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This Chapter 6-130 shall be known as the “Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance.” All Covered Employees shall have the right to time away from work paid by their Employers. This chapter shall be liberally construed in favor of providing Chicago workers with the greatest amount of Paid Leave or Paid Sick Leave from work and employment security.
(Added Coun. J. 11-9-23, p. 5853, § 8; Amend Coun. J. 3-20-24, p. 10146, § 8)
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
“Commission” has the meanings ascribed to this term in the Sales Representative Act, 820 ILCS 120.
“Construction industry” means any constructing, altering, reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing, refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking, painting, decorating, demolishing, and adding to or subtracting from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street, bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant, waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other structure, project, development, real property or improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the performance of the work herein described involves the addition to, or fabrication into, any structure, project, development, real property or improvement herein described of any material or article of merchandise. Construction shall also include snow plowing, snow removal, and refuse collection.
“Covered Employee” means an Employee who works at least 80 hours for an Employer within any 120-day period while physically present within the geographic boundaries of the City. Once the threshold is reached, the Employee will remain a Covered Employee for the remainder of the time that the Employee works for the Employer. For purposes of this definition, time spent traveling in the City that is compensated time, including, but not limited to, deliveries, sales calls, and travel related to other business activity taking place within the City, shall constitute work while physically present within the geographic boundaries of the City; however, time spent traveling in the City that is uncompensated commuting time shall not constitute work while physically present within the geographic boundaries of the City. The term “Covered Employee” includes all Domestic Workers regardless of whether they work as employees, independent contractors, sole proprietors, or partnerships. “Covered Employee” includes any Employee of the City and its Sister Agencies, but does not include any individual permitted to work for any other governmental entity.
“Employee” means an individual who performs work for an employer in the capacity of an employee, as distinguished from a contractor, determined pursuant to Internal Revenue Service guidelines. Elected officials are not Employees. “Employee” does not include an employee as defined in the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. § 351, et seq.).
“Employer” means a person who gainfully employs at least one Employee.
“Gratuities” and “Occupation” have the meanings ascribed to those terms in the Minimum Wage Law.
“Health care provider” means any person licensed to provide medical or emergency services, including, but not limited to, doctors, nurses, and emergency room personnel.
“Intern” means a student, or an individual who has been a student within the last four months, of any institution of secondary or higher education, or enrolled on a full or part-time basis in a course or program of academic, business, or vocational instruction: (i) who is employed as an entry-level employee; (ii) who works fewer than 700 hours annually; and (iii) whose work is geared towards academic studies or provides vocational experience.
“Medium Employer” means an Employer with between 51 and 100 Covered Employees, inclusive. For the purpose of counting Covered Employees for this chapter, numbers of Covered Employees will be aggregated if they are employed by members of a single unitary business group as defined for Illinois income tax purposes.
“Minimum Wage Law” means the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/1, et seq.
“Paid Leave” means time that is provided by an Employer to a Covered Employee that is eligible to be used pursuant to Section 6-130-030 and is not Paid Sick Leave.
“Paid Sick Leave” means time that is provided by an Employer to a Covered Employee that is eligible to be accrued and used in the manner prescribed by Section 6-130-030.
“Seasonal” means employment of less than 120 calendar days in any year, that is set for a defined duration of time expected to be repetitive on a yearly basis.
“Sister Agency” means the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Transit Authority, the City Colleges of Chicago, the Chicago Housing Authority, and the Public Building Commission.
“Small Employer” means an Employer with 50 or fewer Covered Employees. For the purpose of counting Covered Employees for this chapter, numbers of Covered Employees will be aggregated if they are employed by members of a single unitary business group as defined for Illinois income tax purposes.
(Added Coun. J. 11-9-23, p. 5853, § 8; Amend Coun. J. 12-13-23, p. 7601, § 6; Amend Coun. J. 3-20-24, p. 10146, § 8)
(a) General provisions.
(1) Any Covered Employee who works for an Employer shall be eligible for Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave as provided under this chapter.
