Follow us on LinkedIn to see future News.
December 4, 2025
The New Year will bring a trifecta of amendments to existing leave of absence and workplace anti-discrimination laws in Illinois.
The Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act (820 ILCS 260 §10) provides that employers must offer nursing mothers reasonable breaks, as needed, to express milk during the first year after giving birth. Effective January 1, 2026, Illinois employers will be required to compensate nursing mothers at their regular rate of compensation during those breaks, and they cannot reduce compensation, require use of paid leave, or otherwise penalize nursing mothers for using the break time. Takeaway: Now is a good time to revisit workplace privacy practices, to update employee education materials, and to confirm the availability of private, comfortable, quiet, and secure locations for lactation breaks.
The Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (820 ILCS 180) (“VESSA”) is a series of anti-discrimination and unpaid leave laws designed to reduce domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, other crimes of violence by promoting financial independence and protecting the employment rights of victims and their family members. Effective January 1, 2026, Illinois employers are prohibited from failing or refusing to hire, firing, constructively discharging, harassing, discriminating, or retaliating against employees on the basis that they used employer-issued electronic equipment to record domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or other crimes of violence. Employers cannot take away or refuse to provide employer-issued equipment on the basis that the equipment was used (or the employee made an attempt to use) the equipment for that purpose. If the equipment is used to take pictures or make audio-visual recordings of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or other crimes of violence, the employer must make the images and recordings available to the employee. Employers are not restricted from complying with investigations, court orders, or subpoenas for the employer-issued device (or the data on it). The VESSA amendment does not affect employees’ obligation to abide by “reasonable employment policies” or to otherwise perform the essential duties of their position. Takeaway: Now is a good time to update workplace policies restricting personal use of employer-issued devices. Although employers in Illinois still can limit personal use of employer-issued cell phones, computers, and tablets, employers must not prohibit employees from using these devices for one of the purposes described above and cannot punish employees for lawful use consistent with VESSA.
The Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act (820 ILCS 149 §10) allows for government employees, boards of election commissioners, and employees of private employers (“Employees”) to take a paid leave of absence for the purpose of donating blood or organs. For blood donation, Employees are permitted to request up to one hour of paid leave every 56 days (hourly increments can be extended by employer authorization or collective bargaining agreement). For organ donation, Employees may request up to 10 days of paid leave over a 12- month period. Effective January 1, 2026, the paid leave for organ donation only has been extended to part-time Employees. A part-time Employee’s daily average pay over the previous two months will be used to determine the appropriate pay rate for the paid leave. Employees wishing to take advantage of this law must procure approval from their employer prior to taking leave, and employers must require medical documentation of the proposed donation before granting approval. Takeaway: Employers and Human Resource Professionals should revisit their employee handbooks, benefits materials, and payroll processes to ensure compliance with this Amendment.
The author of this article, Helena Ciechanowski, is a member of the Bars of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
