Fingerprinting has become the gold standard amongst law enforcement, schools, religious institutions and community groups around the country; they have joined forces to fingerprint children as a means of identifying them should they go missing. Nearly 800,000 children are reported missing each year, according to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The US Congress passed the Missing Children’s Assistance Act in 1984, which helps to establish the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Missing children include those taken by a parent during a divorce or child custody fight, and runaways, as well as the rare but real child kidnappings.

Having your child’s fingerprints on file is important should they go missing for any reason. Fingerprints are unique to each person, as they are comprised of a pattern of ridges and loops that no other individual has. In the eighty years of fingerprint classification, no identical sets have ever been found. Your fingerprints are present at birth and, though your hand and fingers continue to grow, the relative position of the loops and ridges remains the same throughout your life.

Fingerprinting cannot prevent abduction or keep a child from running away but it does provide an opportunity to talk to them about personal safety. The basic rules you should instill in your child include;

• Checking with a parent or a trusted adult before going anywhere
•  Never accept anything from a stranger or get into a vehicle of someone that they do not know
• When playing outside or walking to another location they should always be with a friend
• Telling a parent or another adult if anyone makes them feel scared or unhappy
• Say no if someone tries to touch or hurt them, then make a lot of noise and run to tell someone right away

Law enforcement agencies also suggest having a current photo of your child. If possible, the photo should be a digital version in order to make it easy to distribute throughout the community and nationally. In addition, Illinois is a member of the AMBER Alert Plan, which brings together local, state and federal law enforcement agencies with broadcasters and other media in order to assist in the search and safe recovery of a missing child. The Illinois Amber Alert site http://www.amberillinois.org offers links and activities for children and their families.

Fingerprinting your child, paired with increased public awareness and continued collaboration with law enforcement agencies, can help to keep our children safe in this fast paced world.

Ankin Law Office LLC offers free fingerprinting kits to the community; please drop us an email at soniamendez@ankinlaw.com with your name, address, email and phone number and we will send you one of our fingerprinting kits.

We most often think about sexual harassment in the workplace and envision a corporate boss and his secretary as the typical scenario but we forget about students and interns. Temporary summer workers and student interns are also protected from sexual harassment in the workplace by the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is defined as any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or conduct of a sexual nature when that conduct is made as a term or condition of employment or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for an employment decision or if the conduct interferes with someone’s work and/or creates a hostile or offensive work environment.

Employers can be held responsible for the conduct of supervisors and managers if they engage in sexual harassing conduct as well as non-supervisory or non-managerial staff if the employer was aware of the conduct but did not take reasonable action to correct the situation.

Chicago has its own ordinance, the Human Rights Ordinance, which has penalties for violations including fines paid to the City from $100 to $500, and damages and attorney fees, paid to the complaining party as well as injunctions ordering specific actions to eliminate discriminatory practices. If a company is found guilty of sexual harassment it can affect their City of Chicago business license as well as their contractor or vendor status.

If you feel that you have been sexually harassed you can file a complaint at the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. The Commission investigates each discrimination complaint giving the complainant and respondent an opportunity to present evidence to support their positions.

As more and more people hit the road for summer vacations, graduations or family outings, you may notice additional law enforcement agencies on the road enforcing seat belt safety laws. The Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Police are joining forces with local police departments to crack down on motorists who are not using seat belts as part of the 2013 national Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement mobilization.  The goal of the mobilization is not to simply give out tickets but to convince drivers to buckle up and prevent automobile injuries and fatalities.

Seat belts are the single most important safety device in a motor vehicle today. Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has shown that properly used lap and shoulder belts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passengers by 45 % and reduce the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50%. Still, one in five drivers fails to regularly wear a seat belt when driving or riding in a vehicle.

The fines for both the driver and every passenger who is found to be not wearing a properly adjusted and fastened seatbelt start at $25, not including court costs.  Fines are greater if a child is in the vehicle and is not properly secured in an age/weight appropriate child restraint system.

Seatbelts save lives, prevent injury and are one of the best defenses against an impaired driver.  By simply clicking your seatbelt, you can help reduce fatalities on the road this summer.

While there are a few hardy souls who bike to work all winter long, spring weather brings out many more bicyclists riding along the lake front as well as in designated bike lanes on many of Chicago’s streets.  Cyclists who use these lanes often tell tales of errant car divers who have failed to obey the rules. But bicyclists must also obey the rules and one that you may be unfamiliar with is, just like car drivers, it is against the law for bicyclists to use their cell phones to text or talk unless using a hands free device. The ordinance, which went into effect in this past March, fines violators $20 for their first offense, and $100 for three or more violations. Everyone agrees that automobile drivers endanger everyone around them when they talk or text while driving, but bicyclists also pose a very real threat to road safety when they clutch a cell phone while biking.

Have you ever been told you are not allowed to discuss your salary with co-workers? Many companies have polices that strictly prohibit it. Often a statement such as this appears in the employee handbook “Confidentiality of Salary and Benefit Information: Employees are prohibited from discussing their salary or wage levels and company benefits with other employees. Such information is confidential and may not be discussed in the workplace. Any employee violating this policy will be considered to have committed a breach of confidentiality and will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and possibly including termination of employment.”

