Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

On January 1, 2014, Illinois will become the 20th state in the nation to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Illinois’ governor signed the legislation, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act (“Cannabis Act”), to create the four-year pilot program. The program allows patients diagnosed with one of 42 specific, debilitating medical conditions to use medicinal marijuana. Qualifying individuals will be issued a Registry Identification Card by the Department of Public Health. Illinois has removed state-level criminal penalties from the medical use and cultivation of cannabis. The purpose of the Act is to protect patients with certain debilitating medical conditions, as well as their physicians and providers, from arrest and prosecution, criminal and other penalties, and property forfeiture if the patients engage in the medical use of cannabis.

Executive Summary

Illinois has passed the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act. The Act provides that a private employer may not inquire into or require disclosure of a job applicant's criminal record or criminal history before the candidate has been notified that the candidate has been selected for a job interview or has been offered a conditional offer of employment. It requires consideration of the nature and gravity of a candidate's conviction record, the time elapsed since the conviction, and whether the conviction has a direct bearing on the candidate's fitness before excluding a candidate.

Effective January 1, 2017, employees who work for an employer with no more than 14 employees will be entitled to 4 workweeks of unpaid leave in any 12-month period to address issues related to domestic or sexual violence.