(2) Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave shall be compensated at the same rate and with the same benefits, including health care benefits, that the Covered Employee regularly earns during hours worked. Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave for a Covered Employee who is not exempt from the overtime requirements of the Minimum Wage Law shall be calculated by dividing the Covered Employee’s total Wages by the Covered Employee’s total hours worked in the full pay periods of the prior 90 days of employment. Wages under this subsection do not include overtime pay, premium pay, Gratuities, or Commissions. However, the minimum hourly pay shall not be less than the base hourly wage, the federal minimum wage, the Illinois Minimum Wage, or the Chicago Minimum Wage, whichever is higher. Where a Covered Employee is engaged in an Occupation in which Gratuities have customarily and usually constituted part of the remuneration, the Covered Employee’s Employer shall pay the highest of the federal minimum wage, the Illinois Minimum wage or the full Chicago minimum wage, as provided in Section 6-105-020, for Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave.
(3) An Employer shall provide payment for Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave used by a Covered Employee no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period after the paid time off was taken.
(4) 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 all unused, accrued Paid Leave as part of the Covered Employee’s final compensation at the Covered Employee’s final rate of pay and no employment contract or employment policy shall provide for forfeiture of earned Paid Leave upon separation from employment. However, a Small Employer shall not be required to pay out unused Paid Leave upon 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. For Medium Employers, the payout of unused Paid Leave required under this section shall be limited to a maximum of 16 hours of Paid Leave until July 1, 2025, unless the Medium Employer sets a higher limit. On and after July 1, 2025, Medium Employers shall be required to pay the monetary equivalent of all unused, accrued Paid Leave as part of the Covered Employee’s final compensation at the Covered Employee’s final rate of pay. A Covered Employee may request payout of their unused Paid Leave after not receiving a work assignment for 60 days. Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive or otherwise limit a Covered Employee’s right to final compensation for promised and earned vacation time or paid time off, as provided under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act and rules promulgated thereunder. Other than as part of a collective bargaining agreement, no employment contract or employment policy shall provide for forfeiture of earned Paid Leave or Paid Sick Leave when the Employer is no longer subject to the requirements of this chapter and the Covered Employee no longer works in the City. Unless an applicable collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise, upon a Covered Employee’s termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment, the Covered Employee’s Employer is not required to provide financial or other reimbursement for unused Paid Sick Leave.
(5) During any period a Covered Employee takes Paid Leave or Paid Sick Leave under this chapter, the Employer shall maintain coverage for the Covered Employee and any family member under any group health plan for the duration of such leave at no less than the level and conditions of coverage that would have been provided if the Covered Employee had not taken the leave. The Employer shall notify the Covered Employee that the Covered Employee is still responsible for paying the Covered Employee’s share of the cost of the health care coverage, if any.
(6) No Employer shall interfere with, deny, or change an Employee’s work days or hours to avoid providing eligible Paid Leave or Paid Sick Leave to a Covered Employee. An Employer shall not use its absence-control policy to count paid time off as an absence that triggers discipline, discharge, demotion, suspension, or any other adverse activity. Subject to rules promulgated by the Commissioner, no Employer shall constructively discharge or terminate an Employee and then treat such termination as a voluntary termination to avoid a violation of or providing benefits under this chapter. As used in this section, “constructive discharge” means the voluntary termination of employment by a Covered Employee because of a situation created by an act or omission of the Employer that an objective, reasonable person would find so intolerable that voluntary termination is the only reasonable alternative, including by the intentional reduction in hours to avoid a violation of or providing benefits under this chapter.
(b) If a Covered Employee accrued Paid Sick Leave prior to July 1, 2024, and the Employer’s existing paid time off policy does not comply with the requirements of this chapter, on July 1, 2024, any Paid Sick Leave that the Covered Employee is entitled to roll over from one 12-month period to the next shall be transferred to Paid Sick Leave under Section 6-130-030.
(c) An Employer shall not, as a condition of a Covered Employee taking Paid Sick Leave or Paid Leave, require that the Covered Employee search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours during which the Covered Employee is on leave.
(d) All unused Paid Sick Leave and Paid Leave shall be retained by the Covered Employee if the Employer sells, transfers, or otherwise assigns the business to another Employer and the Employee continues to work in the City.
(e) If a Covered Employee is transferred to a separate division, entity, or location, but remains employed by the same Employer, the Covered Employee is entitled to all Paid Sick Leave and Paid Leave accrued at the prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all such leave as provided in this chapter.
(Added Coun. J. 11-9-23, p. 5853, § 8; Amend Coun. J. 12-13-23, p. 7601, § 7; Amend Coun. J. 3-20-24, p. 10146, § 8)
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