Illinois Moves Forward with Paid Leave Mandate

December 6, 2023

New mandate require small business owners give employess at least 40 hoursof paid leave per year.

Illinois Moves Forward with Paid Leave Mandate

The Illinois Department of Labor is moving forward with rulemaking to implement the new paid leave mandate that was passed by the legislature in January of this year as Senate Bill 208. In March, Governor Pritzker signed SB208 (now Public Act 102-1143) into law. The new mandate will require that all employers provide their employees with a minimum of 1 hour of paid leave at their regular rate of pay for every 40 hours worked, up to a minimum of 40 hours paid leave per 12-month period. A public hearing on the proposed rules was held on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. Written comments on the proposed rules may be submitted on or before December 18, 2023, at DOLPaidLeave@illinois.gov . NFIB is reviewing the proposed rules and will continue to advocate for small businesses throughout the rule-making process. In particular, we are monitoring sections in the proposed rules that:

Increase the administrative burden on small businesses by requiring them to include an “employee’s unused balance of paid leave time on each paystub or form that the employer normally furnishes to the employee to notify them of wage payments and deductions from wages”—a requirement over and above that required by the law. (See Section 200.250.)
Permit employees to roll-over up to 80 hours of unused paid leave from one year to another. (See Section 200.320.)
Include unclear language pertaining to the definition of the “regular rate of pay” that businesses must pay employees while they are on paid leave. (See Section 200-110.)

NFIB was the only statewide business association that consistently opposed this new mandate in Springfield and in the news media. NFIB was also supportive of efforts by Rep. Suzanne Ness to amend the Act to move the effective date from January 1, 2024, to July 1, 2024, to give small employers more time to prepare for the law’s requirements. Unfortunately, her bill remains in the Rules Committee of the General Assembly and will not move forward before the January effective date for the new mandate. Earlier this year, NFIB Illinois hosted a series of informational webinars as a service to its members to aid compliance with the new requirement. State Director Chris Davis led an overview of the new law, with expert input from employment attorneys Stephanie Mills-Gallan and Meg Karnig of the law firm Littler Mendelson. You can view the webinar HERE. The Illinois Department of Labor will also be hosting a series of webinars on December 7 and 21, and January 11 and 25. To register go HERE. To access the Illinois Department of Labor Frequently Asked Questions website go HERE. For a copy of the proposed rules and more information go HERE. NFIB will keep members advised on this issue as the rules process moves forward.

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State:

Illinois

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