Savine Employment Law, Ltd. is excited to introduce its latest team member, Kelsey Buckler, in the role of Business Solutions & Development Specialist. Her responsibilities include onboarding clients and seeing that each client’s journey with our firm is nothing short of exceptional. Kelsey will also support the firm’s marketing and client development initiatives. Kelsey honed her people skills with a degree in hospitality management from Florida State University and through her work supporting personal injury and estate management firms. In her spare time, you’ll find her poolside with he ..read more

Your Employment Lawyer Can Help You Strategize In A Changing Climate This week, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the lead NLRB attorney responsible for the prosecution of unfair labor practice cases, announced that most non-compete agreements likely violate the National Labor Relations Act, absent limited “special circumstances.”  Here’s a quick review of non-competes and what your employment lawyer can do to help your business in this changing climate. What Are Non-Compete Agreements? Non-compete agreements typically prohibit employees from competing agai ..read more

Savine Employment Law, Ltd. is excited to introduce its newest team member, attorney James Rogers, who brings a wealth of experience in litigation, business management and employment law to the practice. “This addition to our staff will further strengthen our ability to provide exceptional employment law services to businesses and the executives who lead them,” says Gary Savine, principal and founder. “We strive to be indispensable to our clients’ goals so that they view our team much as they see their C-Suites.  Clients will find James’ legal expertise combined with his management experi ..read more

1/11/23: Last night, the Illinois Legislature passed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. The Act requires almost all private employers to provide paid leave to employees to use for any purpose. “This is a significant expansion of the legal obligations facing Illinois employers,” says Gary Savine, Principal, Savine Employment Law, Ltd. “Proper compliance will require careful advance planning.  Chicago and Cook County employers should be aware that the new legislation does not mirror existing sick pay ordinances.  The new law expands on rights afforded under those ordinances by provid ..read more

On June 10, 2022, Illinois signed and amended the Family Bereavement Leave Act (“FBLA”), formerly known as the Child Bereavement Leave Act.  The act will take effect on January 1, 2023.  With the FBLA, employees can take bereavement leave for the deaths of immediate family members, in addition to children, and the act expands to address grief related to pregnancy loss and failed adoptions. New Procedures The FBLA expands the Child Bereavement Act in several of the following ways: FBLA guarantees bereavement leave following the death of a: child spouse domestic partner sibling paren ..read more

Please join veteran panelist, Gary Savine, on March 29 at 2:00 p.m., CST, for the premier of:  Show Them The Money!  Wage and Hour Compliance, 2022.  Gary, will be part of a panel of legal experts speaking on the latest episode of this popular webinar about the current status of wage and hour laws, since the change to the latest Federal administration. This webinar is part of the ongoing legal education series about employment law, Protecting Your Employee Assets:  The Life Cycle Of The Employment Relationship, 2022, a production of Financial Poise and West LegalEdCen ..read more

Employers Have A Brief Window To Grant Conscience-Based Exemption Requests Employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates are the subject of amendments to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.  The amendments will  go into effect this summer, preventing employees from relying on the Act to avoid employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Act, which was first passed in 1977 to protect health care workers who assisted, or refused to assist, in care services that were “contrary to their conscience,” has recently been asserted in several lawsuits by workers.  The lawsuits claim the Act ..read more

Proposed Amendments Would Clarify Employers’ Responsibility For Gender-Related Violence, Underscore Risk For Ignoring Workplace Violence The Illinois Gender Violence Act imposes liabilities against “persons” who commit gender-related violence; that much is clear.  But, as we previously reported, what remains unclear for Illinois employers is whether a “person” can include an employer, and under what circumstances.   Earlier this month, proposed amendments to the IGVA passed the Illinois House that, if signed into law, will bring needed clarity to these questions.    Un ..read more

Illinois Employers Must Now Inform Employees of Availability of Essential Health Benefits Illinois’  “Consumer Coverage Disclosure Act” is now in effect for all employers who provide group health insurance coverage to their employees.  This new law requires employers to share a comparison of their plans’ health benefits against the essential health benefits (EHBs) regulated by the State of Illinois. Employers’ plans do not need to contain all EHBs.  The reason for the comparison is simply to show how employer coverage stacks up against the State’s list of essential benefits.&nbs ..read more

Chicago Employers Must Plan for Phase-in of New Fair Workweek Ordinance This Summer!   Starting July 1, 2022, Chicago employers covered by the Fair Workweek Ordinance (CFWO) face stricter limits on their ability to change certain workers’ work schedules, and on their ability to command workers to work heavy schedules without meaningful breaks between shifts.  Specifically, covered workers may not be forced to work any scheduled hours for which they did not receive at least 14 days’ advance notice.  If they accept work scheduled after the 14-day deadline, they must be paid one ho ..read more