In recent years, Illinois has gone the way of states like California and New York by expanding workplace protections for employees. That trend was evident in 2024 with the passage of several laws that took effect on January 1, 2025. Those laws provide additional rights to employees with respect to pay transparency, whistleblowing, E-Verify, captive audience meetings and rights under the Illinois Human Rights Act, to name a few. The trend has continued in the new year with the Illinois legislature passing the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (HB 2547), which the governor is expected to sign. Effective January 1, 2026, the Act will impose new obligations on employers operating large warehouse distribution centers in Illinois where employees are held to a quota.
Summary: Non-administrative, nonexempt employees who work in a large warehouse distribution center where they are subject to a quota must be provided with written details about the quota and what may happen if the quota is not met. If adverse action is taken against an employee for failing to meet a quota, the employee has a right to receive a written explanation about how their work failed to satisfy the quota. Employees (including former employees) who believe they received an adverse action because they did not meet a quota also have a right to receive, among other things, their personal work speed data for the last 90 days and a copy of the aggregated work speed data for employees in similar roles who worked at the same location and for the same time period.
What is considered a “quota”? The law takes a rather expansive view of a quota, defining it as “a work performance standard under which an employee is assigned or required to perform at a specified productivity speed or a quantified number of tasks or to handle or produce a quantified amount of material within a defined time period and under which the employee may suffer an adverse employment action if the employee fails to complete or meet the performance standard.”
Who is subject to the Act? This law applies to employees who (i) are classified as nonexempt from overtime and minimum wage requirements and perform non-administrative/office work, (ii) are subject to a “quota,” and (iii) work at a warehouse distribution center in Illinois with at least 250 employees, or at a warehouse distribution center that is operated by an employer who has at least 1,000 employees at more than one center in Illinois. Whether a distribution center is subject to these requirements depends on its classification under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Specifically, the law covers distribution centers with a NAICS code of 493 (warehousing and storage), 423 (merchant wholesalers, durable goods), 424 (merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods, with some exclusions), or 454110 (electronic shopping and mail-order houses).
What must be disclosed? Under the Act, a warehouse distribution center employee who is held to a quota must be provided a written description of the quota, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed or materials to be produced or handled within the defined time frame. An employee must also be notified of any potential adverse action that could result from failure to meet the quota. This information must be provided to a new employee upon hire or within 30 days of the law’s effective date, whichever is later. If a quota is changed, the employee must be given an updated written description of the quota within five business days of the change.
What is an employee entitled to receive? If an adverse action is taken against an employee based on a quota, the employer must explain in writing — upon the employee’s request — how the employee failed to perform, including the applicable quota and comparison of the employee’s work performance in relation to that quota. An employee can also request a written description of the applicable quota(s) and a copy of the employee’s own personal work speed data. Upon receiving such a request, that information must be provided as soon as practicable, but no later than seven calendar days after the request was made.
Any current or former employee who believes they received an adverse action for failing to meet a quota (or that meeting a quota caused a violation of their right to a meal or rest period or use of bathroom facilities) can request, and the employer must provide: (i) a written description of each quota to which the employee is/was subject; (ii) a copy of the employee’s personal work speed data for the most recent 90 days; and (iii) a copy of the aggregated work speed data for employees in similar roles who worked at the same establishment and for the same time period.
Are there any additional protections afforded employees? Yes, most notably, with respect to retaliation. The law creates a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer takes any adverse action against an employee within 90 days of the employee either (i) initiating a first request in a calendar year for information about a quota or personal work speed data, or (ii) making a complaint related to a quota alleging a violation of certain parts of the Act.
Anything else? The law imposes a workplace posting requirement and recordkeeping obligations on covered employers. The law also, among other things, provides for a private right of action for injunctive relief.
Given the January 2026 effective date, employers have some time to consider whether this new law applies to their operations in Illinois and, if so, what procedures and training may be necessary to ensure compliance.
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