John Freitag started his career with the Illinois Department of Labor in 1985, conducting investigations on businesses reportedly violating various state labor laws. In 1988, John was promoted to a hearing officer position conducting in-depth hearings to resolve employer and employee wage disputes. John transferred to the Conciliation and Mediation Division in 1991 and began enforcing the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. In 2000, John was promoted to manager of that division, managing a sixteen-unit investigation team operating with a two million annual budget. In 2003, John began working as the Fair Contracting Director for the Construction Industry Service Corporation (CISCO) and in 2006 was promoted as Assistant Executive Director. In July 2006, John joined the III FFC as a Regional Director in its Construction Investigation Unit for Illinois and Iowa.