News & Articles

Employer Considerations When Forced to Reduce Employees’ Hours Due to COVID-19

With the COVID-19 pandemic imposing significant financial burdens on Illinois businesses, many employers must make difficult decisions to reduce costs in order to remain in business. Although many employers are doing everything in their power to keep their employees employed, with the closure or partial closure of businesses, and a general reduction in work, many

Business Interruption and Civil Authority Insurance

Client Alert: Business Interruption and Civil Authority Insurance Provisions in the Wake of COVID-19 Following the restrictions imposed limiting crowd sizes and shuttering companies’ operations across seemingly every industry, business owners are turning to their insurance coverage policies for guidance in navigating these difficult and uncertain times.  One possible aid to business owners facing new

Illinois’ “Stay at Home” Order & Construction Work

Illinois’ “Stay at Home” Order & Construction Work On March 20, 2020, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive “Stay at Home” Order, requiring Illinois residents to stay in their homes to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Residents are encouraged to only leave their homes to meet their basic needs like making trips to the grocery

Financial Assistance Available for Illinois’ Small Businesses

UPDATE: Financial Assistance Available for Illinois’ Small Businesses On March 19, 2020 the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) approved Governor Pritzker’s application for an economic injury declaration due to COVID-19. As a result, Illinois has been added to the list of Presidential and SBA Agency Declared Disaster States. Now small business in Illinois, affected by COVID-19,

Employee Expense Reimbursement and Remote Working Policies

With COVID-19 forcing many business owners to implement remote working polices, it is important for employers to be aware of their liability for employee expenses while their employees work from home. In short, employers are responsible for reimbursing employees for all expenses directly incurred by the employee while performing services for the employer. In  2018,

Force Majeure and COVID-19

Force Majeure and COVID-19 With governments around the world imposing travel bans and quarantines in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 pandemic the ability of parties to perform in accordance with the terms of a contract, and the liability that may result from the inability to perform under the terms of a contract

Recent Amendment to Illinois Cannabis Act Helps to Provide Clarification to Employers

When the Illinois legislature enacted legislation to legalize recreational marijuana effective January 1, 2020, employers were left with uncertainty as to how they could create and enforce reasonable zero tolerance or drug free workplace policies. The dilemma was that the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act prevented employers from discriminating against employees for

New Federal Overtime Rules

The first major change in federal overtime rules in over 15 years took effect January 1, 2020. The recent change, which was implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), increased the salary test for overtime eligibility under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act from $23,660 to $35,568 or $646 per week.  According to the

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