CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Pass the ordinance adopting the current City employee paid leave policies and exercising municipal home rule authority to opt out of the state Paid Leave for All Workers Act
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DEPARTMENT: Legal Department
SUBMITTED BY: Dwight Pancottine, Labor and Employment Attorney
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
On or about March 12, 2023, Governor JB Pritzker signed into law the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (820 ILCS 192/1 et seq.) (the "Act"). The Act becomes effective on January 1, 2024. It applies to all full-time, part-time, seasonal and other temporary positions once the employee has been employed for a period of 90 days. The Act is applicable to employers with 50 or more employees, including municipal government employers. Under the Act, covered employers must annually provide one hour of paid time off for every 40 hours worked up to a maximum of 40 hours per year.
DISCUSSION:
The City time off policies contained in the City Employee Policy Manual and the collective bargaining agreements covering various employee groups currently contain paid time off policies that provide paid time off in excess of the 40-hour state law mandate for all permanent full-time and part-time City employees.
The City does employ 15 temporary part-time employees who work up to 15 hours per week on a year-round basis and four part-time employees who work 40 hours per week for six months per year. These employees currently do not qualify for paid time off under City policy. Under the Act, these employees would be entitled to paid time off commensurate with the number of hours worked.
In addition to mandating paid time off for City employees who currently do not receive a paid time off benefit, the Act regulates employers regarding policies on time off usage by requiring that time off be "freely granted." The Act also imposes a relatively short seven calendar day notice for seeking time off for a foreseeable event such as v...
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