When Joan Van was sick, she was not paid.
East St. restaurant server. Louis-area single mother of three said she works double jobs to make money when she or one of her children is sick.
“You can’t let your children see you broken because you are tired and tired, because you have to keep pushing. You have to. And if not, then who will do it? he said.
He may not have to last much longer. An expansive paid leave law requiring Illinois employers to give workers time off based on hours worked, used for any reason, is poised for action by Democratic Governor JB Pritzker, who has said he will sign it.
Rare in the US
Requiring paid vacation is rare in the US – only Maine and Nevada have similar laws – although it is common in other industrialized countries.
Fourteen states and Washington, DC, require employers to provide paid sick leave through similar laws, even though employees can only use it for health issues. What sets the new law apart in Illinois is that workers don’t have to explain the reason for their absence as long as they give notice according to reasonable employer standards.
Maine and Nevada also allow workers to decide how to use their time, but many exceptions apply. Earned Paid Leave Maine law only applies to employers with more than 10 employees, and Nevada exempts businesses with less than 50. Illinois will reach almost all employees and has no restrictions based on the size of the business.
Seasonal workers such as lifeguards will be exempted, as well as federal employees or students who work non-full-time, temporarily for the university.
‘Life Happens’
The law will take effect on January 1, 2024. Employees will be entitled to one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to a total of 40 hours, although employers may grant more. Employees can start using the time once they have worked for 90 days.
“Working families face enough challenges without worrying about losing a day’s pay when life gets in the way,” Pritzker said on January 11, when Bill passed two rooms.
Ordinances in Cook County and Chicago already require employers to provide paid sick leave, and workers in those locations will continue to be protected by existing laws rather than the new bill.
Johnae Strong, an administrative worker at a small media company in Chicago, said paid sick time helps her care for her two children, a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old. But expanding the time to use it for any reason will be helpful.
“Life happens,” he said, and he hopes that Chicago will update the law to be more flexible, like the state bill.
The Chicago and Cook County ordinances serve as pilot programs for statewide laws, and critics who predict mass business closings have failed, said Sarah Labadie, director of advocacy and policy at Women Employed, a nonprofit organization that has been struggling. paid leave since 2008 and helped push the legislation.
“Obviously, strange things happen during the pandemic, but pre-pandemic they didn’t happen. Chicago is a thriving economic engine,” he said.
Peoria Democrat Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth sponsored the bill, which he said would “help raise working families” and “directly help people.”
Newly elected House Republican Leader Tony McCombie said the mandated benefits could have a “detrimental effect” on small businesses and nonprofits “in an already unfriendly business climate.”
“We all want a good work environment with an equal work/life balance,” he said in an emailed statement. “However, Senate Bill 208 fails to address the concerns that provide such a work environment.”
‘A little scary’ for small businesses
For Leslie Allison-Seei, who runs a promotion and sweepstakes management company with her husband in DuPage County, taking care of three full-time employees is a priority, but it’s “difficult” to compete with the company’s paid time off policy.
“We’re very happy that it’s passed and it’s going to be signed. But it’s also a little scary because, you know, a week from now – I don’t know what it’s going to do for our business,” Allison-Seei said. “I think a lot of businesses are just doing the best they can to stay ahead.”
Small business advocacy organization the National Federation of Independent Business opposes the bill, saying it “imposes a one-size-fits-all employer.”
Small business owners face steep inflation, increased fuel and energy costs and a lack of qualified employees, and the requirement will be an “additional burden,” NFIB state director Chris Davis said in a statement after the bill. “The message from Illinois lawmakers is loud and clear, ‘Your small business doesn’t matter.'”
However, the potential burden on small businesses is well suited to the needs of workers, especially those with children.
Van, a parent leader with Community Organizing and Family Issues said he had no leave until he worked for a year. Knowing that he will miss a day of pay when he or one of his children is sick is a constant stress for the Belleville mother, but guaranteed PTO “will be amazing,” offering him peace of mind and alleviating some financial worries.
Molly Weston Williamson, a paid leave policy expert and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress think tank, called the Illinois law “a big step in the right direction.”
In addition to establishing workers’ rights to paid leave, the bill prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for using it. That’s the key to making sure “low-income workers or other people who are more vulnerable, it really takes time,” Williamson said.
Paid leave is both a workers’ rights issue and a public health issue, Williamson said. Service workers like Van who handle food and beverages without paid time off are more likely to call in sick and send their children sick, “at that time other people are sick,” he said.
“Especially now that we’re three years into a global pandemic, I think we all have a deeper understanding of how all of our health is tied together,” Williamson said.