On January 10, 2023, the Illinois legislature passed the Paid Leave for All Workers (PLFAW) Act, making Illinois just the third state in the country (after Maine and Nevada) to require private employers to provide earned paid leave to employees to be used for any reason. Governor Pritzker has announced he will sign the legislation.
The PLFAW Act will take effect on January 1, 2024, and, once enacted, will provide nearly all Illinois workers with a minimum of 40 hours of paid leave, or a pro rata number of hours, during a designated twelve-month period. Employers can choose to frontload the leave on the first day of employment or the first day of a designated twelve-month period, or use an accrual method. Under the act, leave accrues at the rate of one hour of paid leave for every forty hours worked. The law will deem exempt employees to have worked 40 hours in each workweek for purposes of PLFAW Act accrual, unless their regular workweeks are less than 40 hours. Once enacted, the law will permit employees to use the PLFAW Act leave after 90 days on the job, unless an employer allows them to utilize leave earlier. Employees may determine how much leave to use, but employers may set a reasonable minimum of increment of no less than two hours per day.
The law will not require employees to give a reason for taking leave, and employers will not be permitted to require any documentation or certification of the need to take leave. Employers may require up to seven calendar days’...
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