Illinois Labor Laws 2026: A Complete Guide to Wages, Breaks, Overtime, and More

Illinois mandates that employers offering sick leave allow employees to use it for personal illness or to care for sick family members under the Illinois Sick Leave Act.

While there’s no state-mandated requirement for general paid sick leave, the Chicago Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance provide paid sick leave for employees working in those areas.

• Key Features: Accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.
• Usage: For personal illness or to care for a family member​.

The Illinois PLAWA (Paid Leave for All Workers Act) is the most significant leave law change in Illinois in years. It took effect January 1, 2024. Every employee in Illinois earns 1 hour of paid leave per 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year.

Workers can use PLAWA leave for any reason. No doctor’s note. No prior approval required. Retaliation against a worker for using PLAWA leave is a separate civil violation. IDOL can seek reinstatement, back pay, and attorney’s fees with no damages cap.

PLAWA is separate from and in addition to any sick leave or PTO plan you already run. It covers all employers in Illinois, regardless of size. If your crew handbook still references only the old Employee Sick Leave Act, update it now.

Illinois follows the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for serious health conditions, family care, or childbirth/adoption.

• Eligibility: Employees who have worked for at least 12 months with 1,250 hours in the last year.
• Leave Duration: Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.

The Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (HB 2978) is new for 2026. Parents of newborns admitted to a NICU are entitled to additional unpaid leave beyond standard FMLA. This applies to any employer covered by federal FMLA.

Under the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act (“CEBL”), Illinois employees may be entitled to an unpaid, job-protected bereavement leave should they experience the loss of a child by suicide or homicide. 

• Employers with 250 or more full-time employees – required to provide up to 12 weeks of leave per year.
• Employers with 50 to 249 full-time employees – required to provide up to 6 weeks of leave per year.
• Employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees – exempt from the CEBL.

Illinois workers are covered under FMLA for parental leave, allowing parents to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave following the birth or adoption of a child. Paid parental leave policies are generally left up to individual employers​.

Illinois does not require employers to offer paid or unpaid holiday leave. Holiday time off and pay are usually a matter of employer policy. However, private-sector employers generally offer paid holidays as part of their benefits packages.

While Illinois does not mandate paid vacation leave, employers who offer it must comply with state laws that treat accrued vacation as wages. This means unused vacation time must be paid out upon separation from employment.

The School Visitation Rights Act allows Illinois employees to take up to 8 hours of unpaid leave per year to attend school conferences or activities if they cannot be scheduled outside of work hours.

Eligibility: Employers with at least 50 employees.

There are no specific Illinois laws mandating emergency leave, but employees may use other available leave options such as PTO, sick leave, or unpaid leave in case of personal or family emergencies.

Under the Illinois Family Military Leave Act, employees are entitled to take unpaid, job-protected leave if they:

• Are either the spouse, parent, child, or grandparent of a person called to military service lasting longer than 30 days; and
• Have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months, and for at least 1,250 hours in the last year.

How much family military leave you can request depends on where you’re employed:

• Employers with 15 to 50 employees are required to provide up to 15 days of unpaid leave.
• Employers with more than 50 employees are required to provide up to 30 days of unpaid leave.

Illinois does not mandate volunteering leave, but employers may provide paid or unpaid time off for employees to volunteer at their discretion​.

Illinois does not have a specific law governing administrative leave, but employers may place employees on administrative leave as part of internal investigations or other employer-initiated actions​.

Under Illinois law, employees are entitled to up to two hours of paid leave to vote on Election Day if their work schedule does not allow them enough time to vote during polling hours.

Key Rule: Employees must request leave before Election Day.

Illinois employers are required to provide employees with unpaid leave to serve on a jury. Employers cannot penalize employees for taking time off for jury duty.

Key Protection: Job security during jury service.

Illinois law requires employers to provide up to 30 days of paid leave for organ or bone marrow donation. This leave is available to employees who have been with their employer for six months or more. 

Benefit: Paid leave for life-saving donations.

