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Lázaro Law Chicago, 321 S. Plymout Court #1250, Chicago, IL (2026)

10/11/2023

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act came into effect in June of this year. I discuss what this law does differently and why it is important. I provide you with 3 simple tips to keep you up to speed. Enjoy!

08/23/2022

Under Illinois and federal law, it is a civil rights violation for your employer to discriminate against you based on your protected characteristics, such as your race, religion, color, national origin, s*x (including s*xual orientation, pregnancy, and gender identity), age, or disability.

If you successfully prove discrimination at work, there are several types of monetary awards (known as damages) that you can potentially receive. They include:

Lost wages
Emotional distress damages
Punitive damages
Liquidates damages

For more information on available remedies for discrimination claims, please visit our blog or call our office for a free consultation.

07/01/2022

Several changes to Chicago’s s*xual harassment are set to take effect on July 1st.

These changes significantly strengthen the City’s existing s*xual harassment laws and reflect its zero-tolerance policy toward harassment in the workplace.

All employers with business in the City of Chicago that have one or more full or part-time employees should be aware of these changes:

1. Chicago employers must have a written s*xual harassment policy in place.

2. Chicago employers are mandated to display a written poster in English and Spanish, informing employees that workplace s*xual harassment and retaliation are illegal.

3. All Chicago-based employees are required to complete annual s*xual harassment prevention training. Managers and supervisors will be required to participate in two hours of training, whereas all other employees will have to complete one hour of training. Additionally, every employee must undergo one hour of annual bystander training. The first round these annual trainings must be completed by June 30, 2023.

4. There will be an increase in penalties against Chicago employers. If a company fails to comply with the City’s s*xual harassment policy requirements, provide required trainings, or display written notice to employees, the Chicago Commission on Human Rights has the ability to issue daily fines between $500 and $1,000. On top of this, the penalty for all forms of discrimination will increase from $500 to $1,000 per violation, to $5,000 to $10,000 per violation.

04/11/2022

Employers are embracing return-to-office plans for some workers, as state and local governments begin to ease Covid-19 restrictions. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, American Express, Meta, Microsoft, Ford Motor, and Citigroup are just a handful of companies that have recalled workers back to their desk. But some companies attempting to return to pre-pandemic normal are facing stiff resistance from workers who prefer flexible work arrangements.

According to the New York Times, when over 700 people responded to its questions about returning to their offices, the reasons listed for preferring work from home included sunlight, quality time with kids, quality time with pets, and – most strongly – workplace culture.

Employers preparing their return-to-office plans should take active steps to ensure that workers are returning to a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. It is important for employers to include in their return-to-office plans steps to mitigate that risk by reinforcing anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, behavior expectations, and training.

As companies begin to plan for the future, this is the perfect time to revisit outdated anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and training. We regularly conduct employment law training to build workplace cultures that inspire fairness and inclusion, increase worker productivity, and decrease legal risk. Should you have any questions concerning return-to-office plans, please do not hesitate to contact our team of professionals.

04/07/2022

The FMLA is a commonly overlooked federal law that gives employees the right to 12 weeks of leave in certain situations. In this video, I give a brief overview of how the law applies, and the most common violations to be on the lookout for.

03/02/2022

The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, was passed by Congress on February 10, 2021, and is expected to be signed into law by President Biden. The bill is aimed at preventing employers from requiring arbitration of workplace s*xual harassment or assault claims filed under Federal, Tribal, and State law.

When signed into law, the bill will amend the Federal Arbitration Act to make unenforceable any current or future employment contract provisions that mandate arbitration of s*xual harassment or assault claims brought by employees. The bill will also invalidate any existing forced arbitration clauses in ongoing s*xual harassment or s*xual assault cases. Employees may still decide to arbitrate such claims, but that decision lies squarely with them.

The legislative definition of s*xual harassment in the bill covers anything that qualifies as s*xual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). Under Title VII, s*xual harassment is a form of s*x discrimination that includes the unwelcome s*xual advances, requests for s*xual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a s*xual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects the terms and conditions of continued employment or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

The bill will have far-reaching implications for both employees and employers when signed into law. Should you have any questions concerning these new developments, please do not hesitate to contact our team of professionals.

02/08/2022

Recent amendments to the Illinois Victim’s Economic Security and Safety Act (“VESSA”) went into effect on January 1, 2022. Under VESSA, employees who are victims of domestic violence, s*xual violence, or gender violence (or whose family members or household members are victims of such violence) may take up to 12-weeks of leave to address issues related to the violence. The amendments change certain aspects of this right by expanding the definition of covered individuals and reasons for leave, modifying documentation requirements for leave, including a confidentiality provision, and expanding the non-discrimination provision of the Act.

For more information concerning these new developments, please visit our blog post at https://lazarolawgroup.com/new-blog.

01/05/2022

On December 27, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) invited public comment on whether it should abandon its current test for determining whether a worker is an employee protected by federal labor laws or an independent contractor.

