(a) An Employer shall provide Paid Sick Leave and Paid Leave to all Covered Employees under this section. If an Employer has a policy that grants Employees Paid Leave or Paid Sick Leave in an amount and a manner that meets or exceeds the requirements of this chapter, the Employer is not required to provide additional Paid Leave or Paid Sick Leave.
(b) Accrual.
(1) Starting on July 1, 2024, or on the first calendar day of a Covered Employee’s employment, whichever is later, a Covered Employee’s Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave shall begin to accrue.
For every 35 hours worked after a Covered Employee’s Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave begins to accrue, the Covered Employee shall accrue at least one hour of Paid Leave and one hour of Paid Sick Leave. Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave shall accrue only in hourly increments; there shall be no fractional accruals. However, if an Employer offers its Employees more hours of Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave than the minimum requirements of this chapter, such Employer may credit the applicable Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave time on a monthly basis, instead of accruing at the rate above. A Covered Employee who is exempt from overtime requirements under this Code shall be assumed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes of Paid Sick Leave and Paid Leave accrual, unless the Covered Employee’s normal work week is less than 40 hours, in which case such paid time off shall accrue based upon that normal work week. An Employer shall issue a written policy explaining the rate of Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave accrual.
(2) For each Covered Employee, there shall be a cap of 40 hours of Paid Leave and 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave accrued per 12-month period, unless the Employer sets a higher limit. The 12-month period for a Covered Employee shall be calculated from the date the Covered Employee began to accrue Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave.
(c) Carryover.
(1) At the end of a Covered Employee’s 12-month accrual period, the Covered Employee shall be allowed to carry over to the following 12-month period up to 16 hours of Paid Leave and 80 hours of Paid Sick Leave.
(2) The Employer does not need to pay the Covered Employee for any unused Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave lost as a result of not being able to be carried over from one 12-month period to the next. However, if an Employer denies a Covered Employee approval of their Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave in a manner that prohibits such Covered Employee from meaningfully having access to such paid time off, despite such Employee complying with applicable Employer policies, such Employer must increase that Covered Employee’s permissible carry over to include carryover of any such denied Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave.
(d) Use. Employers shall allow Covered Employees to use accrued Paid Sick Leave no later than on the 30th calendar day following the commencement of the Covered Employee’s employment. Employers shall allow Covered Employees to use accrued Paid Leave no later than on the 90th calendar day following the commencement of the Covered Employee’s employment. Unless obligated by a City, State, or federal law, a Covered Employee may choose whether to use Paid Sick Leave or Paid Leave prior to using any other leave provided by the Employer or by City, State, or federal law. Where the City is the Employer, this subsection 6-130-030(d) shall not apply.
(e) Minimum Increment. Covered Employees shall be allowed to determine how much accrued Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave the Covered Employee needs to use, provided that the Employer may set a reasonable minimum increment requirement not to exceed four hours of Paid Leave per day or two hours of Paid Sick Leave per day. If a Covered Employee’s scheduled workday is less than the minimum increments above, the minimum increment of time shall not exceed the Covered Employee’s regular scheduled workday.
(f) Front-loading. Employers may choose to immediately grant Covered Employees 40 hours of Paid Leave or 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave or both on the first day of employment or the first day of the 12-month accrual period. If an Employer chooses to immediately grant Covered Employees 40 hours of Paid Leave or 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave on the first day of employment or the first day of the 12-month accrual period, the Employer is not required to provide additional paid time off of such type of paid time off frontloaded to the Employee. If an Employer grants 40 hours of Paid Leave on the first day of employment or the first day of the 12-month accrual period, then the Employer is not required to carryover an Employee’s unused Paid Leave hours to the subsequent 12-month period.
(g) Unlimited Paid Time Off. Instead of following an accrual model, Employers may choose to immediately grant Covered Employees on the first day of employment, or the first day of the 12-month accrual period, unlimited hours of paid time off that may be used for any reason. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (g), all requirements and benefits regarding Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave in this chapter shall apply. If an Employer grants unlimited paid time off on the first day of employment or the first day of the 12-month accrual period, then the Employer is not required to carryover an Employee’s unused paid time off to the subsequent 12-month period. If a Covered Employee’s need for paid time off is reasonably foreseeable, an Employer may require up to seven days’ notice before paid time off is taken. If the need for paid time off is not reasonably foreseeable, an Employer may require a Covered Employee to give notice as soon as is practicable on the day the Covered Employee intends to take paid time off by notifying the Employer, which may include by telephone, e-mail, or other means. An Employer may not require a Covered Employee to obtain preapproval from the Employer before using the paid time off. Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, upon a Covered Employee’s termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment, or whenever a Covered Employee ceases to meet the definition of Covered Employee as a result of transferal outside of the geographic boundaries of the City to be considered a Covered Employee, the Employer shall pay the monetary equivalent of 40 hours of paid time off minus the hours of paid time off used by the Covered Employee in the last 12-month period before the Covered Employee’s date of separation from employment as part of the Covered Employee’s final compensation at the Covered Employee’s final rate of pay. If the Covered Employee used more than 40 hours of paid time off in the last 12-month period before the Covered Employee’s date of separation from employment, the Covered Employee will not owe the Employer compensation. No employment contract or employment policy shall provide for forfeiture of earned paid time off upon separation from employment.
