January 2023: Paid Leave for Any Reason is Coming

Update Applicable to:
All employers.

What happened?
On January 10, 2023, the Illinois legislature passed the Paid Leave for All Workers (PLFAW) Act, making Illinois 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 announced he would sign the legislation.

What are the details?
Effective January 1, 2024, the PLFAW 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 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 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 unless an employer allows them to utilize leave earlier. Employees may determine how much leave to use, but employers may set a reasonable minimum 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’ notice of foreseeable leave if they have a written policy provided to employees outlining notice requirements and procedures. Employees must provide notice as soon as practicable if the leave is not foreseeable.

Below are some hyperlinks provided by one of our trusted sources, Ogletree Deakins, that contains information on additional PLFAW Act Requirements.

• Rate of Pay
• Carry-over
• Termination of employment
• Records
• Posting Requirement
• Retaliation
• Remedies
• Exclusions
  

For more information, please see the links below:

Paid Leave for All Workers (PLFAW) Act

Illinois News Release

Article 1

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above, review leave or PTO policies and procedures to ensure that they meet at least the minimum requirements of the Act, and review and revise anti-retaliation, attendance, conduct, and discipline policies to prevent retaliation against employees for taking time off under the Act.