Employment Opportunities

The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) administers the Illinois Human Rights Act (Act). The Act prohibits discrimination in Illinois with respect to employment, financial credit, public accommodations, housing and sexual harassment, as well as sexual harassment in education. A discrimination charge can be initiated by calling, writing or appearing in person at the Department’s Chicago or Springfield office within 300 days of the date the alleged discrimination took place in all cases except housing discrimination (one year filing deadline).

The Illinois Department of Human Rights is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. IDHR values a highly qualified and diverse workforce. It is the policy of IDHR to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons, regardless of age, race, religion, color, national origin, sex, political affiliations, marital status, physical or mental disability, age, sexual orientation, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, or on the basis of personal favoritism or other non-merit factors.

IDHR welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities, and will reasonably accommodate the needs of those persons. IDHR is firmly committed to satisfying its equal opportunity and affirmative obligations under the law to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advance on the basis of merit within IDHR. Position vacancies available at the Department of Human Rights are listed within the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) website. To apply for any of the listed vacancies posted by IDHR, a qualifying grade from CMS may be needed. Visit State Wide Job Postings: Work 4 Illinois for job posting and application instructions.

The IDHR frequently is in search of highly qualified candidates to fill the following roles. Visit back often to view the latest list of positions.

Human Rights Investigator Trainee
Under immediate supervision, participates in an agency sponsored training program for a period of six to eighteen months, receiving work assignments to acquire knowledge and skills as a human rights intake worker, counseling complainants, ascertaining jurisdiction, taking charges of alleged discrimination and learning to carry a caseload of selected simple investigations; or receives training in the investigation and processing of a caseload of selected perfected charges of discrimination by analyzing evidence in terms of the Illinois Human Rights Act, rules and regulations, and operating procedures; receives progressive training in the development of reports of findings of fact, parties’ terms of settlement and agreement, and necessary correspondence to concerned parties; travels as needed to accomplish the operational goals and objectives of the agency.

Human Rights Mediator
Under general direction, mediates charges of discrimination, filed with the Department of Human Rights, through the Human Rights Mediation Program as a certified mediator.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act, State agencies must ensure that the employment process is accessible to persons with disabilities. Specifically, these laws require that the State provide reasonable accommodations upon request by individuals participating in all steps of the employment process. This includes the initial testing phases of the candidate selection process for state positions as well as the subsequent employment interview process. Any and all accommodation requests by applicants throughout the State employment process should be appropriately reviewed and considered by human resources staff in state hiring agencies. If you need such an accommodation, please contact idhr.recruitment@illinois.gov.