Illinois Business Laws for Foreign-Owned Businesses
Illinois business law guides for owners with ties to India and Canada: LLCs, corporations, wages, human rights, privacy and tax, two short pages for each law.
Illinois business laws for foreign-owned businesses cover companies formed in Illinois, work done in Illinois and business with Illinois customers. This tier explains 18 state laws in four groups for owners with ties to India or Canada, two short pages per law.
What do the 18 Illinois business laws cover?
- Entities: the LLC Act, Business Corporation Act, Uniform Partnership Act, Medical Corporation Act and Professional Service Corporation Act.
- Commercial and consumer: the UCC, Automatic Contract Renewal Act, Contractor Prompt Payment Act, Consumer Fraud Act, Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the private schools law.
- Employment and privacy: the Wage Payment and Collection Act, Human Rights Act, safety law, restrictive covenants and the Personal Information Protection Act.
- Tax: the Income Tax Act and Retailers' Occupation and Use Tax.
What do owners from abroad notice first?
Ownership is open. An LLC needs only one member, and a member can be an individual or a company. A corporation's directors need not live in Illinois unless its articles or bylaws say so. Residence still matters for the registered agent, who must be an Illinois resident or an entity authorized here, with an Illinois office. Medical and professional corporations are different: only licensed individuals may hold stock.
Employment rules begin early. The Human Rights Act covers employers with one or more employees in Illinois (for 20 weeks for most claims) and protects citizenship status and work authorization status. The Illinois minimum wage is $15.00 for employers with four or more employees. Private employers answer to federal OSHA, because the Illinois safety plan covers only public employers.
Cook County adds a local layer; see Cook County laws. Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall counties follow these state laws on paid leave and minimum wage, though a city or village can have its own rules. Follow the order of a company's first year in the first-year compliance timeline. The disclaimer applies to every page.