Kristin Case and Kate Sedey have once again been recognized by their peers and the Illinois Super Lawyers Association.  Ms. Case was rated a “Super Lawyer” for her work in the field of employment and labor and Ms. Sedey was rated a “Rising Star” for her work litigating employment-related matters.  Ms. Case has now been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers every year since …

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New laws are oftentimes drafted to take effect at the beginning of the following year, and employment laws are no exception. On January 1, 2016, Chicagoans gained an increase in minimum wage, Illinoisans got an expansion of equal pay protections, and veterans received legislative leg-up in the workplace with the implementation of new Illinois employment laws.

First, the minimum …

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Study Finds that Older Women Face More Discrimination than Older Men

A lot has been written lately about women’s continued struggle for equal pay and opportunities in the workplace.  Nothing about those struggles is surprising.  However, a recent study shows that as women age in the workforce, things become worse for them.  Not only are they experiencing gender discrimination, but age …

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Notes for Employees Who Have Been Notified that They’re Being Fired

In my last post I talked about getting the time off work you need for treatment and to care for yourself when faced with a serious illness. Now let’s look at maintaining your income while seeking treatment and/or recovering.

First, this article addresses conditions that are unrelated to work. If your injury or illness resulted at work …

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Negative Performance Reviews: Legitimate Teaching Tools or Cover-Ups for Unlawful Actions or Intentions?

Negative performance reviews can either be legitimate teaching tools or they can be mere documents to support what a manager already plans to do.  In the plaintiff’s employment law world, we call the latter, “papering the file.”  And, oftentimes, managers unfairly paper an employee’s file when planning to …

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Our Associate, Kendra Kutko, was quoted in a great article by TheStreet.com entitled, “Unlimited Vacation Policies Are On The Rise: These Companies Aren’t Counting Your Days Off,”

She shares her expertise on vacation policies in the workplace and the new trend of unlimited vacation policies for employees.

For more from Kendra on unlimited vacation policies for employees, please visit her recent blog post:

Are …

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Notes for employees on what to do if you think you might be fired.
Sometimes, as a lawyer, it’s easy to get caught up in statutory language, burdens of proof, and legal frameworks. Today I want to take a step back from that and offer some thoughts on how to handle one of the most basic employment-related fears: What do I …

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How to care for yourself without derailing your career

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month the following is the first part of a three-part series regarding coping with a serious health condition, like cancer, in the workplace.

This first part deals with the immediate:  getting time off work for treatment without losing your job.

Oftentimes illnesses …

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LinkedIn, the business-oriented social networking giant, recently announced that as of November 1, 2015, it will offer its employees unlimited vacation time.  LinkedIn will join the ranks of other major employers including General Electric Co., Netflix, Virgin Group, and Groupon in adopting unlimited vacation policies, known in the human resources sphere as “discretionary time off” policies.

There is no federal or …

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