The Workplace Report with Ancel Glink

With the COVID-19 pandemic still in full force, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently reversed its guidance on masks being worn in the workplace. As the Delta variant continues to spread and an increase in the number of new coronavirus cases are reported each day, the CDC announced that employers may want to reinstate a mask requirement within the workplace in areas with high or substantial COVID-19 transmission rates, which encompasses about 63% of U.S. counties. Back in May, the CDC stated that vaccinated people need not wear masks indoors or outdoors, based on the protection provided by the COVID-19 vaccines. However, since then, the highly transmissible Delta variant has emerged and is causing an increase in new outbreaks within the under-vaccinated areas of the country. Although the CDC reported an average of 12,000 new coronavirus cases per day back in mid-June, the agency has since reported an increase of over 40,000 new cases per day with the De...

On July 9, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet City, and The Archdiocese of Chicago , an employment discrimination case that arose when a Catholic church terminated a music director following several years of alleged harassment by the parish’s pastor. The music director, a gay man who struggles with diabetes and metabolic syndrome, claimed that he was subjected to frequent insults and hostility from the pastor and was ultimately terminated after marrying his partner. In his first complaint, the music director claimed that the church and Archdiocese unlawfully discharged him under Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The district court dismissed the case because the defendants successfully raised the ministerial exception, which shields religious organizations from government interference with their ability to select and control their ministers and protects them from certain employment lawsui...

On July 1, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its renewed dedication to promoting Short-Time Compensation (STC) programs across the country and awarded grants to several states to assist with their economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The DOL announced that the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) would receive just over $4 million to “support the state’s business community as it continues its economic recovery” through STC programs. STC, also known as work-sharing, allows employers to cut employees’ work hours without laying them off by providing partial unemployment benefits to employees with reduced hours. While several other states have had work-sharing programs in place for some time, this grant from the DOL will help Illinois implement an STC scheme for the first time. Illinois passed legislation in late 2014 authorizing IDES to implement an STC program, and this new grant provides further incentive to continue that process. Once IDES de...

In the debate over whether college athletes can seek payment for their participation in sports, Illinois, one of several states across the country, has passed legislation outlining how and when student-athletes can receive compensation. On Tuesday, July 29, Governor Pritzker signed the Student-Athlete Endorsement Rights Act (Act) . The Act, which has already gone into effect, provides that a student-athlete enrolled at a postsecondary educational institution, including private and public colleges, universities, and community colleges, may be compensated for using their name, image, likeness, or voice, subject to certain restrictions within the Act and any reasonable policies adopted by their schools. The Act defines the rights and obligations for postsecondary schools with athletics programs. Schools covered by the Act are barred from creating rules or entering into contracts with student-athletes, which prevent them from being compensated in a manner consistent with the law’s provisio...

Summertime has arrived, with its typical indicators: unbearable humidity, ice cream trucks, baseball, and—yes—droves of young students looking for part-time gigs. As students from middle schools and high schools around Illinois begin to look for summer employment, employers should revisit their policies on hiring student employees. Below, employers will find great tips on how to properly hire youth workers. Review Work Permit Requirements   Aside from several exemptions for agricultural workers, small domestic tasks, and several other special categories of employment, employers wishing to hire minors between the ages of 14 and 16 must obtain and file an employment certificate under Illinois’s Child Labor Law (“the Act”). These permits allow minors to work during summer breaks and outside of school hours. A permit must be signed by either a municipal or county school superintendent or a delegated authority before being sent to the minor’s employer, the Department of Labor, and the ...