Illinois Continues to Expand Requirements for Employers in 2025 and 2026

At a Glance

• A range of new Illinois employment-related laws and amendments have taken effect recently or take effect in the coming months.
• Employers should take note of these changes, which may impact employee handbooks and other compliance obligations.

Illinois lawmakers enacted an array of new employment-related laws and amendments that recently took effect or will take effect in 2026. Employers should take note of these changes, which expand employee leave rights, strengthen workplace protections, make changes at the Illinois Department of Human Rights, broaden equal pay obligations, impose additional requirements under the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act, and more.

Military Leave Act Expansion (Public Act 104-0078)

Effective August 1, 2025, the Illinois Family Military Leave Act was renamed the “Military Leave Act.” Eligible employees may now take up to eight hours of paid leave per calendar month to participate in a military funeral honors detail, supporting those who wish to honor fallen service members. The law continues to provide unpaid leave to employees who meet certain eligibility requirements and have a spouse or family member who has received federal or state deployment orders. The amount of leave varies from 15 days to 30 days depending on employer size.

Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Leave (Public Act 104-0259)

Starting June 1, 2026, employees working in Illinois may take unpaid leave while their child is a patient in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) if they work for a business with at least 16 employees. The amount of that leave varies between 10 days (for employers with 16-50 employees) or 20 days (for employers with 51 or more employees). This leave is separate from any leave the employee may be entitled to under the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), leave which first must be exhausted before NICU leave may be taken.

Blood and Organ Donation Leave Expansion (Public Act 104-0193)

Currently the Illinois Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act allows full-time employees working for an employer with at least 51 employees to take up to 10 days of paid leave in any 12-month period for organ donation. Effective January 1, 2026, that leave right will be available to part-time employees as well. The amended law provides a formula for calculating the amount that must be paid to part-time employees during such leave.

Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act Amendment (Public Act 104-0076)

Effective January 1, 2026, break time for expressing milk or nursing a baby must be paid, clarifying what could have been viewed as an ambiguity in the existing law. Additionally, the amended law specifically prohibits employers from requiring employees to use paid leave during the break time or to reduce the employee’s compensation during the break time in any other manner.

Illinois Human Rights Act Amendment (Public Act 104-0425)

From January 1, 2026, the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) will no longer be required to conduct a fact-finding conference for every charge filed, allowing greater discretion. Civil penalties for violations are now set between $16,000 and $70,000 depending on the number of past violations. Removing the requirement to hold a fact-finding conference may help the IDHR address the backlog of charges pending with the agency (especially given the time for filing a charge was expanded from 300 days to two years in January 2025).

Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act Amendment (Public Act 104-0171)

In Illinois, employees are afforded certain rights and protections under state law if they are a victim of sexual violence, gender violence, or any other crime of violence or have family or household members who are victims of such violence. Those rights include unpaid, job-protected leave. Beginning January 1, 2026, VESSA will also prohibit employers from punishing or discriminating against employees who use employer-provided equipment to record crimes of violence against themselves or their family. Employers must also grant access to any such recordings.

Workplace Transparency Act Expansion (Public Act 104-0320)

Since January 1, 2020, the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (IWTA) has imposed certain restrictions on employers who elect to include non-disclosure and non-disparagement provisions in employment agreements, separation agreements, or settlement agreements. For instance, an employment agreement cannot prevent or restrict an employee or former employee from reporting allegations of unlawful conduct to federal, State, or local officials for investigation, including unlawful employment practices. Effective January 1, 2026, the IWTA further expands protections for employees (current, prospective, and former) by, for example, expanding the definition of unlawful employment practices (beyond discrimination, harassment or retaliation), adding protections for concerted activities, and prohibiting employers from including certain terms in any unilateral condition of employment. The amendment also allows employees to recover consequential damages in litigation under the ITWA, including when defending actions for breach of confidentiality agreements.

Workers’ Rights and Worker Safety Act (Public Act 104-0161)

Effective August 14, 2025, Illinois has preserved worker protections under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, as they existed as of April 28, 2025. If the applicable federal agency revokes or repeals a previously promulgated standard or issues a standard interpretation for a previously promulgated standard that results in less protections, the Illinois Department of Labor is authorized to adopt a standard that incorporates the federal standard as it existed prior to being repealed, revoked, amended, or newly interpreted. This amendment seeks to address any rollbacks to those protections that have been or may be made at the federal level under the Trump Administration.

Equal Pay Act Registration Expansion (Public Act 104-0017)

Illinois has expanded the scope of businesses that must obtain an equal employment registration certificate by removing the requirement that only private employers who must file a federal EEO-1 report are covered. As of June 30, 2025, any private employer with 100 or more employees in Illinois must comply with these registration requirements. This amendment was in response to concerns that the federal government may revoke the obligation to file an EEO-1 report, which would have impacted this Illinois registration requirement. 

Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act Changes (Public Act 104-0135)

Effective January 1, 2026, the process for recovering back wages is streamlined. A final administrative decision by the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) regarding back wages becomes a debt owed to the State, triggering collection rights.

Prevailing Wage Act Amendments (Public Act 104-0023 and 104-0160)

These changes, effective August 14, 2025, ensure that workers on federally funded construction projects administered by state or local government are paid the higher Illinois prevailing wage when it exceeds the federal rate. The amendments also introduce civil penalties for contractors or subcontractors who fail to file a certified payroll, provides an appeals process for such penalties, and adds compensatory damages to the recovery available to an employee (current, prospective or former) who challenges a contract for violation of the prevailing wage act and other violations.

What Employers Should Know

Some of these changes may impact employee handbooks, which should be reviewed by year end to ensure compliance in the new year. Other changes may require updating any template employment agreements or separation agreements to align with the new requirements under the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act. Other changes may impact internal processes directed at meeting compliance obligations.

Stay tuned for further guidance from state agencies as implementation dates approach.