The Chicago City Council has passed amendments to the city’s paid sick leave (PSL)/paid time off (PTO) ordinance, delaying implementation until July 1, 2024. Additionally, the Cook County Board of Commissioners has replaced the county’s Earned Sick Leave Ordinance with the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance, bringing Cook County more in line with both the state paid time off law and the Chicago PSL/PTO ordinance.

Chicago PSL/PTO Amendments

• Implementation: All provisions related to accrual and carryover of PSL and PTO will be delayed until July 1, 2024. This means that until that date, the PSL accrual rate of one hour per 40 hours worked, as specified in the city’s previous PSL ordinance, will apply.
• PTO payout: The amendmentsextend the window of time during which “medium employers” (those with between 51 and 100 covered employees) are subject to reduced PTO payout requirements. Between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025, medium employers will only be required to pay out up to 16 hours of accrued but unused paid time off when an employee terminates employment or transfers outside of Chicago. After this date, medium employers will be required to pay out up to 40 hours of accrued, unused PTO depending on how much time off an employee has taken in the previous year.
• Employee private right of action: The amendmentsinclude several changes to the ordinance’s provisions with respect to an employee’s ability to initiate an action when alleged paid leave violations occur.    
• Employees must wait to initiate a private right of action until the lesser of 16 days or the next regular payroll period following the date of an alleged violation.
• While the added requirement may offer employers an opportunity to cure an alleged violation before the employee initiates an action, employees are not required to alert employers to the alleged violation.
• The “cooling off” period requirement will sunset on July 1, 2026.
• “Covered employee” definition: The amendments include significant changes to the definition of “covered employee,” imposing a more restrictive threshold on which employees are covered under the ordinance.
  • Employees must now work at least 80 hours within any 120-day period while within the physical boundaries of Chicago.
  • Once an employee has reached this threshold, they will remain covered under the ordinance for the remainder of their employment with the same employer.
• Written policies and records: The amendments add several requirements with respect to written policy and recordkeeping requirements.
  • Employers must provide written PTO policies in each employee’s primary language.
  • Beginning December 31, 2023, employers will be required to provide all Chicago employees with written paid time off policies, in addition to written employment policies, in the employee’s primary language. Employees must be given 14 days’ notice when changes to employment policies occur.
  • The amendments specify that the recordkeeping requirements in the ordinance apply to all Chicago employees, regardless of whether they are “covered employees” for the purposes of PTO and PSL.
• Collective bargaining agreements: While collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in effect on the ordinance’s July 1, 2024 effective date are not impacted by the ordinance, any CBAs that take effect after that date may waive the ordinance’s requirements in clear and unambiguous terms.
• Proposed rules: The Chicago Office of Labor Standards has published proposed rules and will be issuing further guidance and resources for employers.

Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance

• Effective date: The Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance will take effect December 31, 2023, with enforcement to begin on February 1, 2024. The provisions of the Paid Leave Ordinance are nearly identical to those under Illinois’ Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA).
• Accrual and use: Employees will be able to accrue one hour of PTO per 40 hours worked. PTO can be used for any reason, subject to several conditions and restrictions:
  • The ordinance includes a 90-day waiting period for employees to use PTO. Employees may use PTO on the later of 90 days after the ordinance’s effective date or 90 days after commencement of employment.
  • Employees cannot be required to provide documentation or a reason for using PTO.
  • Employers may impose a minimum increment on PTO use, not to exceed two hours per day.
  • Employers may not require employees to find their own replacement when using PTO.
• Front-loading and carryover: Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of accrued, unused PTO per benefit year. Employers may avoid the carryover provision by front-loading 40 hours of PTO at the start of each benefit year.
• Notice and posting: Employers must conspicuously post notice of employees’ rights under the ordinance. A model notice will be provided. The ordinance also specifies how employers may establish requirements for employees to provide notice of PTO use:
  • If the need for leave is foreseeable, employees may be required to provide seven days’ notice before using PTO.
  • Where the need for leave is not foreseeable, employees may be required to provide notice as soon as practicable.
  • Any changes to an employer’s leave notification requirements must be communicated to employees in writing at least five calendar days before the effective date of the change.
• Recordkeeping: Employers that allow leave to accrue must provide employees with notice of PTO accrued and used upon request. Additionally, employers must keep records, for a period of at least three years, of
  • hours worked
  • PTO accrued and used
  • remaining PTO balance
• Existing PTO policies: Employers with existing PTO policies that are at least as generous as the Cook County ordinance, and that provide PTO that may be used for any reason, may rely on their existing policies to comply with the ordinance’s requirements.
• Divergence from IL law: While the Cook County ordinance generally mirrors Illinois’ PLAWA – which does not cover employers that are subject to the Cook County ordinance – it differs from the state law in several ways:
  • The Cook County ordinance allows employees to address alleged violations by filing civil suits in addition to filing complaints with the county’s Commission on Human Rights.
  • Unlike PLAWA, the ordinance does not carve out employees in the parcel delivery industry who are covered by a CBA.