15 Dec Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance
We recently shared an article with everything you need to know about the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act that takes effect in January. This week, things got a bit more complicated. The City of Chicago passed the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance on November 9, 2023, which expanded paid time off requirements for Chicago workers. Those requirements were set to go into effect on December 31, 2023.
And then to further complicate matters… on December 13, 2023, the City Council voted to delay implementation of the new law by six months. Therefore, the start date for the expanded time off for City of Chicago workers is pushed back to July 1, 2024.
Go to the City of Chicago Office of Labor Standards website for all the details and latest updates. You may also email bacpoutreach@cityofchicago.org or bacplaborstandards@cityofchicago.org, or call the Office of Labor Standards 312-744-2211.
Until the new paid time off requirements begin, Chicago employees will still be eligible for previously existing paid sick leave rules, which allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, or about five days a year.
What has changed with the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance
To summarize the changes made on December 13, the new Ordinance that takes effect on July 1, 2024 mandates include:
- The city Ordinance will no longer cover employees who have only worked 2 hours within the city in any two-week period. Instead, the Ordinance now reverts to the definition of “Covered Employee” found in the current Chicago and Cook County paid sick leave ordinances: an employee who has worked at least 80 hours in any 120-day period within the city’s geographic limits.
- Employees must work at least 80 hours within any 120-day period before the paid leave requirements kick in for them.
- Once a worker reaches that threshold, they would be covered by the paid leave requirements for as long as they work for the same employer.
- That provision was added to avoid having the paid leave rules apply to out-of-town workers who are only visiting Chicago to work at trade shows or conventions.
- Employers would not be required to pay out for any workers’ unused sick leave when they leave the job.
- As for other paid time off:
- Small employers with 50 or fewer workers would not have to pay out unused paid time off.
- Employers with 51 to 100 workers would have to pay out up to two days of unused paid time off in 2024, and all unused paid time off starting in 2025.
- Employers with more than 100 workers would have to pay out any unused paid time off when employers leave the job as soon as the new requirements go into effect.
Once the new rules go into effect next July, violations of paid sick leave or other paid time off requirements could result in fines between $500 and $3,000 per violation per day. You will need to make sure you are in compliance with the Illinois and City of Chicago Paid Leave Ordinances; this is why it’s important for you to have a payroll processing company who can monitor the accruals for you.
We’ll continue to share updates as they come, but as always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to the Reconciled Solutions team.
