Illinois continues to enact sweeping legislation that expands employee protections, enhances workplace transparency, and increases employer compliance obligations. Many of these recently-passed changes will take effect over the next year, with most of them beginning January 1, 2026. Below is a summary of the most impactful changes.
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS, TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS, AND HR DOCUMENTATION
Amendments to the Workplace Transparency Act (WTA) — Effective January 1, 2026
Significant changes to the WTA will apply to any employment, severance, or settlement agreement signed, modified, or extended on or after January 1, 2026. These amendments prohibit employers from restricting employees' ability to engage in protected concerted activity and require agreements to affirmatively state that employees maintain the right to participate in proceedings involving unlawful employment practices.
Additionally, confidentiality provisions included in settlement or severance agreements must now be supported by separate consideration. As a result, moving forward, employers should specify in severance and settlement agreements exactly how much of the applicable payment is allocated to the confidentiality clause. Failure to do so will lead to such provisions being unenforceable.
The amendments also prohibit several unilateral terms, including:
- Non-Illinois choice-of-law provisions
- Out-of-state venue requirements
- Contractual attempts to shorten limitations periods
Importantly, these prohibitions apply where the employee resides in Illinois, meaning employers with multi-state workforces cannot rely on out-of-state choice-of-law or venue provisions for Illinois-based employees, even if the employer is headquartered elsewhere.
Finally, employees may now seek consequential damages for WTA violations.
Employers should review and, if necessary, update their standard employment, settlement, and severance agreements to comply with these new requirements.
Amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA)— Effective January 1, 2026
The IHRA amendments eliminate the requirement that investigations by the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) include mandatory fact-finding conferences, although the IDHR may still hold conferences at its discretion or if jointly requested by the parties. The amendments also increase the amount and scope of civil penalties that can be imposed on employers for adjudicated violations, with maximum penalties based on the employer's history of prior violations:
- Up to $16,000 per act for a first violation;
- Up to $42,500 for a second violation within five years; and
- Up to $70,000 for two or more violations within seven years.
The amendments also expand the types of violations for which civil penalties may be assessed, allowing for penalties in a broader range of discriminatory practices. These changes streamline the investigative process and expand potential financial liability for employers under the IHRA.
Amendments to the Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) — Effective January 1, 2026
VESSA, Illinois' statute that provides leave and other protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence, now extends protections to employees who use employer-provided equipment to record crimes of violence against themselves or family members. Employers may not discipline or discriminate against employees for such recordings and must provide the employee access to any recording made with employer-issued devices.
This expansion may require employers to revise equipment-use and technology policies. For example, employers may need to adjust standard language limiting personal use of company property to ensure it aligns with VESSA's protections and does not conflict with an employee's right to make protected recordings.
LEAVE AND ACCOMMODATION LAWS
Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act — Effective June 1, 2026
Illinois has created a new job-protected leave entitlement for employees with newborns requiring NICU care. Employees will be entitled to:
- 10 days of unpaid leave if the employer has 16–50 employees
- 20 days of unpaid leave if the employer has 50 or more employees
Employees must exhaust any available FMLA leave prior to using this leave, and are protected from any retaliation for asserting their rights under the new law. Leave can be taken intermittently or continuously, though employers may require that leave be taken in increments of no less than 2 hours. Notably, unlike FMLA, employers cannot require employees to exhaust paid time off prior to taking leave under this new statute.
Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act Amendments — Effective January 1, 2026
Adding to the existing lactation break laws in Illinois, employers must now pay employees for reasonable lactation breaks for up to one year postpartum. Employers may not require PTO usage or reduce pay for this time. These changes may require adjustments to scheduling and compensation practices.
Amendments to the Illinois Military Leave Act (formerly named the Family Military Leave Act) — Effective August 1, 2025
Employers with 51 or more employees must provide paid leave to employees trained and called to perform military funeral honors. Covered employees are entitled to up to eight hours of paid leave per month, capped at 40 hours per year. This is a new paid entitlement layered on top of existing military-related protections.
Amendment to the Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act — Effective January 1, 2026
This amendment expands the eligibility criteria for leave to include part-time employees in addition to full-time employees. Under the Act, eligible employees may take time off to donate blood or bone marrow or to serve as a donor for organ transplantation procedures.
PREVAILING WAGE REQUIREMENTS
Prevailing Wage Act Amendments — Effective August 14, 2025
Amendments to the Prevailing Wage Act expand the definition of "public works" to include federally-funded construction projects administered or controlled by state or local public bodies, provided the Illinois prevailing wage exceeds the applicable federal rate. Workers on these projects are now guaranteed the (currently) higher Illinois rate.
WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Workers' Rights and Safety Act — Effective January 1, 2026
The Workers' Rights and Safety Act establishes that Illinois will maintain worker protections at the level they existed under federal law as of April 28, 2025. Specifically, the Act preserves standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, ensuring that these protections cannot be reduced by subsequent federal rollbacks, reinterpretations, or regulatory changes.
Takeaways
Illinois employers will face a range of new employee protections, leave entitlements, and workplace compliance requirements in 2026. To remain compliant, employers should review their policies, agreements, and practices for any required updates.
If you have any questions regarding these amendments and their potential impact on your business, please reach out to the authors of this post or your regular Saul Ewing attorney.
