The City of Chicago Council passed an Ordinance updating the Chicago Paid Sick Leave Act. This Ordinance applies to all private Employers. The updated law provides for the following:
1) 40 hours of paid leave and 40 hours of paid sick leave for each 12 month period;
2) The paid leave applies for any reason and the paid sick leave applies for any time for an illness of the Employee or the employee’s family member;
3) Any Employee who works at least 2 hours of work in a 2 week period, which accuses at 1 hour every 35 hours worked put to 40 hours of paid leave and 40 hours paid sick leave. This time can start being used after 90 days of being employed;
4) Carry over is allowed for 16 hours of paid leave and 80 hours of paid sick time between the 12 month period. However, if an Employer front-loads the time, meaning that the employee gets all the time on the first day of work without the accrual, then the Employer does not need to carry over any unused time;
5) An can require 7 day notice if reasonably foreseeable for paid time off, but not required for paid sick leave or if not reasonably foreseeable;
6) The Employer, depending upon the size of the Employer, must compensate the Employee for any unused paid time off at the time of separation or termination;
7) The Employer must provide notice of this Ordinance by placing the notice in a conspicuous place at each place of work in the City; and give notice to the employee with the first paycheck and annually; and
8) There are significant fines for failing to comply with this Ordinance, including a $500 penalty for the first violation and increasing thereafter. A violation is each day the Ordinance is not complied with. The Employee may also assert a private claim against the Employer for a violation.
The City of Chicago expects to issue proposed rules to clarify this Ordinance, so to provide a further explanation any Employer employing workers within the City of Chicago should contact Corey B. Stern at cbs@chitkowskilaw or 630-824-4808.
