Overview
When employers need assistance with workplace compliance, Sara is their first call. She concentrates her practice on day-to-day employment counseling, immigration workplace enforcement, wage and hour issues, and workplace discrimination issues for her clients. She particularly focuses on helping employers throughout the U.S. navigate local, state, and federal mandates.
She routinely works with clients on needs relating to Form I-9 audits, I-9, and E-Verify compliance; workplace enforcement counseling; defense of governmental immigration related audits; and defense of discrimination claims relating to immigration status.
Sara also assists clients in M&A transactions, focusing on the due diligence stage related to immigration, wage and hour, and other employment issues.
Additionally, Sara focuses her practice on governmental wage and hour audits, wage and hour single plaintiff claims, and class action claims nationwide. She effectively and efficiently assists clients in analyzing potential damages and defenses in wage and hour matters along with swift resolution of such claims.
Experience
Membership & Involvement
- Member: American Immigration Lawyers Association; Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); Illinois State Bar Association
Honors
- Selected to the Illinois Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" list: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Resources & Insights
In the Media
Alerts
Speaking Engagements
Published Works
Blog Posts
Education on Demand
It’s not usual for companies to have employees working in multiple states, especially if they hire remote workers. However, managing a workforce that is spread out over multiple locations can be challenging.
Across the country, states are implementing pay transparency laws, which will impact the way employers advertise, pay and hire their employees. These laws are here to stay and if employers are not preparing for compliance now, they are setting themselves up for headaches later.
The recently overhauled paid leave ordinances in Illinois include: Illinois Paid Leave For All Workers Act (effective January 1, 2024), Cook County Paid Leave (effective February 1, 2024) and the City of Chicago Paid Leave (effective July 1, 2024)/City of Chicago Sick Leave (amended) (effective July 1, 2024). Compliance is going to require more than an updated leave policy, so it is important to review your policies and practices to make sure you are compliant.
Last year Illinois enacted amendments to its own Equal Pay Act, which requires unprecedented reporting of race, gender, and ethnicity statistics along with pay data of Illinois based employees.
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While employers continue to review their COVID-19 protocols under various government vaccine mandates (including OSHA’s ETS) as well as their own policies and practices and customer requirements, testing continues to be a confusing topic for many.
Firm News
- Breakfast Briefing Series - Immigration Compliance Updates: Key Legal Insights for U.S. Employers in 2025
Breakfast Briefing Series - Immigration Compliance Updates: Key Legal Insights for U.S. Employers in 2025Join Labor, Employment & Immigration Service Group Partner Sara Zorich for a live webcast detailing key legal insights to ensure your business stays compliant in a rapidly evolving immigration landscape.
- An Employer's Preparation Guide for Workplace ICE Raids and Form I-9 Audits
An Employer's Preparation Guide for Workplace ICE Raids and Form I-9 AuditsThe Illinois Manufacturer featured the article, "An Employer's Preparation Guide for Workplace ICE Raids and Form I-9 Audits," by Sara Zorich and Madison Renard in their Second Quarter 2025 Issue.
- Is Your Company Ready for a Form I-9 Audit? Form I-9 and E-Verify Compliance Review
Is Your Company Ready for a Form I-9 Audit? Form I-9 and E-Verify Compliance ReviewJoin Sara Zorich for this timely webcast that reviews Form I-9 compliance, Form I-9 audits and options for verifying remote employees and compliance with the E-Verify requirements.
- How To Be Better Prepared if ICE Shows Up: Complying with the NEW I-9 and E-Verify Regulations
How To Be Better Prepared if ICE Shows Up: Complying with the NEW I-9 and E-Verify RegulationsJoin Jacki Lentini and Sara Zorich for this discussion about what to do if ICE shows up at your door, how an ICE investigation is different than a typical HIS Form I-9 audit and how to prepare and be in compliance with the law.
Services
- Labor, Employment & Immigration
- Immigration & Global Mobility
- Class Action
- Wage & Hour
- Affirmative Action
- Cannabis in the Workplace
- Employment Advice & Counsel
- Employment Litigation
- Equal Pay Compliance
- Government Regulation, Audit & Compliance
- Mandatory Training
- Prevailing Wage
- Staffing Agency, Independent Contractor & Contingent Workforce
- Unfair Competition Counseling & Litigation
- Vaccine Mandates in the Workplace
- Workplace Investigations
Education
IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., 2006
Michigan State University, B.A., 2000
Admissions
- Illinois
- Pennsylvania