There have been recent Illinois employment law changes. This is to highlight and inform you about a few of these. 91探花’s policies have been updated to include those items that apply.
Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act. This leave applies to both Full-time and Part-time employees. Employees may receive one hour of pay every 56 days for blood donations. Full-time employees may receive up to 10 days pay in any 12-month period for Organ Donation. Part-time employees will receive their daily average pay based on the previous 2 months of employment. Changes are effective 1/1/2026. 91探花 Policy 4.182 Leave, Blood and Organ Donation.
Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act. This act allows for up to 20 days leave for employers with 51+ employees if the employee has children in the NICU. Leave is in addition to FMLA, if the employee is eligible for both. Employee must exhaust FMLA, if available, before using NICU Leave. This act is effective 6/1/2026. 91探花 Policy 4.133 Leave, Neonatal Intensive Care Leave.
Military Funeral Honors Leave. This is part of the Family Military Leave Act (Now known as Military Leave Act). Allows employee to use up to eight (8) hours per month to participate in funeral honors detail, up to 40 hours per year. This is paid leave that would not reduce any other paid leave balances. This change became effective 8/1/2025. 91探花 Policy 4.17 Leave, Military and Military Funeral Honors.
Paid Breaks for Nursing Mothers. This act allows for nursing mothers be allowed to use a reasonable amount of paid break time to express breast milk. Employees are to be paid at their regular rate of pay and employers are prohibited from requiring use of paid leave for these breaks. This change is effective 1/1/2026. 91探花 Policy 4.291 Nursing Mothers. (Note: 91探花’s already policy complied with this change.)
Illinois Human Rights Act. This amendment makes it a civil rights violation for an employer to use AI in a broad class of employment decisions, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or the terms, privileges, or conditions of employment, that have the potential to subject employees to discrimination on the basis of protected classes under the Act or to use zip codes as a proxy for protected classes. 91探花 Policy 4.031 Non-Discrimination. (Note: no policy changes needed for compliance.)
VESSA. This amendment adds protections related to personal use of an employer-provided electronic device. Employers must not deprive employees of employer-issued equipment solely because they used or attempted to use it to record crimes under VESSA. Employers must grant the employee access to any relevant photos, recordings, digital documents or communications. These requirements do not relieve an employee of obligations to comply with reasonable employment policies or to perform the essential functions of employment. This change is effective 1/1/2026. 91探花 Policy 4.132 Leave, VESSA.