Chicago Enacts New Paid Leave Ordinance

Author: Emily Scace, Brightmine Legal Editor

November 17, 2023

Chicago workers will soon have access to additional guaranteed paid leave as a result of a city ordinance that takes effect December 31, 2023.

While the city already had a paid sick leave law, the new ordinance guarantees both paid sick leave and additional paid leave that may be used for any reason of the employee’s choosing—up to 40 hours per year of each leave type. The ordinance will apply to all employees who perform at least two hours of work for an employer while physically present within the city limits.

Earlier this year, Illinois passed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, which takes effect January 1, 2024. However, that law exempts employees covered by a municipal paid leave ordinance in effect before the state law. Because the Chicago ordinance takes effect December 31, 2023, Chicago employees will be covered exclusively by the ordinance and not by the state law.

Covered employees will accrue at least one hour of paid leave and one hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked, up to the 40-hour annual cap. Employees will be able to use their accrued paid sick leave 30 calendar days after beginning a new job and their all-purpose leave 90 calendar days after beginning a job.

Employers may choose to provide more generous leave amounts or to allow employees to use leave earlier. Alternatively, an employer may opt to grant employees unlimited paid time off instead of following an accrual schedule.

Paid sick leave may be used when:

• The employee is ill, injured, or in need of health care for a medical, mental or behavior issue, including substance use disorders (including preventive care, diagnosis or treatment)
• An employee’s family member is ill, injured, in need of health care or ordered to quarantine;
• The employee or employee’s family member is a victim of domestic violence or a sex offense;
• The employee’s place of business is closed due to a public health emergency, or the employee needs to care for a family member whose school, class or place of care has been closed; or
• The employee is ordered by the government, the Chicago Department of Public Health or a health care provider to stay at home, quarantine or isolate to avoid transmission of a communicable disease.

While an employee may use paid leave for any reason, employers may require employees to give reasonable advance notice – no more than seven days – before taking leave or to obtain reasonable preapproval to ensure coverage and continuity of the employer’s operations.

Employers may require advance notice for paid sick leave only if it is reasonably foreseeable, such as a prescheduled health care appointment. For unforeseeable sick leave, an employer may require employees to give notice as soon as practicable and must waive notice requirements if an employee is unconscious or otherwise medically incapacitated.

Under the ordinance, employers must post a notice of employees’ paid leave and paid sick leave rights in a conspicuous place at each facility within the city limits where a covered employee works. Employers must also:

• Notify employees of their rights with their first paycheck and annually;
• Provide written notice of an employee’s amount of available paid leave and paid sick leave each time wages are paid; and
• Provide employees with written notice of the employer’s paid time off policy at the start of employment and within five calendar days of making any changes to the policy.

The ordinance also includes anti-retaliation protections and recordkeeping requirements.