This state is about to pass a law to ensure paid days off for almost all workers

By Claire Savage —

When Joan Van is sick, she doesn't get paid.

This East St. Louis-area restaurant waitress and single mother of three says she works double duty to make up for money when she or one of her children gets sick.

“You can't let your kids see you break down because you're tired and exhausted, because you have to keep pushing.

You have to do it.

And if you don't, who's going to do it?” she assures.

You may not have to for much longer.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, has declared that he will sign the paid leave law that requires companies to give workers days off based on hours worked and for any reason, and is about to sign it into law.

Requiring paid vacation by law is rare in the United States—only Maine and Nevada have similar regulations—though it is common in other industrialized countries.

Johnae Strong prepares lunch and backpacks for her 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, on Friday, February 10, in Chicago. Erin Hooley / AP

Washington DC and 14 states require

with similar laws, though employees can only use it for health-related reasons.

What sets the new Illinois law apart is that workers will not have to explain the reason for their absence as long as they give reasonable notice.

Maine and Nevada also allow workers to decide how to use their time, but substantial exemptions apply.

Maine's paid leave law only applies to businesses with more than 10 employees, and Nevada's exempts businesses with fewer than 50. Illinois' will cover nearly all employees and has no cap based on size of the company

Seasonal workers, such as first responders, will be exempt, as will federal employees or college students doing temporary part-time jobs for their center.

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The law would take effect on January 1, 2024. Employees will accumulate one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to a total of 40 hours, although the employer may offer more.

Employees will be able to start using the time once they have worked 90 days.

“Working families face enough challenges without the worry of losing a day's pay when life gets in the way,” Pritzker said Jan. 11, when the bill passed both state houses.

Beyond sick leave

Cook County and Chicago ordinances already require employers to offer paid sick leave, and workers there will continue to be covered by existing laws and not the new bill.

Johnae Strong, an administrator for a small Chicago media company, says her paid sick leave helps her care for her two children, ages 10 and 6.

But extending the time so that it can be used for any reason would be helpful.

“Life happens,” she said, adding that she hopes Chicago updates its law to be more flexible, like the state rule.

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The Chicago and Cook County ordinances served as pilot programs for the state law, placating critics who predicted mass business closures that didn't come true, said Sarah Labadie, director of advocacy for Women Employed, a nonprofit organization. nonprofit who has fought for paid leave since 2008 and helped push through the legislation.

“Obviously, during the [coronavirus] pandemic, strange things happened to us, but before the pandemic, it wasn't like that.

Chicago was a thriving economic engine,” he stated.

Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, sponsored the bill, which she said will "help boost working families" and "immediately help people."

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Newly elected state House Republican Leader Tony McCombie said the mandatory benefits could have a "detrimental effect" on small businesses and nonprofit organizations "in an already unfriendly business climate."

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“We all want a great work environment with an equal balance between work and life,” he said in a statement.

“However,” she added, “Senate Bill 208 does not address the concerns of those who provide that work environment.”

For Leslie Allison-Seei, who runs a sweepstakes and promotions management company with her husband in DuPage County, taking care of her three full-time employees is a priority, but it's "tough" to compete with corporate time-off policies. gainful.

“We are delighted that it is approved and signed.

But it's also kind of scary for us because, you know, a week's worth of… I don't know what that would do to our business,” Allison-Seei said.

“I think a lot of companies are doing everything they can to stay afloat,” she added.

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The small business advocacy organization National Federation of Independent Business opposes the law, saying it "imposes a one-size-fits-all mandate on all employers."

Small business owners are facing steep inflation, rising fuel and energy costs and a lack of skilled workers, and the requirement will be an "additional burden," their state director, Chris Davis, said in a statement after approval of the standard.

“The message from Illinois legislators is loud and clear: 'Your small business is not essential.'

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However, the burden it can place on small businesses clashes with the needs of their workers, especially those with children.

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Van, a parent leader with Community Organizing and Family Issues, says she doesn't get paid leave until she's worked for a year.

Knowing she will lose a day's pay when she or one of her children becomes ill is a constant stress for the Belleville mother, but guaranteed leave “would be great,” give her peace of mind and alleviate some financial worries.

Molly Weston Williamson, an expert on paid leave and a fellow at the

Center for American Progress, called the Illinois legislation a "big step in the right direction."

In addition to establishing the right of workers to paid time off, the bill prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for using it.

This is essential to ensure that “low-income workers or other more vulnerable people can take that time,” he said.

Paid leave is as much a matter of labor rights as it is a matter of public health, Williamson said.

Service workers like Van, who handle food and drink without paid time off, are more likely to come to work sick and send their children to daycare sick, “at which point they make everyone else sick,” she said. .

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“Especially now that we are more than three years into the pandemic, I think we all have a much more visceral understanding of the ways in which our health is affected,” Williamson said.