Illinois is a state where employment is at will. This means that both the employer and the employee can terminate their working relationship at any time without prior notice or reason. At-will employment positions behave the same way in all other aspects of business, apart from allowing all parties to close their bond with each other. This may mean to you that there cannot be a wrongful termination in Illinois, but this is not the actual case. There are various instances where you can be wrongly terminated by your employer.
Here, we describe you such cases where you may need to hire an employment lawyer in Illinois to fight for your rights.
There are times when a company may want to offload a few employees, due to a shortage of work or for decreasing their expenses. However, an employer in Illinois cannot discriminate during this offloading, based on your citizenship, ancestry, religion or race. If you believe that you have suffered a wrongful termination, then you are protected by the Article 2 of the Illinois Human Rights Act.
This article protects all employees from facing any discrimination. You should hire legal help if you have faced such an issue. Remember, a lawyer better understands whether you faced wrongful termination or it was just a case of a necessary elimination of your employment.
The employees are protected in an at-will working environment with the terms of their employment contract. They can ensure that the employer can only perform a termination due to issues that concern productivity or performance. If the contract was agreed in writing, then you can seek advice from an employment lawyer in Illinois to pursue your case for wrongful termination.
Remember, the point that you need to present in this legal battle is that the terms of the contract were not honored. The employer reserves the right to end the employment partnership, but cannot fire an employee based on a random reason, when the allowed reasons are already specified in the contract.
Another instance where wrongful termination may happen is when your employer violates the public policy. This is against the fundamental legal principles and identified in the state of Illinois. Take the example of an employee reporting the employer for the violation of a particular law. If the employer now terminates such an employee, they have the perfect case to appeal for a wrongful termination in Illinois.
There are many leaves that you can receive in Illinois, based on the employment laws that describe them. You can always take a leave to serve in the armed forces and your job cannot be terminated based on joining the military service. You should also get an unpaid leave for serving as a jury member. You get a paid time off for the voting activity in the state. If your employer terminates you for a qualified leave, then it counts as a wrongful termination.
You can always seek legal help for resolving wrongful termination issues. Talk to an experienced Schaumburg wrongful termination attorney to discuss your case. Contact the Law Office of Michael T. Smith today for a consultation.
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