Bill Text: IL SB2853 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. Provides that a unit of local government, including a home rule unit, shall not exempt any employee from the scope of a paid leave ordinance unless the employee is excluded from the definition of employee in the Act. Limits home rule powers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-26 - Pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b) / Referred to Assignments [SB2853 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB2853-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB2853 Introduced 1/19/2024, by Sen. Ann Gillespie SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
820 ILCS 192/15
Amends the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. Provides that a unit of local government, including a home rule unit, shall not exempt any employee from the scope of a paid leave ordinance unless the employee is excluded from the definition of employee in the Act. Limits home rule powers.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Paid Leave for All Workers Act is amended by
changing Section 15 as follows:
(820 ILCS 192/15)
Sec. 15. Provision of paid leave.
(a) An employee who works in Illinois is entitled to earn
and use up to a minimum of 40 hours of paid leave during a
12-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid leave
under the provisions of subsection (b). The paid leave may be
used by the employee for any purpose as long as the paid leave
is taken in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(b) Paid leave under this Act shall accrue at the rate of
one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to a
minimum of 40 hours of paid leave or such greater amount if the
employer provides more than 40 hours. Employees who are exempt
from the overtime requirements of the federal Fair Labor
Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1)) shall be deemed to work 40
hours in each workweek for purposes of paid leave accrual
unless their regular workweek is less than 40 hours, in which
case paid leave accrues based on that regular workweek.
Employees shall determine how much paid leave they need to

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use, however employers may set a reasonable minimum increment
for the use of paid leave not to exceed 2 hours per day. If an
employee's scheduled workday is less than 2 hours per day, the
employee's scheduled workday shall be used to determine the
amount of paid leave.
(c) An employer may make available the minimum number of
hours of paid leave, subject to pro rata requirements provided
in subsection (b), to an employee on the first day of
employment or the first day of the 12-month period. Employers
that provide the minimum number of hours of paid leave to an
employee on the first day of employment or the first day of the
12-month period are not required to carryover paid leave from
12-month period to 12-month period and may require employees
to use all paid leave prior to the end of the benefit period or
forfeit the unused paid leave. However, under no circumstances
shall an employee be credited with paid leave that is less than
what the employee would have accrued under subsections (a) and
(g) of this Section.
(d) The 12-month period may be any consecutive 12-month
period designated by the employer in writing at the time of
hire. Changes to the 12-month period may be made by the
employer if notice is given to employees in writing prior to
the change and the change does not reduce the eligible accrual
rate and paid leave available to the employee. If the employer
changes the designated 12-month period, the employer shall
provide the employee with documentation of the balance of

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hours worked, paid leave accrued and taken, and the remaining
paid leave balance.
(e) Paid leave under this Act may be taken by an employee
for any reason of the employee's choosing. An employee is not
required to provide an employer a reason for the leave and may
not be required to provide documentation or certification as
proof or in support of the leave. An employee may choose
whether to use paid leave provided under this Act prior to
using any other leave provided by the employer or State law.
(f) Employees shall be paid their hourly rate of pay for
paid leave. However, employees engaged in an occupation in
which gratuities or commissions have customarily and usually
constituted and have been recognized as part of the
remuneration for hire purposes shall be paid by their employer
at least the full minimum wage in the jurisdiction in which
they are employed when paid leave is taken. This wage shall be
treated as the employee's regular rate of pay for purposes of
this Act.
(g) Paid leave under this Act shall begin to accrue at the
commencement of employment or on the effective date of this
Act, whichever is later. Employees shall be entitled to begin
using paid leave 90 days following commencement of their
employment or 90 days following the effective date of this
Act, whichever is later.
(h) Paid leave under this Act shall be provided upon the
oral or written request of an employee in accordance with the

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employer's reasonable paid leave policy notification
requirements which may include the following:
(1) If use of paid leave under this Act is
foreseeable, the employer may require the employee to
provide 7 calendar days' notice before the date the leave
is to begin.
(2) If paid leave under this Act is not foreseeable,
the employee shall provide such notice as soon as is
practicable after the employee is aware of the necessity
of the leave. An employer that requires notice of paid
leave under this Act when the leave is not foreseeable
shall provide a written policy that contains procedures
for the employee to provide notice.
(3) Employers shall provide employees with written
notice of the paid leave policy notification requirements
in this Section in the manner provided in Section 20 for
notice and posting and within 5 calendar days of any
change to the employer's reasonable paid leave policy
notification requirements.
(4) An employer may not require, as a condition of
providing paid leave under this Act, that the employee
search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours
during which the employee takes paid leave.
(i) Except as provided in subsection (c), paid leave under
this Act shall carry over annually to the extent not used by
the employee, provided that nothing in this Act shall be

