Illinois governor signs off on mandatory paid leave ‘for any reason’

The new law will apply to almost every kind of worker in the state.

by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech | Mar. 14, 2023

Story at a glance

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed a bill into law on Monday requiring employers to offer workers paid time off “for any reason.”

Next year, workers will be able to use their earned time off without providing an employer with an explanation for their absence.

The law does not apply to workers in Chicago and Cook County, which will instead continue to use their preexisting paid sick leave ordinances.

Illinois is now the third state in the nation to require employers to offer workers paid time off “for any reason.”

Illinois workers will be able to use their earned time off for any reason once they have worked for 90 days and will not have to provide a reason for their absence.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed a bill outlining the changes to paid time off into law on Monday. It will go into effect next year.

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Maine and Nevada are the only two other states that have passed similar legislation, but both pieces of legislation have limits.

Nevada’s law exempts businesses with less than 50 employees from offering paid time off for any reason and Maine’s law only applies to employers with more than 10 workers.

Illinois’s law will apply to every employee, including domestic workers, working for an employer in the state.

However, the law does not apply to independent contractors and employees protected by a collective bargaining agreement in construction and the parcel delivery industry.

The new law will also not apply to workers in Chicago and Cook County, which both have paid sick leave ordinances in place.

“Working families face so many challenges, and it’s been my mission to alleviate those burdens in every way I can,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Employers benefit from allowing employees to tend to the urgent personal matters of their lives. Workers’ productivity increases, and they often gain greater passion for their job when they can manage the stresses they face outside work.”