BLOGS

Effective August 7, several new emergency rules have gone into effect related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These rules were adopted by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in response to Governor Pritzker’s Gubernatorial Proclamations and Executive Orders. They will remain in place for a maximum of 150 days. General Provisions At its core, these new rules were adopted in order to clarify the IDPH’s role in investigating and suppressing the pandemic. Businesses across the state have been somewhat confused as to what authority IDPH ...

As many employers have probably realized by now, the rules set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) play an extremely important part in how businesses need to address the current COVID-19 pandemic. But complying with all these different rules and regulations can be confusing for even the savviest business owner, which is why OSHA recently published a new FAQ page to address common questions related to the virus. This blog post discusses some of the more pertinent issues for small business owners, but other concerns are ad...

While COVID-19 has us all scrambling to find a sense of “normal” in the workplace nowadays, it’s important that we don’t lose sight of other issues that can have a significant impact on our businesses. As you may remember, January of this year brought about quite a few changes to employment laws, and resulted in a large number of businesses having to update their employment policies. Well, the same thing happened a couple months ago in July! Don't forget about these important employment laws that are currently affecting your business. ...

COVID-19 has changed a lot of the normal practices we see in the workplace. Masks, social-distancing, and not to mention unprecedented legislation on federal paid sick leave. There’s a lot that employers have to keep up with. And one of these new workplace practices is temperature checks. In an effort to increase safety within the workplace, a number of employers are now mandating that employees get their temperatures checked right before entering the building. While this can be a great idea in terms of safety, it does present a novel questio...

The Department of Labor recently published new model notices and forms for employers to use when administering leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). While the changes to these documents aren’t groundbreaking, there are a few things worth noting for your reference. Eligibility The Eligibility Notice (form WH-381) is used to inform employees of their eligibility for FMLA leave, or provide at least one reason as to why the employee is not eligible for such leave. The changes to the document are minor but do provide some clarity ...