Most people take the occasional leave of absence from work—and when they do, they need support. Some state governments offer paid leave, while other states, like Illinois, require employers to offer it.
If you employ people in the Prairie State, you’re obligated to give them some form of paid leave. Keep reading for a breakdown of Illinois’ program, how much it costs, and the steps you should take to stay compliant.
Does Illinois have a paid family leave program?
Illinois has a paid leave law, but it’s not nearly as comprehensive as the 13 states (like California and New York) that have enacted state-mandated paid family leave (PFL) programs. In Illinois, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA)—which went into effect in 2024—lets employees earn up to 40 hours of paid leave from work each year.
Employees earn one hour of paid leave—which they can use for any reason, from bonding to bereavement—for every 40 hours they work. The cap is 40 hours in a year, or five traditional eight-hour workdays.
Employees receive their regular hourly rate of pay during their leave, unless they earn tips or commission. In that case, they have to be paid the state minimum wage (in 2026, it’s $15 an hour).
Who qualifies for PLAWA leave?
Most employees in Illinois are covered under PLAWA, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and on-call workers. But there are a handful of categories of workers the law doesn’t cover, usually because they’re self-employed or protected by a union. PLAWA doesn’t apply to:
Independent contractors
Certain railroad and airline employees
Certain higher education employees
Union construction and freight employees
Park district and public school district employees
Employees covered under PLAWA can start earning paid leave from their first day at work, and can take leave 90 days after their start date.
Paid leave in Chicago and Cook County
Both Chicago and Cook County have local paid leave ordinances that supersede PLAWA. So, employees who live in Chicago or Cook County receive local paid leave over PLAWA leave; they don’t get both types of leave.
Chicago paid leave
Chicago has two types of paid leave: a general leave and one that applies to employees who need time off for medical or safety reasons (like fleeing or recovering from domestic violence). Here’s how they differ.
Chicago paid leave (PL) | Chicago paid sick and safe leave (PSL) | |
Uses | Any reason (e.g., bonding, personal health, caregiving, bereavement, mental health, supporting a deployed military family member, etc.) | Medical or safety reasons |
Length of time | One hour of paid leave for every 35 hours they work, up to 40 hours of paid leave in a 12-month period | One hour of paid leave for every 35 hours they work, up to 40 hours of paid leave in a 12-month period |
Eligibility | Need to work at least 80 hours within a 120-day period | Need to work at least 80 hours within a 120-day period |
When to take leave | Any time after 90 days of work | Any time after 30 days of work |
Carryover | Up to 16 hours of unused PL into the next year | Up to 80 hours of unused PSL into the next year |
Chicago employers need to post the paid leave and paid sick and safe leave notice in a prominent spot in their workplace. For questions about Chicago paid leave, reach out to the City of Chicago Office of Labor Standards.
Cook County paid leave
Cook County’s ordinance is similar to PLAWA: all Cook County employees are eligible to earn one hour of paid leave—to be used for any reason—for every 40 hours they work, up to 40 total hours in a year.
For questions about leave in Cook County, reach out to the Cook County Commission on Human Rights.
Does Illinois offer other types of paid leave?
Along with the state’s paid leave requirement, Illinois also has policies around bereavement leave, caregiving leave, and safety leave.
The Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA) gives eligible workers up to two weeks of unpaid leave to attend funerals and memorial services, make arrangements for passed loved ones, or simply grieve. Employees need to have worked for their employer for at least one year and have 1,250 hours of service within the last 12 months to be eligible for FBLA. Employees whose children die by suicide or homicide can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act.
The Employee Sick Leave Act (ESLA) doesn’t require Illinois employers to offer paid or unpaid sick leave, but it does require them to let employees use at least some of the sick days they’ve accrued to help care for an ill family member.
The Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) is designed to support employees (and family members of employees) who’ve been the victims of a violent crime, including domestic, sexual, and gender violence crimes. Employees who’ve been victims of violence or have family members who were victims of violence can get up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to seek medical help, obtain legal assistance, receive counseling, and make safe arrangements for the future. VESSA also lets employees take up to two weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to attend a funeral, arrange a funeral, or grieve if a family or household member is killed in a crime of violence.
Does Illinois offer disability leave?
Illinois doesn’t have a state-run paid disability leave program (for employees who deal with non-work-related illness, injuries, or medical conditions), but Illinois workers can apply for Social Security disability benefits through the Illinois Department of Human Services.
How does PLAWA work with FMLA leave?
In addition to their 40 hours of PL under PLAWA, some Illinois workers are also entitled to federal leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers with at least 50 employees to give eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for:
Bonding: To care for and bond with a new child (this applies to newly born, adopted, and fostered children)
Caregiving: To care for a family member who has a serious health condition (this applies to spouses, children, and parents)
Personal medical reasons: To manage a serious personal health condition
Military exigency: To manage affairs when a family member is on or called to active duty (this applies to spouses, children, and parents)
Because FMLA leave comes with job protection, you’re required to restore employees to their same roles (or comparable ones) when they return from leave. You also have to continue providing health insurance to employees on FMLA leave, though you can require employees to use their accrued PLAWA hours or other paid time off (PTO) when they’re out on leave.
Who’s eligible for FMLA leave?
