Illinois employers with warehouse worker production quotas should be aware of a bill that has now passed both legislative houses as of Jan. 7, 2025. The Warehouse Worker Protection Act would affect employers with (1) 100 or more employees at a single warehouse in Illinois or (2) 1,000 or more employees across warehouses in Illinois.
The highlights of the bill include:
- Employers that use production quotas for warehouse employees must provide those employees with a written description of the quota and any potential adverse action that could result from failure to meet the quota. This written description must be provided within 30 days of the bill’s passage and upon hire for employees hired thereafter. Subsequently, if an employee requests a written description of each applicable quota, it must be provided.
- If an employee receives discipline based on failure to meet a quota, the employee is entitled to a written explanation of their failure to meet the quota within three days of an employee request for such an explanation.
- Employers will be required to preserve three years of all records regarding warehouse quotas and employee work speed data.
- A current or former employee who believes they were disciplined for failure to meet a quota has the right to request: (1) a written description of each applicable quota, (2) the most recent 90 days of their work speed data, and (3) a copy of the aggregated work speed data for similar employees during the same time period.
- There is a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employee is subject to an adverse employment action within 90 days of requesting information under the act or making a complaint under the act.
- The Illinois Department of Labor may seek monetary damages and civil penalties. Additionally, there is a private right of action to seek injunctive relief. Although monetary damages cannot result from an employee’s private action, the employee can recover attorney’s fees and costs if they prevail.
While the act has not yet been signed into law, Illinois employers that use production quotas should consider preparing for compliance, including drafting written descriptions of applicable quotas and penalties for failure to meet quotas and completing data preservation of all quotas and employee work speed data.