What changed in the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act in 2026?

1. It now covers almost any employment law violation

Before 2026, the Act's protections were tied to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation enforced by the Illinois Department of Human Rights or the EEOC. The new definition of "unlawful employment practice" covers anything made unlawful by the Illinois Human Rights Act, Title VII, or any other state or federal law governing employment. It names the Illinois Department of Labor, the Illinois Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA, and the NLRB among the enforcing agencies (820 ILCS 96/1-15).

That matters because every other rule in the Act turns on this definition. Unpaid wages, safety complaints, and union activity are now in the same category as discrimination.

2. Stricter rules for confidential severance and settlement agreements

A settlement or termination agreement can keep alleged unlawful employment practices confidential only if all of these are true (820 ILCS 96/1-30(a)):

• Confidentiality is your documented preference and benefits both sides.
• Your employer told you in writing that you have the right to have a lawyer or representative review it before you sign.
• You get separate consideration for confidentiality, apart from what you are paid for releasing claims. (New in 2026.)
• It does not waive claims that arise after you sign.
• You get it in writing and have 21 calendar days to consider it. You may sign sooner if you knowingly and voluntarily choose to.
• You have 7 calendar days after signing to revoke, unless you knowingly and voluntarily waive that. It is not effective until then.

Two more limits are new. Confidentiality cannot cover future concerted activity about workplace conditions, meaning you and coworkers acting together. And an employer may not write in, on its own, that confidentiality is your preference. It also still may not write in, on its own, a clause that stops you from making truthful statements about unlawful employment practices (820 ILCS 96/1-30(a)-(b)).

If any requirement is missing, the confidentiality promise is void and cut out of the agreement. The rest of the agreement can still stand (820 ILCS 96/1-30(c)).

Want to see your dates? Our severance deadline calculator shows the Illinois 21-day and 7-day periods alongside the federal ones.

3. Limits on terms you had to accept to get or keep your job

The Act treats a non-negotiable condition of employment, like an arbitration agreement or handbook acknowledgment you had to sign, differently from a term you actually bargained for. A unilateral condition is void to the extent it (820 ILCS 96/1-25(a)-(b)):

• Stops you from making truthful statements about alleged unlawful employment practices, or from acting together with coworkers on work issues. (Concerted activity is new in 2026.)
• Makes you waive, arbitrate, or otherwise give up rights or remedies for an unlawful employment practice. The 2026 text names three examples: shortening the time limit to bring a claim, applying another state's law to an Illinois employee's claim, and requiring the claim to be decided outside Illinois.

A mutual condition can include those terms only if it is in writing, shows real bargained-for consideration on both sides, and acknowledges your right to report to government agencies and officials, take part in proceedings, make legally required disclosures, get confidential legal advice, and engage in concerted activity. If it doesn't, the law presumes it was unilateral (820 ILCS 96/1-25(c)-(d)).

4. Employees who win can recover damages, not just fees

Before 2026, an employee who won a final ruling that a contract violated the Act could recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Now the employee also recovers damages, including when defending a lawsuit for breaching a confidentiality agreement. Two 2025 laws amended this section with different wording: one says "compensatory damages" (P.A. 104-23) and the other "consequential damages" (P.A. 104-320). Both versions apply only after a final, non-appealable ruling in the employee's favor (820 ILCS 96/1-35).

What hasn't changed

A mutually agreed severance or settlement agreement can still release claims for things that happened before you signed (820 ILCS 96/1-30(d)). The Act controls how confidentiality works and protects future claims. It does not stop you from settling.

What to do now

1. If you are being offered severance, check for the written notice of your right to a lawyer and look at whether confidentiality has its own, separate payment.
2. If you signed an arbitration agreement or handbook acknowledgment as a condition of the job, look for short filing deadlines, out-of-state venue, or non-Illinois law.
3. Have the agreement reviewed before you sign. Our severance review page explains how that works.

This article is for informational purposes only. It may not be fully correct, complete, or current for your situation, and it is not legal advice.

Questions people ask

Can my employer still make my severance agreement confidential in Illinois?

Yes, but only on Illinois's terms. Confidentiality about alleged unlawful employment practices has to be your documented preference, benefit both sides, follow written notice of your right to a lawyer, be paid for separately from the release, leave future claims alone, and come with 21 days to consider and 7 days to revoke (both of which you can knowingly waive). If any piece is missing, the confidentiality promise is void (820 ILCS 96/1-30).

Does the law cover wage and safety complaints, or only discrimination?

Since January 1, 2026, it covers much more than discrimination. "Unlawful employment practice" now means anything made unlawful by the Illinois Human Rights Act, Title VII, or any other state or federal law governing employment, including laws enforced by the Illinois Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA, and the NLRB (820 ILCS 96/1-15).

My arbitration agreement says I have 6 months to sue. Is that valid?

If it was a non-negotiable condition of getting or keeping your job, a term that shortens the time to bring a claim about an unlawful employment practice is void to the extent it takes away a right or remedy (820 ILCS 96/1-25(b)). Whether your agreement counts as unilateral or mutual depends on how it was presented and what it says, so have it reviewed.

Can I still sign away my past claims in a severance agreement?

Yes. The Act does not stop a mutually agreed settlement or termination agreement from releasing remedies for claims based on things that happened before you signed (820 ILCS 96/1-30(d)). What it limits is confidentiality and the release of future claims.