(SPRINGFIELD) The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says Silver Cross Hospital in upstate Illinois violated federal law by failing to provide an employee’s reasonable request for a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the EEOC lawsuit filed last Friday, the New Lenox hospital denied a certified surgical technologist’s request in August 2021 and retaliated by firing her two-and-half months later in November 2021, even though she could have been accommodated without undue hardship to the hospital.
(SPRINGFIELD) Illinois lawmakers last week advanced a measure that would strip cities like Chicago of the power to raise wages for tipped workers, allowing the state to exclusively oversee rules that could halt the statewide push to phase out the subminimum wage. House Bill 4263 would prevent local governments from setting rules regarding tips counting towards an hourly wage, making regulation of the allowance an exclusive power of the Illinois state government.
(SPRINGFIELD) A bill that would require Illinois workers to be provided more protections from excessive temperatures made progress in the state’s General Assembly last week. House Bill 3762, as amended, would require the Illinois Department of Labor to adopt extreme temperature safety standards for employers by the beginning of 2027, with enforcement beginning the next year. Among other things, the bill would require employers when conditions are hot to provide water colder than 61 degrees, paid rest breaks with access to shade, either schedule modifications or task rotation to limit exposure, and access to personal protective equipment. When temperatures are too cold, workers must have thermal protection and face coverings, mandatory warm-up breaks, and either schedule modifications or task rotation to limit exposure.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois Chamber of Commerce has announced that a new president and CEO is scheduled to start this coming Wednesday. Jimmy Clayton previously worked in advocacy and lobbying positions with the Illinois Realtors. Clayton takes over for interim CEO Dan Wagner, who replaced previous CEO Lou Sandoval late last year.