Publications

From its recent inception, the Qualified Opportunity Zone program has generated a lot of interest from potential investors, but many have waited until receiving further guidance from the Internal Revenue Service about how,

Attention businesses operating in Illinois: If you use a person’s “biometric” data for things like timekeeping or security, you must have a written policy

Early March has come in like a lion for employers, who are now facing potential new federal rules on overtime and classification, as well as changes to how much information they need to be reporting to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding pay rates broken down by gender and race.

We have all heard the old axiom: A lawyer who represents themself has a fool for a client. More truth than not in that statement, probably.

As we welcome 2019, the following is a recap of new laws affecting Illinois employers. Illinois Human Rights Act The Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) nowrequires all Illinois employers to advise employees of their right to be free from harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the workplace.

As 2018 begins to wind down, it is the traditional time for industry experts to prognosticate on risks facing the construction industry. We have reviewedseveral such prognostications from the insurance and construction industries and combined it with our personal and anecdotal experience and offer the followingbrief list of issues which the Gould & Ratner Construction Practice believe could impact the industry in the coming year.

The Opportunity Zone program was created as a provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of December 2017. The program was developed with the intent to helpencourage investment in economically distressed communities – called qualified opportunity zones (QOZs) – by allowing taxpayers to invest realizedcapital gains in qualified opportunity funds (QOFs).

On August 21, 2018 the State of Illinois amended the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act to prohibit an employer from reducing an employee’s compensationfor breaks for nursing mothers.

The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a major victory for employers across America – ruling that mandatory arbitration agreements that contain a provision prohibiting any form of class or collective litigation are lawful.

When negotiating a construction contract, the pricing model selected to determine the cost of the project is arguably the most important decision the partieswill make.