How Do Family Businesses Survive Transition? The Cornell University Smith Family Business Initiative says that more than three-quarters (77%) of small businesses rest on significant family involvement. Family Enterprise USA has counted 5.5 million family businesses in the U.S., finding that they contribute 57% of the U.S. GDP, employ 63%…
Illinois Amends One Day in Seven Rest Act The new year will bring with it activation dates for new or amended state legislation that passed earlier this year, some of which will have an impact on small business owners and their employees. One significant change that employers should know about…
What Would It Mean for Your Business? Illinois voters will have the opportunity on Election Day, November 8, to vote “yea” or “nay” on an amendment to the state constitution that would protect workers’ rights to collectively bargain, while prohibiting state legislators from making Illinois a “right to work” state,…
Bellas & Wachowski – Chicago Business Lawyers Small businesses with 16 to 24 employees that have been operational for at least two years and don’t already offer qualifying retirement plans will, as of November 1, 2023 be subject to the requirements of the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act. Under…
The City of Chicago’s newly amended sexual harassment ordinance, which takes effect July 1, will bring an enhanced definition of the term, new written policy and notice requirements, new training requirements for employers, additional safety measures, a longer statute of limitations—and heftier penalties for those found guilty. Every Chicago business…
Subchapter V for Small Business Owners For the past two years, small businesses whose bottom lines were impacted by the onset of COVID-19 enjoyed greater protections while going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations in the form of higher debt limits under the Small Business Reorganization Act. That act, passed in…
NFTs as a Business Asset Simply put, NFT’s (or “tokens”) are digital assets. Various examples include movies, drawings, music, and digital artwork. By their very definition, NFT’s are non-fungible, meaning that they cannot be traded for something else. For example, Da Vinci’s original Mona Lisa is non-fungible; only one original…
New CDC Guidelines The CDC has released new mask guidelines easing former recommendations. The CDC is no longer using vaccination status as the benchmark for mask guidelines and are now using low, medium, and high levels for counties to measure COVID risk and mask recommendations. For low level counties no…
Independent Contractors A recent Illinois Court of Appeals decision in an Illinois Wage Claim Act case puts a magnifying glass on the sticky wicket employers can find themselves when they are unable to pay an outside contractor, at least under certain circumstances. The decision in O’Malley v. Udo, 2022 IL…
Do you need a business license? In the past two years about 30,000 new businesses were started in Illinois. Most of those new business had to get a specific license for their particular type of business. Not all businesses do, but many will need an Illinois Business License specific to…