Illinois business owners have been closely following developments under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), particularly given the uncertainty created by conflicting court decisions and shifting enforcement positions. A recent federal appellate ruling provides important legal clarity, although practical compliance obligations for Illinois entities remain limited for now. Federal Appellate Court…
Bellas and Wachowski attorneys chicago illinois suburbs to help you with your business compliance Illinois and the City of Chicago continue to take a firm stance on workplace harassment prevention. For business owners, this means that annual sexual-harassment training is mandatory, and Chicago employers face additional, more extensive requirements each…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) tried to ban non-compete agreements across the country. That sweeping ban is now effectively dead. A federal judge struck it down, and the FTC recently gave up its appeals. But that doesn’t mean employers are free to use non-competes however they like. The FTC has…
Several new employment laws go into effect in September and will affect employers in every state. Independent Contractors rules: The US Department of Labor adopted a six-factor test in January for classifying independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This replaces the previous two-factor approach. The result is more…
Small business owners and startup founders now have a powerful reason to take another look at Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS). A new federal law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, makes QSBS more valuable than ever for growing companies and their stakeholders. These changes…
A new federal law, officially titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has introduced significant tax changes that directly impact employers in service-based industries. The legislation, signed into law on July 4, 2025, offers new income tax deductions for employees who earn tips and overtime pay, while also expanding tax…
Regulations for Small Business What new regulatory requirements from the federal government on down are small businesses facing in 2025? In this first of a three-part series, we will cover some of them, related to changes in and current status of tax policy. First of all, the new year brings…
New Laws, New Year Part 2 Illinois small businesses need to get up to speed on a variety of state legislation passed in the previous session that came online on January 1. We covered several new provisions in a post last week, including a higher state minimum wage and legislation…
Illinois Employers Face New Laws 2025 Guest Author: Kelsey Feucht, Associate Attorney with Bellas & Wachowski Illinois small businesses need to get up to speed on a variety of state legislation – particularly employment laws – which became effective on January 1. Key new laws (or amendments to existing legislation)…
Wire Tapping vs. Browser Tracking? Software like Meta Pixel and Google Analytics that website operators use to track what sites a person visits, or what footprint they leave on those sites, is not subject to the same restrictions as wiretapping a phone line, according to a split decision from the…