Colorado just became the fourth state to forbid employers to require that employees refrain from discussions about wages, and does not allow employers to require an employee to sign a waiver of their right to have such discussions. Illinois is among the three other states that have laws in place that protect a worker’s right to discuss their wages, along with California and Michigan.

The Illinois Equal Pay Act states that it is unlawful for any employer to discharge or discriminate against any employee for talking about, comparing, or discussing their wages or the wages of any other employee (820 ILCS 112/10(b). Illinois also has a web page titled The Illinois Transparency & Accountability Portal  which allows anyone to view state employees’ and individual consultants’ gross pay.

The National Labor Relations Act Section 7 (29 U.S.C. § 157), also states that all employees have the right to “engage in concerted activities”, including the right to discuss their terms and conditions of employment with one another other.

Employers do have the right to disallow employees from having those discussions during the times they are supposed to be working but an employer cannot prohibit pay discussions, while allowing other types of conversations unrelated to work. Rather than being concerned that employees will uncover unfair or uneven salaries, it is far better that employers actively promote their practice’s regarding promotion, pay increases, and benefits.

Under a new law, effective January 1^st of this year, inline skaters and roller bladers can now skate in the road, though not within the City of Chicago. According to the statute, written on behalf of Elmhurst attorney and speed skater Ben Neiburger with the assistance of Illinois State Representative Chris Nybo, skaters and pedestrians do not have to try to use sidewalks together.

Now, skaters 18 years and older, can skate on the roads in all Illinois cities with populations below 2 million though skaters do have some restrictions. Skating on roadways is restricted to daylight hours, roads must be posted at no more than 45 mph and skaters must not “impede or obstruct other vehicular traffic.”

Before this law went into effect, skaters were either required to skate on sidewalks, a danger to themselves and pedestrians with speeds of up to 20 mph, or skate against traffic, similar to pedestrians walking in roadways when sidewalks are unavailable. The law does not stop skaters from using the sidewalks though some areas and towns have their own prohibition against that use.

While some people have expressed concern about skaters in roadways, speed skaters feel that they, like bicyclists, understand the risks and will be vigilant about traffic conditions while skating.

Ankin Law Office LLC is currently looking into a potential case involving the following food products. If you use any of these please email us your name, phone number and the name of the product that you use.

The new mandatory regulations regarding foreclosures, recently developed by the Illinois Supreme Court, went into effect on Match 1^st. The rules came about due to the deceptive practices that judges observed as well as the fact that homeowners often don’t appear in court, believing that they have little or no chance of fighting mortgage lenders.

With more than 77,000 foreclosure cases pending in  Cook County alone, the Court adopted three new rules which require, among other things, foreclosure counseling for homeowners, proof of the homeowner’s debt and proof that a mortgage modification is not possible. Now borrowers have their day in court and, according to Judge Lewis Nixon who headed the Supreme Court Committee on foreclosures which developed the rules, if they are proactive in trying to save their home the judge can now order the lenders to work with them.

The goal in determining and providing child support is to ensure that every child receives the financial support necessary to enable them to lead a happy and healthy life regardless of the marital status of their parents.

There are legal guidelines used to determine the percentage of income owed by the non-custodial parent to the primary or custodial parent but often, due to bitterness or hatred on the part of the parents, child support goes unpaid. Then the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Illinois Attorney General’s office may be forced to step in to mediate and enforce child support payments.

A new law, (SB 3549/PA 97-1029), went into effect this year that offers an additional tool to assist the Courts in pursuing child support from a non-custodial parent who has been found guilty of failure to comply with an order to pay child support. This law is aimed at parents whose wages cannot be garnished because they are self-employed. The court can now require these individuals provide monthly financial statements, and detailed written reports regarding their job search efforts, as well as require them to report to the Department of Employment Security for job search services so that they can obtain employment in order to pay child support. Illinois wants to insure that parents participate in supporting their children.

New laws require police officials in many capacities to receive additional education. First, The Illinois Police Training Act has been amended this year to include specific education for police trainees to recognize the signs of possible senior adult abuse and neglect.

Second, the Illinois Police Training Act provides training techniques designed to promote effective communication during the officers’ initial contact with crime victims. Training will include methods for explaining the Crime Victims Compensation Act to victims and witnesses. The Illinois Crime Victim Compensation Program provides financial assistance to victims of violent crimes, reimbursing their out-of-pocket expenses.

Third, officer trainees will explain the Illinois Crime Victims Bill of Rights, which lays out ten rights including items such as the right to be protected from the accused during the trial and the right to make a statement at sentencing.

Fourth, effective January 1st of 2013, the State Police Training has been expanded to include training State police officers to identify the symptoms of PTSD and to respond in an appropriate manner to individuals who exhibit those symptoms.

It is hoped that these trainings will help educate police officers and improve their interactions with victims, and witnesses as well as safely respond to potential threats made by individuals suffering from PSTD.