(h) Paid Leave Policies. A Covered Employee may use Paid Leave for any reason of the Covered Employee’s choosing. An Employer may not require a Covered Employee to provide a reason for such leave and may not require them to provide documentation or certification as proof or in support of the leave. An Employer may establish reasonable policies for the use of Paid Leave to:
(1) require a Covered Employee to give reasonable notice, which may not exceed seven days before using such Paid Leave;
(2) require a Covered Employee to obtain reasonable preapproval from the Employer before using Paid Leave for the purpose of maintaining continuity of Employer operations subject to rules promulgated by the Office of Labor Standards; and
(3) adopt rules specific to Interns, City-employed Seasonal workers, or Office of Emergency Management and Communications staff that manage City traffic, and such rules are not required to comply with this chapter.
(i) Paid Sick Leave Policies.
(1) A Covered Employee may use Paid Sick Leave when:
(A) the Covered Employee is ill or injured, or for the purpose of receiving professional care, including preventive care, diagnosis, or treatment, for medical, mental, or behavioral issues, including substance use disorders;
(B) a Covered Employee’s family member is ill, injured, or ordered to quarantine, or to care for a family member receiving professional care, including preventive care, diagnosis, or treatment, for medical, mental, or behavioral issues, including substance use disorders;
(C) the Covered Employee, or a Covered Employee’s family member, is the victim of domestic violence, as defined in Section 103 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, or a sex offense, defined here as any conduct proscribed in Article 11 and Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2012, or trafficking in persons as defined in Section 10-9 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2012 (720 ILCS 5/10-9); or
(D) the Covered Employee’s place of business is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency, or the Covered Employee needs to care for a family member whose school, class, or place of care has been closed.
(E) a Covered Employee obeys an order issued by the Mayor, the Governor of Illinois, the Chicago Department of Public Health, or a treating healthcare provider, requiring the Covered Employee to:
(i) stay at home to minimize the transmission of a communicable disease;
(ii) remain at home while experiencing symptoms or sick with a communicable disease;
(iii) obey a quarantine order issued to the Covered Employee;
(iv) obey an isolation order issued to the Covered Employee.
(2) If a Covered Employee’s need for Paid Sick Leave is reasonably foreseeable, an Employer may require up to seven days’ notice before leave is taken. If the need for Paid Sick Leave is not reasonably foreseeable, an Employer may require a Covered Employee to give notice as soon as is practicable on the day the Covered Employee intends to take Paid Sick Leave by notifying the Employer, which may include by telephone, e-mail, or other means. For purposes of this subsection, needs that are “reasonably foreseeable” include, but are not limited to, prescheduled appointments with health care providers for the Covered Employee or for a family member, and court dates in domestic violence cases. Any notice requirement imposed by an Employer pursuant to this subsection shall be waived in the event a Covered Employee is unable to give notice because the Covered Employee is unconscious, or otherwise medically incapacitated.
(3) Where a Covered Employee is absent for more than three consecutive work days, the Covered Employee’s Employer may require certification that the use of Paid Sick Leave was authorized under subsection 6-130-030(i)(1). For time used pursuant to subsections 6-130-030(i)(1)(A) or (B), documentation signed by a licensed health care provider shall satisfy this requirement. For Paid Sick Leave used pursuant to subsection 6-130-030(i)(1)(C), a police report, court document, a signed statement from an attorney, a member of the clergy, or a victim services advocate, or any other evidence that supports the Covered Employee’s claim, including a written statement from the Covered Employee or any other person who has knowledge of the circumstances, shall satisfy this requirement. The Covered Employee may choose which document to submit, and no more than one document shall be required if the Paid Sick Leave is related to the same incident of violence or the same perpetrator. An Employer shall not require such documentation or require that such documentation specify the reason for the Covered Employee using Paid Sick Leave before receiving notice that a Covered Employee will be absent for a third consecutive day, except as required by law. It shall be a rebuttable presumption that an Employer has violated this section whenever an Employer requires documentation before receiving notice that a Covered Employee will be absent for a third consecutive day and using Paid Sick Leave. The Employer shall not delay the commencement of Paid Sick Leave taken for one of the purposes in subsection 6-130-030(i)(1), nor delay payment of Wages, on the basis that the Employer has not yet received the required certification.
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an Employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and including termination, against a Covered Employee who uses Paid Sick Leave for purposes other than those described in subsection 6-130-030(i)(1).
(j) This Section 6-130-030 provides minimum Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave requirements; it shall not be construed to affect the applicability of any other law, regulation, requirement, policy, or standard that provides for greater Paid Sick Leave benefits, Paid Leave benefits, or both, and provides less restrictive access to those benefits.
(Added Coun. J. 11-9-23, p. 5853, § 8; Amend Coun. J. 12-13-23, p. 7601, § 8; Amend Coun. J. 3-20-24, p. 10146, § 8)