Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Illinois

Annual Leave (vacation)

Illinois does not have any state laws that govern paid time off. However, it is common for employers to decide whether to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave.

This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in the collective bargaining agreements, however, on 13 March 2023, the Illinois Governor signed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (Act), requiring Illinois employers to provide employees with up to 40 hours of paid time off  during a 12-month period to be used for any reason, which takes effect on 1 January 2024.

Public Holidays

Public holidays are not mandatory paid days off, but employers commonly allow workers to take federal holidays as paid days off.

Some companies might also agree to allow workers to take off state holidays; workers can find specific state holiday dates from their local government.

Usually when an agreed public holiday falls on a weekend, a day off in lieu is given on the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday.

Sick Days

It is common for an employer to follow the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses, or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).

Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

FMLA eligible employees are entitled to:

• 12 working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.
• Leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement.
• Care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition.
• Leave in the event of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
• Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”

Or

• 26 working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).

In addition to the FMLA, employers with more than 16 employees must provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours of paid sick leave.

Illinois has an exception for Chicago and Cook County. Employees are entitled to 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, with a maximum annual accrual of 40 hours.

Employees can carry over 20 hours of paid sick leave however, the employee is FMLA eligible, employees may carry over an additional 40 to use for FMLA leave.

To be eligible for paid sick leave, employees must work for their employer for six months, at least 2 hours within the city or the county in any two weeks, and at least 80 hours during any 120 days.

Maternity Leave

Maternity leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Parental Leave

Parental leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Other Leave

• Jury Duty: Full-time employees are entitled to job-protected, unpaid leave for jury duty or as a witness in a case, responding to a subpoena, or acting as a plaintiff or defendant in the courts. Employees must provide a copy of the jury summons to the employer as evidence of requirement, giving a minimum notice of 10 days.
• Voting Leave: Employees who are registered to vote must be allowed up to two hours of paid leave to vote in a general or special election between the opening and the closing hours of polls. In Illinois, polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Employees must provide reasonable notice to their employers to take time off to vote.
• In addition to the federal law USERRA, Illinois law provides protection against discrimination for members of U.S. armed forces, reserves, National Guard, commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other category of persons designated by the president in a time of war or emergency.
• The Illinois Service Member Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (ISERRA) applies to the Armed Forces of the United States or National Guard, but also anyone on state active duty or service for any federally recognized auxiliary of the United States Armed Forces when performing official duties in support of military or civilian authorities as a result of an emergency.
• The Illinois Family Military Leave Act provides unpaid family military leave to an employee who is the spouse, parent, child, or grandparent of a person called to military service lasting longer than 30 days. The State of Illinois requires employers with 15-50 employees to have 15 days of leave and 30 days of leave for employers with more than 50 employees. In the case of a bereavement, an employee must provide notice at least two days before the leave is due and may be required to provide an employer with appropriate documentation, such as a death certificate or published obituary. This leave entitles the employee to attend the funeral or alternative to a funeral, plans necessitated by the death, or grieve the child’s death. The Child Bereavement Leave Act (under the Family and Medical Leave Act) requires employers with more than 50 employees to provide their employees who have suffered the loss of a child with up to two weeks (10 working days) of unpaid bereavement leave. The leave will increase to 6 weeks should the same employee lose more than one child during a 12-month period. Employees must use the leave within two months of the child’s death.