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In an FMLA opinion letter addressed to an anonymous inquiry, the DOL said that the wife of the inquirer can take intermittent leave from her job under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to attend meetings related to their children’s individualized education programs (IEP). IEPs are plans for education and other services that are created for student with special needs and are mandated under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The heat of the summer doesn’t seem to be slowing down State and Federal lawmakers keen to advance workplace reforms before election season kicks into full swing. For instance, on Friday, August 9, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law the Workplace Transparency Act (WTA), a bill inspired by the #MeToo movement and imposes several new obligations on employers to combat harassment, including requirement to provide annual harassment training of workers, a prohibition on some confidentiality agreements when they bar disclosure of harassment, discrimination and retaliation concerns; and an expansion of protections against harassment to independent contractors and to locations outside the physical workplace, both under certain conditions. Also, earlier today, August 12, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) published the first of its promised series of proposed rules to change union election processes. The most significant piece of the proposed rule would seem to make it easier for workers to vote to decertify or “oust” unions as their bargaining representatives.

On July 31, 2019, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law HB834, amending the Illinois Equal Pay Act in ways that will fundamentally alter hiring practices across the Land of Lincoln. By doing so, Illinois became one of at least 13 states that now restrict employers’ ability to use pay history in hiring and compensation decisions, as part of the effort to chip away at the persistent national gender pay gap.