Chicago City Council Mandates Paid Sick Leave

After more than a year of discussions, the Chicago City Council unanimously passed an ordinance in June that allows employees to accrue and use up to five earned sick days over the course of one year.  Chicago now joins many other cities with similar laws.

Under the ordinance, workers earn sick time at a rate of one hour earned for every 40 hours worked and would be able to roll over up to 2.5 days unused sick days to the following year.

New employees can use accrued sick leave after an initial six month probationary period. Employers that offer combined leave benefits such as Paid Time Off (PTO) are exempt from these requirements so long as employees could accrue and use up to five days of PTO within a calendar year. Employers would not be required pay out of unused sick days, and sick leave benefits that are negotiated as part of a collective bargaining agreement are exempt.