Firm News

While running the day-to-day operations of a company can be time consuming, it is important for business owners to take the time to assess the organization’s future as well.  Succession planning is essential for the continuity of a business for when an owner or key employee retires, becomes disabled, passes away or simply leaves the […]

House Bill 252 is a recent attempt to expand the Illinois Human Rights Act to encompass employees that work at small business with less than 15 employees.  Currently, small business employees do not have any course of action against employers for discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, and age, although these employees can bring […]

Recent advisory referendums suggest that the 22-Year Rent Control Ban in Illinois may be repealed in the near future. Three advisory referendums throughout the state overwhelmingly voted that Springfield should remove its law preventing rent control, which would allow local governments or the state to regulate the amounts charged for rented housing. Illinois is not […]

More than 2,000 new hotel rooms are expected to open in downtown Chicago in 2019 as tourism in the city reaches an all-time high. The additional 2,000 rooms increase the total number of hotel rooms downtown to 47,000, adding more competition in an already competitive market. The seven-year uptick in hotel construction has recently led […]

The U.S. Department of Labor recently released its proposed changes to federal overtime regulations. The new plan would allow employees making less than $35,308 a year to be automatically eligible for overtime pay. The employee would earn one and half times their regular pay for any time worked over 40 hours per week. The Department […]

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in New Prime v. Oliveira provides a cautionary tale for interstate business owners, particularly in the trucking industry. In New Prime, the Supreme Court determined that trucking companies cannot block truck drivers from seeking redress in court for the companies’ alleged illegal activity solely by classifying drivers as “independent […]

As a business owner, employers have an interest in protecting valuable customer relationships and trade secrets by requiring potential employees to sign non-compete covenants. Non-compete covenants are common, particularly for high-paying employees and within specific professions or fields. However, recent revisions in state and federal law continue to narrow the scope of private employers’ ability […]

A recently proposed Illinois law would require companies contracted by the government to provide special software services used to verify that hours billed are “legitimate.” Senate Bill 1326 states that any contract in excess of $100,000 between a contractor and governmental entity, will require all billed hours of work performed on a computer to be […]

As downtown Chicago sees a steady growth of massive new office buildings, Chicago landlords risk potentially damaging vacancies in their existing buildings. Many current downtown tenants are making the move to state-of-the-art office buildings that are currently under construction or have recently come online. For example, Bank of America will vacate more than 800,000 square […]

Under Illinois law, an employee’s right to review personnel records is governed by the Employment Labor Relations Personal Record Review Act. 820 ILCS 40/1 et. seq.  To help you understand your duties as an employer, Rock, Fusco & Connelly has provided the helpful chart below: Illinois Personnel Record Review Act 820 Ill. Comp. Stat. 40/0.01-40/13 […]