IL Expanded Sick Leave for Workers

The State of Illinois now requires all employers to provide their employees with an expanded use of sick leave effective 1 January 2017 under the Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act (Public Act 99-0841).

In July 2016 the city of Chicago passed an ordnance requiring businesses within the city to provide sick leave to their employees starting 1 January 2017. 

The new law does not compel employers to grant leave their sick leave if they're not already doing so.  Instead employers who already grant their employees sick leave for personal illnesses will now have to allow them to take sick leave for illnesses with other members in their family.

According to the new state law an employee may use personal sick leave benefits provided by the employer for absences due to an illness, injury, or medical appointment of the employee's child, spouse, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent, for reasonable periods of time as the employee's attendance may be necessary, on the same terms upon which the employee is able to use sick leave benefits for the employee's own illness or injury.

Under the law employers will be prohibited from retaliating against employees for exercising their right to take sick leave.  An employee shall not be discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, or in any manner be discriminated against for using their sick leave.

Sources:
Public Act 099-0841

By Wendy Stewart