Employment Law Resources for Illinois Employees – Key Terms and Agencies for Terminated Workers
Glossary of Important Illinois Employment Law Terms
- At-Will Employment: The default employment relationship in Illinois, where either the employer or employee can terminate the relationship at any time, for any reason (with some exceptions). Most Illinois employees are “at will” free to quit their job with NO NOTICE, and also subjected to be fired with NO NOTICE.
- Constructive Discharge: When an employee is forced to resign due to intolerable working conditions.
- Retaliation: Punishment, Adverse action taken against an employee for engaging in protected activities, such as reporting discrimination or safety violations.
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP):
- A PIP is a formal document outlining performance issues and goals for improvement.
- Typically used by employers to address alleged underperforming employees.
- Popular way for employers to justify termination.
- Not legally required, but often used as a tool for documentation before termination.
- Employees have the right to provide feedback or contest inaccuracies in a PIP.
- It is not necessarily illegal for an Illinois employer to issue a PIP that is unfair or that the employee disagrees with.
Key Agencies and Laws
Personnel Records Review Act (PRRA)
This law allows Illinois employees to access their personnel records within 1 year of separation. Most employers provide such records by hardcopy mail, e-mail or secure file sharing. Most personnel records include job applications, tax forms, promotions, transfers, discipline, separation and other basic records. Employers don’t have to give you everything they collected about you during the course of your employment, however, you can ask the employer to correct records you disagree with. If the employee refuses to correct, you can submit a statement which they must attach to the record. See the full Illinois statutue online at: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2395&ChapterID=68
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Federal law providing eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specific family and medical reasons.
- Applies to employers with 50 or more employees.
Employment Discrimination (Title VII, ADEA, ADA, Section 1981)
- Protected characteristics include race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and genetic information.
- The Civil Rights Act (federal law enforced by EEOC) and the Illinois Human Rights Act provides additional protections, including for sexual orientation and marital status.
How do you prove discrimination in the Illinois workplace? To succeed on a Title VII discrimination claim, an employee must prove that “[1] he is a member of a class protected by the statute, [2] that he has been the subject of some form of adverse employment action (or that he has been subjected to a hostile work environment), and [3] that the employer took this adverse action on account of the plaintiff’s membership in the protected class.” Abrego v. Wilkie, 907 F.3d 1004, 1012 (7th Cir. 2018)
Unemployment Benefits / Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES)
- State agency administering unemployment insurance benefits. Provides temporary financial support to eligible workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Most employees are denied benefits because of (1) misconduct (2) voluntary leave and/or (3) no proof/certification that the unemployed employee is able and available to work, that is to say IDES does not believe the employee is actually looking for work and/or not in a position to start new work.
Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR)
- State agency that investigates charges of discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and financial credit. They go beyond federal law and also look into additional areas of employment discrimination such as conviction/arrest record, marital status and order of protection status.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
- Federal agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination. To sue under certain federal employment discrimination laws, you must timely file a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC and obtain from the EEOC a “Notice of Right to Sue”. The burden is on the employee to prove employment discrimination occurred, including evidence and witnesses.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
- Federal agency that protects the rights of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages and working conditions. Non-union employees are protected and can file a NLRB Charge if they are punished for joining together and trying to improve working conditions.
Severance Pay
- Not required by law in Illinois, but may be offered by employers.
- Can collect severance pay and unemployment benefits simultaneously.
- Terms are typically negotiable and may include additional benefits beyond monetary compensation.