Monthly HR Update - October 2023

IDOL: Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (IPLAWA)

On October 18^th, 2023, the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) released new guidance regarding the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (IPLAWA).

We are in the process of reviewing client leave policies to ensure compliance.

Below are a two key takeaways from the IDOL webinar and FAQs:

1. If you like your paid leave policy, you can keep it: If you have a current paid time off policy that provides at least 40 hours of paid leave that can be used for any reason per your designated 12-month period -- you can keep it -- and do not need to abide by all other provisions set forth in the IPLAWA. (See FAQ No. 3.) However, you must ensure it is in place before 1/1/24 and identifies that the leave under the policy may be credited against any paid leave entitlement the employee may have under the IPLAWA.
2. Employers can deny leave under the IPLAWA based on operational needs: The IDOL stated during their webinar that employers can set parameters for use of IPLAWA leave and provide LIMITED reasons the leave can be denied for operational needs (i.e., seasonal, too many people off on the same day, minimum staffing requirements for operations, etc.). If you are going to deny an employee’s request for leave under the IPLAWA, then you MUST include in the written policy what factors will be considered and under what circumstances leave may be denied based on operational needs. The policy should be distributed ahead of the effective date (1/1/24). 

The IDOL is preparing guidance and other resources/materials to educate employees and assist employers with compliance. The Department anticipates finalized rules should be in place before March 31, 2024.  

Questions regarding paid leave can be submitted to the IDOL by emailing: DOL.PaidLeave@illinois.gov There are two IDOL Paid Leave seminars scheduled on November 1 and November 16 – please follow the link to enroll Paid Leave for All Workers Act (illinois.gov). Updated FAQs can be found at FAQs related to the IPLAWA.

We expect the IDOL to continue to provide further clarification in their FAQs. We will keep you apprised.

EEO-1 Reporting for 2022:

The portal for the EEO-1 reporting opens October 31, 2023, for private sector employers with 100 or more employees who are required to report workplace demographic data on an annual basis. EEO-1 reports must be submitted by the close of the reporting period on December 5, 2023. 

Employers must provide data from an employer-selected pay period from the fourth quarter (October 1–December 31) of the reporting year, known as a “workforce snapshot period.”

The EEOC requires reporting of job classification, sex, and race or ethnicity data of all employees. As detailed in its EEO-1 instruction booklet, the EEOC uses specific categories of job classification and race or ethnicity and provides instructions for assigning employees into those categories. 

The EEOC only accepts EEO-1 data through its online portal, EEO-1 Component 1 Online Filing System (“OFS”). Data can be submitted manually or uploaded through a data file that meets the EEOC’s data file upload specifications, which provide instructions and examples of how to categorize and format the required data.

For additional information regarding EEO-1 filing, please follow the link to the instruction booklet https://eeocdata.org/pdfs/2022_EEO_1_Component_1_Instruction_Booklet.pdf or the FAQs https://eeocdata.org/pdfs/2022_EEO_1_Component_1_FAQs.pdf