On July 28, 2015, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the Veterans Preference in Private Employment Act into law. The new law amends the Illinois Human Rights Act and allows private employers to establish a voluntary veterans’ preference policy.

The new law is not a mandate and employers are not required to grant veterans preference when making employment decisions. It merely provides guidelines to those private employers that choose to initiate a veterans’ preference policy.

Private employers that wish to extend preferences to veterans when making hiring or other employment decisions, may do so if: (i) the policy is in writing and publicly posted at the place of employment or on an employer maintained website; (ii) the employer’s job applications inform all applicants of the policy; and (iii) the employer applies the policy uniformly for all employment decisions.

To discuss how these issues apply to your company contact: Laura A. Balson, (312)696-1351, labalson@golanchristie.com or Margaret A. Gisch, (312)696-2039, magisch@golanchristie.com.