On August 7, 2026, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the Illinois Menopause Equity and Care Act, making Illinois one of the first states to include menopause-related conditions as a protected status under the state’s anti-discrimination laws. Rhode Island and Philadelphia adopted similar laws in 2025.
Effective January 1, 2027, the new law amends the Illinois
Cook County employers aren’t wrong if they’re feeling its “déjà vu all over again” when it comes to needing to review their paid leave policies. Recently approved amendments to the Final Interpretive and Procedural Rules governing the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance add new requirements to most employers with employees working in Cook County (outside
Under the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance, most employers in Cook County, Illinois, must provide their employees in the county up to 40 hours of paid leave that can be used for any reason. The Cook County Commission on Human Rights issued Final Interpretive and Procedural Rules governing the Ordinance that provide employers much-needed clarification
The Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance is set to take effect on July 1, 2024, and the City’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection has published its long-awaited interpretive rules. These final rules provide guidance on several questions unanswered by the Ordinance, such as its application to remote
For Illinois employers, the new year brings a variety of new paid leave laws, the most recent being the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 14, 2023.
The Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance supersedes the preexisting Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance and requires employers to
The Chicago City Council has passed an amendment to the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance to delay its effective date to July 1, 2024, in addition to other changes.
Learn more about the amendment here.
Employers with employees working in Chicago are required by a new law to provide employees paid sick leave and a new, separate bank of leave that employees can use for any reason at all. The Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance significantly amends the City’s current Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and will
On November 3, 2023, the Illinois Department of Labor (“IDOL”) published proposed rules implementing the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (“PLAWA”). While the proposed rules will not be finalized until after the PLAWA takes effect on January 1, 2024, they provide additional guidance employers should consider when reviewing their leave policies for
Governor J.B. Pritzker has indicated he intends to sign the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act that passed both houses of the legislature on January 10, 2023. The Act will entitle covered employees to earn and use up to 40 hours of paid leave in each 12-month period of their employment and go into