Nixon Peabody LLP

  • People
  • Capabilities
  • Insights
  • About

Trending Topics

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni

    Practices

    View All

    • Affordable Housing
    • Community Development Finance
    • Corporate & Finance
    • Cybersecurity & Privacy
    • Environmental
    • Franchising & Distribution
    • Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
    • Healthcare
    • Intellectual Property
    • International Services
    • Labor & Employment
    • Litigation
    • Private Wealth & Advisory
    • Project Finance
    • Public Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Regulatory & Government Relations

    Industries

    View All

    • Cannabis
    • Consumer
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Non Profit
    • Real Estate
    • Technology

    Value-Added Services

    View All

    • Alternative Fee Arrangements

      Developing innovative pricing structures and alternative fee agreement models that deliver additional value for our clients.

    • Continuing Education

      Advancing professional knowledge and offering credits for attorneys, staff and other professionals.

    • Crisis Advisory

      Helping clients respond correctly when a crisis occurs.

    • DEI Strategic Services

      Providing our clients with legal, strategic, and practical advice to make transformational changes in their organizations.

    • eDiscovery

      Leveraging law and technology to deliver sound solutions.

    • Global Services

      Delivering seamless service through partnerships across the globe.

    • Innovation

      Leveraging leading-edge technology to guide change and create seamless, collaborative experiences for clients and attorneys.

    • IPED

      Industry-leading conferences focused on affordable housing, tax credits, and more.

    • Legal Project Management

      Providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making.

    • Legally Green

      Teaming with clients to advance sustainable projects, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect our planet.

    • Nixon Peabody Trust Company

      Offering a range of investment management and fiduciary services.

    • NP Capital Connector

      Bringing together companies and investors for tomorrow’s new deals.

    • NP Second Opinion

      Offering fresh insights on cases that are delayed, over budget, or off-target from the desired resolution.

    • NP Trial

      Courtroom-ready lawyers who can resolve disputes early on clients’ terms or prevail at trial before a judge or jury.

    • Social Impact

      Creating positive impact in our communities through increasing equity, access, and opportunity.

    1. Home
    2. Insights
    3. Alerts
    4. Illinois paid leave law — What you need to knowAlerts

    Alert / Labor & Employment

    Illinois paid leave law — What you need to know

    Feb 2, 2023

    Share

    By Kamau Coar and Brian Alcala

    Employers should review their employee leave policies now to determine compliance with the upcoming Illinois paid leave law.

    What’s the impact?

    • Pursuant to Illinois legislation awaiting the governor’s signature, on January 1, 2024, Illinois employers will be required to give employees up to 40 hours of paid leave for any reason
    • While several states grant employees paid sick leave, Illinois becomes the third state to extend paid leave beyond sickness and family reasons to any reason at the employee’s discretion
    • Illinois Governor JB Pritzker indicated that he intends to sign this legislation into law

    DOWNLOADS

    • PDF

    While several other states have laws providing for paid family and/or medical leave for employees, beginning on January 1, 2024, Illinois will join Maine and Nevada as the only states that require employers to provide employees paid leave for any reason—sickness, family leave, or otherwise.

    The Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act

    Illinois will require private employers with more than one employee to provide earned paid leave to employees, to be used for any reason. Employees will not be required to give a reason for taking leave, and employers will not be allowed to require any documentation or certification of the need for leave.

    The Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act will provide full-time and part-time employees with up to 40 hours (or a pro-rata number of hours) of paid leave over a 12-month period, beginning on their 90th day of employment. Employers can either frontload the leave time by providing the entire 40 hours in a lump sum or have employees accrue paid leave at the rate of one hour per every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours of paid leave (or a greater amount if the employer chooses to provide more than 40 hours of leave). Under this future law, employers will not be required to pay out unused paid time to departing employees.

    If an employee’s need for paid leave is foreseeable, employers can require that employees provide up to seven calendar days’ notice. If an employee’s need for paid leave is not foreseeable, employees are required to provide notice as soon as practicable after the employee becomes aware of the necessity. Employers cannot require that the employee find coverage for their paid leave and are prohibited from changing the employee’s workdays or hours to avoid providing paid leave.

    Employers must memorialize their notice requirements regarding paid leave in a written policy, whether a stand-alone policy or one incorporated into existing policies or handbook provisions. For an employer that already has a leave policy in place on or before January 1, 2024, the new law does not require a modification to their current policy as long as the policy offers the employee the option, at the employee’s discretion, to take paid leave for any reason and in the amounts provided above. We anticipate that the Illinois Department of Labor will provide guidance on open questions, applicability, and nuances of this future law prior to its January 1, 2024, effective date.

    Action items

    Employers should consider the following action items:

    • Review company handbooks, employee leave policies, and other relevant leave notification processes to determine compliance with the upcoming Illinois requirements
    • If applicable, review leave entitlements for employees in all states to understand the impact on whether Illinois’ paid leave requirements create an unintended difference in how employees are able to take leave

    Practices

    Labor & EmploymentLabor RelationsLabor & Employment LitigationOccupational Safety & Health (OSHA)Wage-Hour Compliance & LitigationWorkplace: Policies, Procedures & Training

    Insights And Happenings

    • Alert

      New Hampshire's innovative take on paid family medical leave: What employers should know?

      March 2, 2023
    • Alert

      U.S. Supreme Court in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt clarifies "salary basis" test for HCEs paid on daily basis

      Feb 28, 2023
    • Alert

      Employer guide to preparing for emergencies, natural disasters, and catastrophic incidents

      Jan 24, 2023

    Subscribe to stay informed of the latest legal news, alerts, and business trends.Subscribe

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    • © 2023 Nixon Peabody. All rights reserved
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Statement of Client Rights
    • Supplier Diversity Program
    • Nixon Peabody International LLC
    • PAL