5 New Illinois Laws to Know

Nearly 300 new laws went into effect in Illinois last week. Here are the ones that caught our attention.

Salary Transparency

If you’re job hunting in the new year, you’ll be happy to hear that employers in Illinois with 15 or more employees now have to include pay scale and benefits on job postings — including for remote work. Don’t see the information? File a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor. And, yes, you’ll need to bring receipts (e.g., link, picture, or screenshot).

Higher Minimum Wage

The state minimum wage for workers 18 and up went up a dollar to $15 per hour. Tipped workers will make $9 per hour, a 60-cent increase. Chicago’s minimum wage is $16.20 and the tipped minimum wage is $11.02. They’ll go up in July.

More Renter’s Rights

A landlord cannot evict someone, increase rent, or file a lawsuit as retaliation to a tenant’s complaint. An Injustice Watch investigation last year found the legal system is set up to protect landlords.

Changes to O’Hare Pickups

We’ve already established that picking up loved ones from the airport is a special type of love language in Chicago, but you might have to time your arrival better. A new law prohibits drivers from stopping or parking vehicles on the shoulder near O’Hare.

Digital Driver’s License Almost Here

Forget your ID at home? Misplace your driver’s license? A new law clears the way for digital IDs for Illinoians to accompany their physical cards — but Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias hasn’t yet shared a timeline on the rollout.

Plus, brush up on the state’s weirdest laws.