- Chicago’s updated rules (effective 06.01.26) clarify key aspects of its Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance, including compliance options, certification rules, and limits on sick leave use.
- The updated rules expand and define permissible uses and confirm employers may use a combined PTO policy if it meets accrual, carryover, and other
Sarah J. Gasperini
Illinois to Require Job-Protected Leave for Parents with Newborns in Intensive Care
By John Cratty & Sarah J. Gasperini on
Posted in parental leave
Beginning June 1, 2026, Illinois employers with at least 16 or more employees will be required to provide unpaid parental leave to employees with a child who is a patient in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (Act) into law on August 15, 2025.…
Upcoming Amendments to Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act
By Sarah J. Gasperini on
Posted in Lactation Accommodation
On August 1, 2025, Illinois enacted amendments to its Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act (“Act”), which will take effect on January 1, 2026.
Under the Act, Illinois employers must provide reasonable break time to employees who need to express breast milk for their nursing infant for one year after the child’s birth. That…
Illinois Now Requires Paid Leave for Military Funeral Honors Detail
By Sarah J. Gasperini on
Posted in Leave
Beginning August 1, 2025, Illinois employers with at least 51 employees must provide certain covered employees with up to eight hours of paid leave per month, or up to 40 hours of paid leave per calendar year to perform military funeral honors details.
Funeral honors detail is an honor guard detail consisting of at least…
Cook County Employers: Time To Update Your Paid Leave Policies
Posted in paid leave
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…
Cook County, Illinois Implements Final Rules on Paid Leave Ordinance: Employer FAQs
By Julia P. Argentieri, Alison B. Crane, Sarah J. Gasperini & Nicole R. Eatmon on
Posted in paid leave
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…