Any Illinois worker who meets these requirements can take FMLA leave:
Work for an employer that has at least 50 employees who work within a 75-mile radius
Need time off from work for bonding, caregiving, personal medical reasons, or military exigency
Have worked for their employer for at least one year (doesn’t need to be consecutive)
Have over 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months immediately before leave begins
According to data from the National Partnership for Women and Families, roughly 44% of workers in the US aren’t eligible for FMLA leave, either because their employers don’t qualify, they haven’t worked for them long enough, or they haven’t accrued enough hours. And even if an employee does qualify for FMLA leave, they may not be in the financial position to take 12 weeks off without pay.
What should employers do to comply with PLAWA and FMLA?
If you have employees who live in Illinois, PLAWA applies to you. And if you have 50 or more employees who work within 75 miles, FMLA applies to you, too. Here’s what you need to do to ensure you’re abiding by state and federal leave laws:
1. Notify employees about their rights
You need to post the correct leave notices in a visible spot in your workplace. Make sure the posters are in English, as well as any other primary languages your employees speak.
For PLAWA: Post this notice from the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL), which explains what paid leave offers, how workers earn it, and the protections they’re entitled to.
For FMLA: Post this general notice from the US Department of Labor (DOL) explaining what FMLA leave is, which employees are eligible, and how to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division. Then send a written notice to all your FMLA-eligible employees explaining how and when to request a leave (with 30 days of notice). You can print a separate form for employees or include a general FMLA write-up in your employee handbook.
For Chicago paid leave: Download this general notice explaining the city’s PL and PSL programs.
For Cook County paid leave: Download this general notice explaining what paid leave is and how employees can file a complaint.
2. Give employees an FMLA Rights and Responsibilities Notice and a Designation Notice
If your employees request FMLA leave, you have five business days to give them a Rights and Responsibilities Notice, which outlines:
The 12-month period in which your employee’s leave can take place, along with their expected leave start and return dates
Your employee’s right to job protection
Your employee’s right to use PLAWA leave or PTO during FMLA leave, and whether or not you’ll require that
Your employee’s right to receive continued health insurance, and whether or not they need to continue paying health insurance premiums while on leave
Whether or not your employee needs to provide certification for the leave
Keep in mind that you’re allowed to require certification if an employee requests leave for personal medical reasons, caregiving duties, or military exigency—but not if an employee requests a leave for bonding purposes.
Next, make sure you give your employees a Designation Notice before leave starts to let them know that their requested leave qualifies as FMLA leave.
3. Incorporate PLAWA into your leave policy
If you have a company leave policy that already gives your employees at least 40 hours of paid leave a year, you don’t have to offer them an additional 40 hours or alter your policy to comply with PLAWA. You just need to make sure your written leave policy covers:
How much paid leave employees are entitled to, and under what circumstances they can use leave
How employees earn leave (you have the option as an employer to frontload paid leave by giving your employees 40 hours right away, or let them accrue it one hour at a time)
How employees should request leave (how much notice to provide, which forms to fill out, etc.)
How employees can take leave (hourly increments, half-day, full-day, all of the above, etc.)
Whether or not employees can carry over unused leave (it’s allowed for leave that’s accrued, but not leave that’s frontloaded)
Whether or not employees will be paid out for unused leave in the event of termination or resignation
4. Return employees to the same role following FMLA leave
Make sure you maintain an employee’s position during FMLA leave and return it to them when they’re back. If you can’t offer the exact same position, you need to create one comparable in pay, benefits, title, work times, and general work duties.
4. Maintain leave-related records
It’s crucial to keep payroll and personnel records for at least three years. That includes employee contact information, job classification, job start date, payroll receipts, paystubs, official employee requests for leave, documentation of leave start and end dates, and copies of PLAWA and FMLA notices.
What happens if you don’t comply with PLAWA or FMLA?
You’re not allowed to prevent your employees from taking their rightful paid leave, nor can you discriminate against them for requesting or taking any type of leave of absence.
If you don’t follow the DOL’s and IDOL’s leave posting and notification requirements, you could face civil penalties ranging from $200 to $1,000, respectively. If you violate PLAWA in any other way, you could be subject to a $2,500 civil penalty for each separate offense.
Employees can also file lawsuits against your company and force you to pay lost wages and legal fees, or reinstate their roles.
What will paid leave cost me?
If you give your employees the bare minimum—meaning you comply with PLAWA—it’ll cost you an additional 40 hours of regular pay a year for each of your workers. If you decide to give your employees more paid leave than what the state mandates (say, three months at 100% of their usual wages), your costs will go up significantly, but your bottom line will benefit long term.
That’s because financially supporting your employees through major life changes usually leads to greater on-the-job engagement, stronger employee satisfaction, and higher employee retention rates.
For ideas about how to build out your employee benefits, see Gusto’s list of top-tier employee benefits.
Paid family leave inspiration from other states
More and more states are realizing the value of offering state-funded PFL, and putting programs in place to support workers who need time off for family matters.
California, for example, gives eligible employees up to eight weeks of PFL, with weekly benefit payments equal to 70-90% of an employee’s usual wages. Oregon offers eligible employees up to 12 weeks of PFL (with birthing parents getting up to 26 weeks) with weekly payments that cover 89% of an employee’s average weekly wages. And Colorado has a special offering: Neonatal Care Leave, which gives up to 12 additional weeks of paid time off to employees whose children have to spend time in the NICU after birth.
Extra resources for Illinois employers
For more Illinois-specific advice, check out these resources:
