled to collect damages of:
  • Not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 for each violation determined by a court;
  • Back pay with interest as appropriate;
  • Civil penalties of $10,000;
  • Compensation for any damages sustained as a result of the violation; and
  • Reinstatement of employment.
• Employers who commit multiple violations of this act within a three-year period will be subject to civil penalties of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 for each violation.

The requirements under the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act are effective immediately and all employers should become familiar with the new requirements.

Illinois Human Rights Act
The Illinois Human Rights Act now grants an administrative law judge (ALJ) the authority to impose civil penalties for each act constituting a civil rights violation. The ALJ is granted authority to impose the following:

• A penalty of up to $16,000 for each act per each aggrieved party.
• A penalty of up to $42,500 for each act per each aggrieved party if the respondent was found to have committed one other violation in the past five years.
• A penalty of up to $70,000 for each act per each aggrieved party if the respondent was found to have committed two or more other violations in the past five years.

If a natural person was found to have committed acts constituting civil rights violations then the above penalties can be imposed without consideration of the period in which each act occurred.

Illinois Workplace Transparency Act
The new requirement of the Workplace Transparency Act (WTA) will impact future employment, settlement and severance agreements. Here are five notable changes to the WTA employers should recognize:

• The WTA protects employees’ ability to make truthful disclosures about unlawful employment practices. The definition of “unlawful employment practices” was expanded to include disclosures of unlawful practices enforced under the Illinois Department of Labor, Illinois Labor Relations Board, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the National Labor Relations Board.
• The WTA explicitly prohibits any contract or agreement that is a condition of employment or continued employment from restricting an employee’s engagement in concerted activity to address work related issues. Any unilateral agreement which prevents concerted activity is automatically void.
• The WTA prohibits any contract or agreement that is a condition of employment or continued employment from diminishing an employee’s right to make any claim by shortening the applicable statute of limitations, applying non-Illinois law to an employee’s claim or requiring a venue outside of Illinois to adjudicate an Illinois employee’s claim. Any unilateral agreement that contains these requirements is void.
• All settlement or termination agreements which contain a confidentiality clause must contain consideration separate of any consideration offered in exchange for a general release.
• In addition to costs and attorneys’ fees for violation of the WTA, employers now also have exposure for consequential damages.

Prior to the new year, employers should review any standard agreements or contracts to ensure they are in compliance with the new requirements under the Workplace Transparency Act.

Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act
The Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (Neonatal Care Act), expands guaranteed and protected unpaid leave available to employees. The Neonatal Care Act grants Illinois employees unpaid leave to care for a child who is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Illinois employers must know the following:

• The Neonatal Care is protected leave only for employees. Employers do not have to provide leave for independent contractors.
• The Neonatal Care Act only applies to employers with 16 or more employees. All employers with 16 to 50 employees must provide employees with 10 days of unpaid leave and employers with 51 or more employees must provide up to 20 days of unpaid leave.
• Leave under the Neonatal Care Act may be taken in addition to, and upon completion of, leave available under the Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA). Employers are also prohibited from requiring an employee to use available paid leave instead of taking the leave available under the Neonatal Care Act, however employees may elect to do so.
• Employees are allowed to take leave continuously or intermittently. Employers are allowed to set minimum leave requirements prohibiting employees from taking leave in less than two-hour increments.
• Employers may request reasonable documentation to support the basis for leave, however, requesting documentation that is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) or any other law is prohibited.
• Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who exercise their right to take leave under the Neonatal Care. Employees must be reinstated to their prior position or an equivalent position without any loss of benefits.

Employers should update their employee handbooks before this act becomes effective on June 1, 2026.

Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act
Under the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act (Nursing Mothers Act), employers are required to compensate employees during breaks used to express milk. Employers are therefore prohibited from requiring an employee to use paid leave to cover breaks taken under the Nursing Mothers Act and are also prohibited from reducing an employee’s pay during the break.

All employers are required to provide this paid break time unless doing so would place an undue hardship on the employer as defined under the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act
With the recent amendment to the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), employers are now prohibited from discriminating against employees if they use employer-provided electronic devices to record instances of domestic, sexual or gender violence. Specifically, employers are prohibited from failing to hire, refusing to hire, discharging (even constructively), harassing and discriminating against any employee in regard to any condition or privilege of employment because an employee used employer issued equipment to record instances of violence.

Employers are also required to grant employees access to equipment if it were used for such purpose, however employers can still require compliance with reasonable policies and procedures to request access.

Employers who distribute company laptops and phones should update policies and procedures to ensure they have proper protocols in place.

Military Leave Act
On August 1, 2025, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 220, which became effective immediately. SB 220 changed the name of the Family Military Leave Act to the Military Leave Act (MLA) and implemented new paid leave requirements for employers with 51 or more employees. The key provisions under MLA are:

• Employers must grant employees paid leave of 8 hours per month for a total of 40 hours per calendar year to participate in funeral honors detail. This leave may be taken in lieu of, and without having exhausted vacation leave, personal leave, compensatory leave or any other leave granted to the employee.
• Employees who qualify for leave are those who (i) have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months; (ii) have been employed for at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period; (iii) and must be trained to participate in funeral honors detail of a veteran.
• Employers may request documentation to support leave and employees must give reasonable notice of the intent to take leave.

Leave under this Act was required immediately upon signing of the bill so all employers should have policies in place for qualified employees to request leave.

For further information and assistance, please contact any Chuhak & Tecson Employment attorney .

Client alert authored by Markeya A. Fowler (312 849 4126), associate.
This Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. communication is intended only to provide information regarding developments in the law and information of general interest. It is not intended to constitute advice regarding legal problems and should not be relied upon as such.