The legal test for determining a workers’ employment status is crucial for gig economy companies such as Uber and other businesses who use independent contractors to avoid the cost of hiring employees. The current test considers a list of 10 non-exhaustive factors for determining a worker’s employment status. These factors include the level of control, the method of payment, and the amount of supervision.

The NLRB invited interested parties to weigh in on whether it should overrule its 2019 decision in SuperShuttle DFW, which held that shuttle-van-driver franchisees were not employees under the National Labor Relations Act and therefore fell outside of the law’s coverage. The NLRB in SuperShuttle DFW found that its previous decision in FedEx Home Delivery diluted the importance of a worker’s “entrepreneurial opportunity for gain or loss” as a factor in the test.

The NLRB has now invited public comment to determine whether it should abandon SuperShuttle DFW and return to the standard in FedEx Home Delivery, which viewed the workers’ “entrepreneurial opportunity for gain or loss” as a broader factor that considers the employer’s constraints on a worker’s ability to render services as part of an independent business, rather than a decisive factor pointing toward independent contractor status.

Until the Board considers the public comments of all interested parties and comes to a decision, workers seeking to act together to improve working conditions in gig economy companies should consult an experienced employment & labor law attorney. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our team of professionals.

12/22/2021

Pregnancy in the workplace: important protections for pregnant Illinois employees in the workplace.

12/21/2021

On October 28, 2021, the Illinois legislature amended the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (the “Act”) to limit challenges to an employer’s COVID-19 policies. The Act allows an employee to win up to three times his or her back pay where an employer discriminates against the individual for refusing to accept or participate in medical treatment. The recent amendment clarifies that the Act will not allow for recovery based on an employer’s actions taken to limit or prevent contraction of COVID-19.

The Act protects a person’s conscientious refusal to receive, obtain, accept, or participate in any way in health care services. Because of the broadly phrased language of the Act, employees refusing to comply with a mandatory vaccination policy based on a claim of religious belief argue the anti-discrimination ban is absolute and not subject to limitations found under federal laws such as Title VII or the ADA, that allow an employer to impose vaccine mandates in the workplace.

The recent amendment prohibits the Act from being used as a tool to challenge COVID-19 prevention measures, such as mandatory vaccination policies. The amendment clarifies that the Act does not prevent an employer from taking any measure or imposing any requirement to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, because the amendment goes into effect on June 1, 2022, there is a risk until then that employees can cite this Act if their conscience-based objections are denied.

Until the amendment goes into effect, Illinois employers will have to decide whether to temporarily grant a conscience-based exemption request. Thus, employers will still need to carefully consider employee exemption requests to avoid ending up in court.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our team of professionals.

11/24/2021

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring vaccination and testing mandates for employers with at least 100 employees is currently paused following a Fifth Circuit decision that put in place a stay on all activities related to implementation and enforcement.

The ETS was set to take full effect over the next few months with these key deadlines:

• December 5, 2021: Employers must comply with all requirements other than testing employees who have not completed their vaccination dose. This includes employer policy rollout, recordkeeping, and mask-wearing requirements.

• January 4, 2022: Employers must comply with the testing requirement for employees who have not received all doses required for vaccination.

Employers are not legally obligated to comply while the ETS is on hold but given the potential penalties of up to $14,000 per violation, they should use this time wisely to decide and develop a plan of action. Below are some key requirements for covered employers:

• Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy. OSHA has posted a mandatory vaccination sample policy on its website for consideration. Employers with vaccine mandate policies already in place must modify their current policy to incorporate any missing requirements.

• Vaccination Status Proof and Recordkeeping. Employers must determine the vaccination status of each employee.

• COVID-19 Testing. Employers must ensure that employees who are not fully vaccinated are tested for COVID-19 at least weekly.

OSHA has also posted a testing and face covering sample policy on its website for consideration.

Should you have any questions concerning the development of a vaccination or testing policy, please do not hesitate to contact our team of professionals.

11/10/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a seismic impact on the labor market. Employers currently struggling with a labor shortage while also trying to navigate vaccination requirements could be exposed to liability if they prefer candidates that list their vaccination status on their resume.

The practice of filtering applicants based on vaccination status may violate federal protections for people with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs. The American with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act require that employers make accommodations for employees or applicants with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs. A blanket policy of filtering applicants based on their vaccination status alone could result in unintentional discrimination against certain individuals who require an exemption, whether medical or religious.

Moreover, because Black and Latino individuals overall have lower vaccination rates, a blanket policy could also result in a disparate impact claim under Title VII for racial discrimination.

While hiring discrimination cases can be difficult for applicants to win, employers can avoid defending a discrimination claim in the first place by limiting the amount of information they collect or consider from job applicants.

Should you have any questions concerning vaccinations in the workplace, including questions concerning a mandatory vaccination program, please do not hesitate to contact our team of professionals.

Lázaro Law Chicago

10/11/2023

08/23/2022

07/01/2022

04/11/2022

04/07/2022

03/02/2022

02/08/2022

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12/22/2021

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