Only a few months after Illinois “banned the box” for private employers, Chicago’s city council has proposed to do the same. “Ban the box” refers to a movement that seeks to remove the check box from job applications asking whether or not the applicant has a prior criminal history. Like the Illinois law, Chicago’s proposal
A Pregnant Pause For Illinois Employees?
Following a national trend, Governor Pat Quinn recently signed legislation amending and expanding the protections under the Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”) for pregnant applicants and employees, requiring reasonable accommodation of pregnancy, not just pregnancy disability. The amendment, which takes effect January 1, 2015, applies to all employers with at least one employee.
Examples of
New Illinois “Ban the Box” Law Covers Private Employers
Governor Quinn has signed the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act (the “Act”), which takes effect January 1, 2015 and prevents private employers from asking an applicant about his or her criminal history on the initial job application. In “banning the box” for private employment, Illinois joins only a handful of states (Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota
Sixth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Against EEOC in Credit Check Suit
In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Kaplan Higher Education Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the award of summary judgment against the EEOC in its suit alleging that Kaplan’s use of credit checks disparately impacted African-American applicants in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.