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construed to require an employer to provide more than 40 hours
of paid leave for an employee in the 12-month period unless the
employer agrees to do so.
(j) Nothing in this Section or any other Illinois law or
rule shall be construed as requiring financial or other
payment to an employee from an employer upon the employee's
termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from
employment for paid leave accrued under this Act that has not
been used. Nothing in this Section or any other Illinois law or
rule shall be construed as requiring financial or other
reimbursements to an employee from an employer for unused paid
leave under this Act at the end of the benefit year or any
other time.
(k) If an employee is transferred to a separate division,
entity, or location, but remains employed by the same
employer, the employee is entitled to all paid leave accrued
at the prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to
use all paid leave as provided in this Section. If there is a
separation from employment and the employee is rehired within
12 months of separation by the same employer, previously
accrued paid leave that had not been used by the employee shall
be reinstated. The employee shall be entitled to use accrued
paid leave at the commencement of employment following a
separation from employment of 12 months or less.
(l) Paid leave under this Act shall not be charged or
otherwise credited to an employee's paid time off bank or

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employee account unless the employer's policy permits such a
credit. If the paid leave under this Act is credited to an
employee's paid time off bank or employee vacation account
then any unused paid leave shall be paid to the employee upon
the employee's termination, resignation, retirement, or other
separation to the same extent as vacation time under existing
Illinois law or rule. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
waive or otherwise limit an employee's right to final
compensation for promised and earned, but unpaid vacation time
or paid time off, as provided under the Illinois Wage Payment
and Collection Act and rules. Employers shall provide
employees with written notice of changes to the employer's
vacation time, paid time off, or other paid leave policies
that affect an employee's right to final compensation for such
leave.
(m) During any period an employee takes leave under this
Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
any family member under any group health plan for the duration
of such leave at no less than the level and conditions of
coverage that would have been provided if the employee had not
taken the leave. The employer shall notify the employee that
the employee is still responsible for paying the employee's
share of the cost of the health care coverage, if any.
(n) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to interfere with,
impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to
bargain collectively with their employers through

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representatives of their own choosing in order to establish
wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable
minimum standards established in this Act. The paid leave
requirements of this Act may be waived in a bona fide
collective bargaining agreement, but only if the waiver is set
forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and unambiguous
terms.
Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect the validity
or change the terms of bona fide collective bargaining
agreements in effect on January 1, 2024. After that date,
requirements of this Act may be waived in a bona fide
collective bargaining agreement, but only if the waiver is set
forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and unambiguous
terms.
In no event shall this Act apply to any employee working in
the construction industry who is covered by a bona fide
collective bargaining agreement, nor shall this Act apply to
any employee who is covered by a bona fide collective
bargaining agreement with an employer that provides services
nationally and internationally of delivery, pickup, and
transportation of parcels, documents, and freight.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, nothing
in this Act shall be deemed to affect the validity or change
the terms of a bona fide collective bargaining agreement
applying to an employee who is employed by a State agency that
is in effect on July 1, 2024. After that date, requirements of

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this Act may be waived in a bona fide collective bargaining
agreement, but only if the waiver is set forth explicitly in
such agreement in clear and unambiguous terms. As used in this
subsection, "State agency" has the same meaning as set forth
in Section 4 of the Forms Notice Act.
(o) An agreement by an employee to waive his or her rights
under this Act is void as against public policy.
(p) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any
employer that is covered by a municipal or county ordinance
that is in effect on the effective date of this Act that
requires employers to give any form of paid leave to their
employees, including paid sick leave or paid leave.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, any
employer that is not required to provide paid leave to its
employees, including paid sick leave or paid leave, under a
municipal or county ordinance that is in effect on the
effective date of this Act shall be subject to the provisions
of this Act if the employer would be required to provide paid
leave under this Act to its employees.
Any local ordinance that provides paid leave, including
paid sick leave or paid leave, enacted or amended after the
effective date of this Act must comply with the requirements
of this Act or provide benefits, rights, and remedies that are
greater than or equal to the benefits, rights, and remedies
afforded under this Act.
An employer in a municipality or county that enacts or

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