We are pleased to announce that both Kristin Case and Kate Sedey have been recognized by their peers as Emerging Lawyers in the Law Bulletin’s Leading Lawyers Network!  Emerging Lawyers are identified as “the top two percent of lawyers who are 40 years old or younger or practicing for less than ten years and have proven themselves professional, ethical and …

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Why you should actually read your employment agreement before you sign!

We recently had an employment agreement related issue arise here at the firm that reminded me how unequal the bargaining power can be in employment relationships. A very large Bank here in Chicago slipped into an equity incentive agreement-a provision which altered the statute of limitations for our …

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City Task Force Recommends that Chicago Employers Adopt 5 Days of Paid Sick Leave Annually

Last February 2015, 82 percent of Chicago voters supported a non-binding city referendum to adopt paid sick leave for workers. After this, the City formed a task force, called the Working Families Task Force, consisting of 27 members representing business, government, and employee advocacy interests to …

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Gender Gap Persists in the Tech Industry

Undoubtedly tech companies continue to make their mark as employment visionaries. In recent months, tech companies have chartered the way for creative, employee-favorable practices such as paid parental leave, unlimited vacation time, and open pay policies to name just a few commendable achievements.  Yet, while these innovators stride ahead in many notable areas of …

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Argues Sexual Orientation Discrimination Prohibited by Title VII

Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) took a big step forward in protecting employees from sexual orientation discrimination and harassment in the workplace.  In U.S. EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Center, P.C. and U.S. EEOC v. IFCO Systems North America, two cases filed last week in Pennsylvania and Maryland respectively, the …

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On January 29, 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced a major proposed regulation change that would increase pay transparency for employers with 100 or more employees and help fight pay inequities based on a person’s protected status.

The EEOC is the government agency responsible for enforcing the federal anti-discrimination laws, including the laws that prohibit discrimination based on …

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Making a formal internal complaint of inappropriate conduct in the workplace can be a scary proposition. So many employees are worried about whether they will be taken seriously, whether they’ll be perceived as a whiner or overly-sensitive, and – perhaps most scary of all – whether they will be retaliated against or pushed out of the workplace for taking a …

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With new generations emerging in the workforce, shifts in corporate thinking have begun to occur that have many talking. One of those shifts is toward the adoption of greater transparency between management and employees.  The thinking about transparency has started to change in one particularly controversial area: employee salaries.

Most companies treat compensation information as one of the most strictly protected, …

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We are proud to announce that Kendra Kutko has begun her three year term as a Board Member of the Illinois Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association.  For more information on the organization or the work that Kendra will be doing, click here.

Tech Companies Led the Way Expanding Paid Parental Leave Policies in 2015

Other Employers Should Now Follow  

The tech industry is famous for setting trends in providing innovative perks and benefits to employees. In the second half of 2015, this pioneering spirit continued for the tech industry as a craze began among highly visible companies to expand their paid parental leave policies.

Although …

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