The Cook County Human Rights Ordinance bans harassment and discrimination in housing, credit, jobs, public places and County services. The Cook County Commission on Human Rights handles enforcement. This page is for owners with Canadian or Indian ties who employ people in the United States, and the ordinance applies in Cook County. A business located only in Kane, DuPage, Will or Kendall county is outside it; see the Kane, DuPage, Will or Kendall guide, and our Illinois Human Rights Act and Title VII pages.
Who the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance covers
| Group | Covered? | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Employers | Yes | One or more employees; principal place of business in Cook County or doing business there |
| Governments | No | U.S. government and wholly owned federal corporations, tribes, the State of Illinois, and Cook County municipal governments |
| Workers | Yes | Paid and unpaid workers, applicants, volunteers, trainees and apprentices |
| People who can file | Yes | Anyone, even a person who cannot work lawfully in the United States, if the violation happened in whole or in part in Cook County |
| Towns with their own ordinance | Partly | A municipal ordinance on the same conduct, with remedies, displaces the County article for that conduct |
What it means for a foreign-owned or cross-border business
| Situation | What the law says | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Indian- or Canadian-owned company with staff or a site in Cook County | The excluded employers are governments and tribes, not foreign-owned firms | Where staff work and whether the business does business in Cook |
| Hiring foreign-educated candidates | The Code bars national-origin discrimination disguised as concern about foreign education or training | Job ads and screening notes |
| Workers who may lack U.S. work authorization | They can still file if the violation happened in whole or in part in Cook County | Keep work-authorization paperwork separate; see the employer checklist |
| Unpaid relatives, volunteers or trainees | They count as employees | Whether anyone unpaid works in Cook |
Where to go next
Page 2, the rules and checklist, covers requirements, key numbers and the Fox River Fair-Hiring Pass. See also hiring U.S. employees from abroad and the Cook County guide.
Official sources
- Cook County: Human Rights Ordinance and Regulations
- Cook County Commission on Human Rights
- Cook County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 42, Article II (Municode)
- Commission on Human Rights: Substantive and Procedural Rules (PDF)
This page summarizes public guidance in plain language. If anything here differs from the official source, the official source controls.