Organized Labor Having It’s Way In Springfield

Organized labor was critical in electing Governor Rod Blagovich, and it will be again when 2006 comes along.  In the meantime, our Governor, with the help of the state’s Democratic controlled House and Senate, has made great strides in making sure organized labor is at his side for his re-election bid come 2006.

In the course of just a few months, Illinois suddenly has become very unfriendly towards employers of all shapes and sizes.  For instance…

• Illinois will soon be out of step with the rest of the Midwest with the signing of the new minimum wage increase.  Effective January 1, 2004, every Illinois employer will be required to pay each employee who is 18 years of age or older wages of not less than $5.50 per hour.  On and after January 1, 2005, the Illinois minimum wage becomes $6.50 per hour.  No state outside of the Northeast or West Coast has a minimum wage higher than the Federal rate of $5.15 per hour.
  
• Illinois now has the most expansive leave benefit regarding domestic and sexual violence in the Nation.  Basically, under the state’s Victim’s Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), any Illinois employer who has 50 or more employees, regardless of location, must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year, for any employee who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence or has a “family” or “household” member who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence.  The new law, which went into effect August 25, 2003, further prohibits any employer from discriminating against employees who are victims of such violence or who are “perceived” as victims.
  
• The new Illinois Employment of Strikebreaker’s Act is very broad in scope in stating that no day and temporary labor service agency may send any day or temporary laborer to any place where a strike, a lockout, or other labor trouble exists.  
  
• Effective January 1, 2004, many employers, who would otherwise be exempt under the Federal Equal Pay Act, must now recognize and be in compliance with the Illinois Equal Pay Act.  Besides the expanded coverage of employers with at least four (4) employees, the Illinois Equal Pay Act requires employers to pay employees who are situated in one county the same wage, regardless of their sex, when they perform substantially similar work even if they work in different facilities.  The Illinois Act also prohibits policies that currently prohibit the sharing or dissemination of information about wages and/or salaries should reconsider those policies. 
  
• Federal law aside, effective January 1, 2004, it shall be against the law for an employer to impose a restriction that has the effect of preventing or prohibiting a language from being spoken by an employee in communications that are unrelated to the employee’s duties.  No more “English Only” policies.
  
• Many Illinois employers sponsoring group health insurance plans that provide coverage for outpatient services and outpatient prescription drugs will now be required to provide coverage for all outpatient contraceptive services and all outpatient contraceptive prescriptions with the recent amendment to the Illinois Insurance Code (effective January 1, 2004). 
  
• A new cause of action has been created in Illinois against an employer who penalizes an employee who provides information to a governmental agency about the employer's possible violation of law.  This new law is called the Illinois Whistleblower’s Act, and will be effective January 1, 2004. 
  
  However, what if the employee is wrong?  Under this new law, so long as the employee has a reasonable belief as to the violation, even if that belief is wrong, the employer would still be liable.
  
• Beware!!!  Many of you know that the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act sets the wages for workers employed by a contractor or sub-contractor on a public works construction project.  These set wages are tied directly to organized labor. 
  
  Not to suggest that the Pre-Blagovich Era was especially kind to merit-shop contractors offering very competitive wages, but the fact that organized labor is actually now running the Illinois Department of Labor, the agency that enforces the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, is frightening.
  
  Make no mistake, the IDOL is making prevailing wage its #1 priority --- with big labor pulling the strings.
  
• For fiscal year 2004, Illinois employers will have the burden to come up with tens of millions of dollars in the way of a new tax in order to fund the operations of the Illinois Industrial Commission, the state agency responsible for adjudicating workers’ compensation claims.  What’s appalling is that the new tax will raise millions more dollars than are actually needed to fund the Commission.

This state, like any other state, needs to stop caving in to special interests and begin developing public policy dedicated to the far too often overlooked principle of Job Creation.  In 2003, our state legislators and our Governor gave in to organized labor.  The results are to be determined.  In the meantime, one thing is for certain… these new laws and regulations will have absolutely no positive effect on this state’s economy, which is tied directly to the well-being of Illinois employers.  Consequently, no one benefits.

Illinois employers have two options, they are: 1) hold your breath and hope for the best or 2) speak up and be heard.  May I suggest the latter? 

Get involved!  Write your legislators.  Write your Governor.  Join your local business, trade or professional association.  Become a member of the Illinois Chamber and participate on the Chamber’s Employment Law Council, including the Council’s Employment Law & Litigation Committee.  You owe it to your customers, your vendors, your employees and yourself.