Chicago Employment Lawyer

Two years, for a charge with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. On January 1, 2025, Illinois extended the deadline for employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation charges from 300 days to two years from the date of the incident. That’s much longer than the 300-day federal EEOC deadline and the 365-day window under the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance. Each agency runs on its own clock, so plan around the shortest deadline that applies to you.

Yes. The Illinois Human Rights Act applies to employers with one or more employees and covers pregnancy, so even a very small Chicago employer can’t fire you, cut your hours, or pass you over because you’re pregnant or recently gave birth. Employers with 15 or more employees also have to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related limitations under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, such as extra breaks, seating, or a temporary change in duties. Charges with the Illinois Department of Human Rights can now be filed within two years.

Start with the release, which usually waives discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims. Illinois adds its own protections through the Workplace Transparency Act. If the agreement requires you to keep an alleged discrimination or harassment claim confidential, confidentiality has to be your documented preference. You also get 21 days to consider it and seven days to revoke it. Since January 2026, that confidentiality has to be supported by separate consideration, apart from the payment for the release. These rules exist because the terms are easy to miss, so have the agreement reviewed before you sign.

No, and that protection got broader in 2025. The amended Illinois Whistleblower Act protects employees who report, in good faith, a violation of law or a substantial danger to public health or safety. Reporting internally to a supervisor now counts, not only reporting to a government agency. The Act also protects employees who refuse to take part in conduct they reasonably believe is illegal. Remedies can include reinstatement, back pay, and a $10,000 civil penalty paid to the employee.

Yes. Since July 2020, the Illinois Human Rights Act has applied to employers with one or more employees, so it covers workers at small businesses that federal law doesn’t reach. Chicago employees can also bring claims under the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance, which the Chicago Commission on Human Relations enforces. It has its own procedures and a 365-day filing window.

Not for leave the FMLA protects. Eligible employees at employers with 50 or more workers within 75 miles can take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave a year for their own serious health condition, a family member’s, or a new child. When it’s medically necessary, the leave can be taken in separate blocks. Firing, demoting, or disciplining you for requesting or using the leave is retaliation, and interfering with your leave, such as discouraging you from taking it, is a separate violation. You’re entitled to return to the same job or an equivalent one.