Big Changes to Chicago’s Paid Sick Leave (Cook County Too, But Not As Much)

Big Changes to Chicago’s Paid Sick Leave (Cook County Too, But Not As Much)

Faced with the new Illinois PTO law going into effect on January 1, 2024, Chicago passed massive changes to its paid sick leave ordinance on November 9, 2023 (here), which take effect on July 1, 2024 (here).  For large employers (101 or more employees), the biggest change is that employers must provide PTO leave in addition to paid sick leave, and unused PTO must be paid out upon the end of employment.  Employees in Chicago will accrue one hour of PTO and one separate hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked in the city.  Waiting time periods apply. Unused sick leave is carried over year to year up to a max of 80 hours, but only 16 hours of unused PTO is carried over yearly.  A collective-bargaining agreement may explicitly waive application of the law. Paystubs must include the available, accrued, and used balances for both types of leave, and employers must maintain a written policy for both types of leave that must be given at the start of employment and five days before any change to the policy.  A poster created by the city must also be posted at the worksite and provided with the employee’s first paycheck and annually with a paycheck issued within 30 days of July 1st of each year.    

Cook County had an existing paid sick leave law that expired December 31, 2023, when its new PTO leave ordinance took effect.  Although the ordinance took effect on December 31, 2023, enforcement of the ordinance will start on February 1, 2024.  Cook County’s version of the law is similar to the new Illinois PTO law, and thus does not have the payout upon termination requirement like Chicago.  See the Cook County Commission on Human Right’s website for more information (here).