As part of the Employee Blood Donation Leave Act, employees are entitled to up to one hour of paid leave every 56 days to donate blood. The law expands in 2024 to cover organ and tissue donations.

Illinois employees are entitled to unpaid leave if they are subpoenaed to appear as witnesses in criminal proceedings.

The Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) gives employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, or gender violence the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave.

VESSA leave entitlements scale with employer size. Employers with 50 or more workers must allow up to 12 weeks of VESSA leave per year. Employers with 15 to 49 workers allow up to 8 weeks. Employers with 1 to 14 workers allow up to 4 weeks. All VESSA leave is unpaid but job-protected.

Workers can use it for safety planning, medical treatment, legal proceedings, or relocation. VESSA applies to every Illinois employer with at least one employee.

HB 1278, effective January 1, 2026, expanded VESSA to explicitly protect employees who use electronic devices to document incidents of domestic or sexual violence.

A worker who records a threatening situation connected to their abuser cannot be fired or disciplined for making that recording. This applies on job sites just as it does in any other workplace.

Construction employers should audit their mobile device and recording policies now. A blanket no-recording rule on your site could conflict with VESSA if enforced against a worker in a protected situation. Review your site rules with legal counsel before disciplining any employee for recording.

Under VESSA, employees may also take time off if they are crime victims, providing protection similar to the leave for domestic violence victims​.

Chicago employers pay more. The Chicago standard minimum wage is $16.60/hr as of July 1, 2025. Tipped workers in Chicago earn at least $12.62/hr. Chicago is also phasing out the tip credit entirely. The credit disappears by July 1, 2028.

Cook County follows a separate ordinance that sits between the state and city rates. Check the Cook County Minimum Wage Ordinance before scheduling work in unincorporated Cook County.

If your crew rotates between Chicago city limits, Cook County, and downstate sites, you owe different minimums on different days. Your time tracking system needs to capture location to get this right.

• Tipped Employees: Employers can pay tipped employees a base wage of $9.00 per hour, but their total earnings, including tips, must meet or exceed the standard minimum wage of $15​.
• Youth Workers: Workers under 18, working fewer than 650 hours per year, can be paid a sub-minimum wage of $13.00 per hour​.
• Workers with Disabilities: Employers may pay workers with disabilities less than minimum wage under a special wage certificate based on productivity​.

Certain workers in Illinois are exempt from the state’s minimum wage law or may qualify for lower wage rates:

• Youth Workers: Employees under the age of 18 who work fewer than 650 hours per year can be paid a lower minimum wage. As of 2024, the youth wage is $13 per hour, instead of the regular $15.
• Tipped Employees: Employers are allowed to pay tipped employees a base wage of $9 per hour, but they must ensure that the employees’ total earnings (including tips) reach at least $15 per hour.
• Agricultural Workers: Some agricultural workers are exempt from overtime pay requirements, and certain small farmworkers may also be exempt from minimum wage requirements, depending on their employer’s size and revenue.
• Exempt Employees: Certain white-collar workers, such as executive, administrative, and professional employees, are generally exempt from both minimum wage and overtime requirements, as long as they meet specific criteria under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Illinois is an at-will employment state, meaning that either the employer or employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, as long as it does not violate other laws (e.g., anti-discrimination laws). However, written contracts, collective bargaining agreements, or public policies may provide exceptions to this rule.

Illinois does not have right-to-work laws, meaning that union security agreements are permitted. Employees in unionized workplaces can be required to join the union or pay union dues as a condition of employment.

Employers in Illinois are allowed to conduct background checks on job applicants, but there are restrictions under the state’s Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, also known as the “ban-the-box” law.

Employers with 15 or more employees cannot inquire into an applicant’s criminal record until later in the hiring process, typically after an interview or conditional job offer.

Drug testing is permitted, but it must be consistent, and results cannot be used in a discriminatory manner.

Illinois follows federal anti-discrimination laws (like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act) and also has its own Illinois Human Rights Act, which provides additional protections for workers. This ensures fair treatment in hiring, promotions, compensation, and termination processes.