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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIllinois will become one of three states to require employers to offer paid time off for any reason after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law on Monday that will take effect next year.
Starting Jan. 1, Illinois employers must offer workers paid time off based on hours worked, with no need to explain the reason for their absence as long as they provide notice in accordance with reasonable employer standards.
Just Maine and Nevada mandate earned paid time time off and allot employees the freedom to decide how to use it, but Illinois’ law is further reaching, unencumbered by limits based on business size. Similarly structured regulations that require employers to offer paid sick leave exist in 14 states and Washington, D.C., but workers can only use that for health-related reasons.
Illinois employees will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to 40 hours total, although the employer may offer more. Employees can start using the time once they have worked for 90 days. Seasonal workers will be exempt, as will federal employees or college students who work non-full-time, temporary jobs for their university.
Pritzker signed the bill Monday in downtown Chicago, saying: “Too many people can’t afford to miss even a day’s pay … together we continue to build a state that truly serves as a beacon for families, and businesses, and good paying jobs.”
Proponents say paid leave is key to making sure workers, especially low-income workers who are more vulnerable, are able to take time off when needed without fear of reprisal from an employer.
But critics say the law will overburden small businesses already struggling to survive the post-pandemic era amid the high inflation that has gripped the nation for nearly two years.
National Federation of Independent Business Illinois state director Chris Davis said that business owners are best positioned to work with their employees one-on-one to meet their needs.
The new law is “a one-size-fits-all solution to a more intricate problem,” he said.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, a Peoria Democrat, said the bill is the product of years of negotiations with businesses and labor groups.
“Everyone deserves the ability to take time off,” she said in a statement. “Whether it’s to deal with the illness of a family member, or take a step back for your mental health, enshrining paid leave rights is a step forward for our state.”
“This is about bringing dignity to all workers,” she said at the signing.
Ordinances in Cook County and Chicago that already require employers to offer paid sick leave have been in place since July 2017, and workers in those locations will continue to be covered by existing laws rather than the new state law.
Any new local laws enacted after the state law takes effect must provide benefits that are greater or equal to the state law.
Molly Weston Williamson, paid leave expert at the Center for American Progress, said the law “creates a strong foundation for employers to build from while generating a healthier, more productive workforce.”
But Williamson added that while Illinois’ law is a step in the right direction, U.S. paid leave laws remain “wildly out of line with all of our economic peers internationally.”
“In the United States, federal law does not guarantee anyone the right to even a single paid day off work. Not when you’re sick, not when you have a baby, not when your mom has a stroke. Not a single paid day,” she said.
Joan Van, a server at an international hotel chain and single mother of three, currently has no paid time off.
But the Belleville parent leader with Community Organizing and Family Issues said that knowing that she will have five days next year brings a smile to her face.
“It’s going to help out a lot of people, a lot of mothers, a lot of single mothers at that,” she said.
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Seems reasonable, and it’s hardly a burden on employers… For a 40-hour employee that’s only 6.5 days per year. Any business that can’t afford this isn’t a viable business model.
Agreed +1
You obviously NEVER worked for a small business.
Dominic M.
+ 1
Thank you Illinois for sending more businesses our way.
Yep, the corporate consultant class does not seem very attuned to the challenges small businesses face, how much harder it is for them to absorb mandated raises to minimum wage or other benefits. For many small businesses, the staff make more than the owners in a given months. Absolute guarantee that
The folks who claim “any business that can’t afford this should go” might very well get their wish. Granted, so will the potential corporate competitors of the small businesses, many of whom develop oligarchic behavior and operate more like a cartel if the industry grows too centralized.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions” can be applied here. Ultimately, I believe it will cause more troubles than it will solve and when businesses start leaving Illinois, maybe the politicians will wake up to reality.
Many of my favorite family owned restaurants in Chicago have closed because of Chicago & Cook County insane worker benefits. Some were in business 70+ years – we will only be left with Corporate Chains.
Have to love the belly-aching from the people commenting on this issue – guarantee you the vast majority have this benefit but begrudge others from getting it – you know, because poor people deserve what they get (or don’t get). /s
Yes, this needs to be a nationwide benefit. This isn’t MONTHS of time. This is perfectly reasonable bill.
Let’s start recruiting these companies to Indianapolis.
If a company voluntarily offers paid leave time. That’s fine.
But to make it mandatory is flat out government intrusion.
Indianapolis CHAMBER of commerce, start reaching out to these companies
to come here.
Few will move while we have a poorly educated workforce and restrict a woman’s right to choose. It’s not all about low taxes.
Hasn’t Indiana been advertising to Illinois businesses for well over a decade to come to Indiana for the “business friendly” climate? How has that worked out? What major corporations have moved their operations from Chicago to Indianapolis?
I don’t think the number is very high at all. I do know Salesforce just built a beautiful skyscraper for their Chicago offices where they’re adding thousands of jobs. Why didn’t they expand in Indianapolis if Illinois is so bad for business?
Wesley +1
Wesley
Chicago is having big problems. Crime in particular is
hindering business in downtown Chicago.
Three major corporations pulled their operations out of Chicago
in 2022. They relocated to Washington D.C. area, Dallas, and Miami.
All three corporations listed crime as the number one reason.
But make no mistake, taxes and regulations probably played a role in
their decisions also to leave Chicago.
Randy S.
It’s not all about abortion. States with as strict or stricter abortion
laws are nailing economic development projects.
As far as educated workforce?? Again, states with educated workforce’s
no better than Indian are killing it in terms of attracting economic
development and jobs.
Randy and Wesley are deluded if they think this isn’t going to hurt Illinois’ economy. But then, being terminally deluded goes part-and-parcel with being ideologically leftist.
Outside of Chicagoland, Illinois is basically Indiana West, culturally. But Indiana is far less hostile to businesses.
Salesforce built a beautiful skyscraper, fine and good, but are they really going to be able to compensate for the loss of Citadel, Boeing, Caterpillar (downstate Illinois suffering the burden of Chicago’s folly), Tyson Foods, or even McDonald’s?