Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act for restaurants outside Chicago

Illinois has a statewide paid leave law, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, under which employees accrue paid leave that they can use for any reason. The law matters most for a restaurant in a town or county without its own paid leave ordinance, because Chicago and Cook County have separate rules. The accrual rate, the yearly amount, the rules on notice and carryover and the dates that apply to your business are set in the statute and the Illinois Department of Labor's guidance, and this guide does not repeat figures it has not confirmed. It explains the choices a restaurant has to make and the questions to put to the Department.

What does the Act require?

In general, the law lets employees earn paid leave as they work, up to a yearly amount, or gives the same leave up front, and employees can use it for any reason. An employer may set a reasonable minimum increment for its use, within the limits the law sets. Salaried employees who are exempt from overtime are treated in a particular way for accrual. Because the numbers matter to payroll, read the statute or the Department of Labor's published summary and take your figures from there.

How does frontloading work?

An employer may provide the full yearly amount at the start of the period instead of accruing it hour by hour. For a restaurant with seasonal staff, frontloading can be simpler, because there is no need to track accrual for each shift. The cost is that an employee who leaves early has used leave they had not earned, so ask an attorney how that is handled in your policy.

When can employees use it?

The statute sets when a new employee may start using leave, how much notice you can require and when a request can be denied, and the rules differ depending on whether the need is foreseeable. Read those sections or ask the Illinois Department of Labor before you write your policy, and let managers know the answers.

Does leave carry over?

Summaries disagree on how carryover works and on how it interacts with frontloading. Read the statute's carryover rule or ask the Illinois Department of Labor before you write your policy. If you frontload at the start of each period, ask an attorney how that interacts with carryover.

A worked example for a restaurant in a small town

A cafe in a town with no paid leave ordinance has a part-time barista who works 20 hours a week. Suppose the cafe's accrual rate were one hour of leave for every 40 hours worked, which is invented here only for the arithmetic. The barista would accrue half an hour a week, which is 26 hours over a year. The barista asks for a day off for a concert and takes four hours of leave. The cafe keeps a balance in payroll and shows it on the pay stub. If the cafe had frontloaded the yearly amount on January 1, the barista would use hours from that balance. Use the rate in the statute, not this one.

How does this relate to Chicago and Cook County?

Chicago and Cook County have their own paid leave ordinances. A restaurant in Chicago follows the City's ordinance, and one in a suburb covered by the county ordinance follows that. The statute includes provisions about how it relates to municipal and county rules, so if you have locations in several places, ask an attorney which rule applies to each. The guide on Chicago paid leave covers the City's rules.

What about notices and records?

Post the Department of Labor's notice where employees can see it, give the policy to employees in writing and keep records of hours, accruals and use. Keep them for the period the statute or your attorney advises. A policy that is written down and followed consistently protects you and makes managers' decisions simpler.

What should you do now?

1. Decide whether to accrue or frontload.
2. Write the policy, including increments and notice.
3. Set payroll to track the balance.
4. Train managers on how to respond to a request.
5. Check the carryover rule with the Department of Labor before you finalize.

How do you explain the policy to staff?

Tell new hires in the first week how leave is earned, how to request it and who approves it. Show them where to see their balance. Explain that leave is for any reason and that you will not ask why. Managers should know the same, so they do not ask a server who wants a Saturday off for an explanation. Put the policy in the handbook and the onboarding checklist, and ask each employee to sign for it. Repeat the explanation when you change the policy and when the new year begins.

What mistakes do restaurants make?

The common mistakes are tracking leave in a spreadsheet that nobody updates, forgetting part-time staff who qualify, denying a request because the shift is busy without checking the rules, and failing to show the balance on a pay stub or a portal. Each is fixed by a payroll setting and a short manager briefing. Check the settings once a quarter against a few sample employees, and fix any gap in the next pay period.

More guides for your business:

• Chicago paid leave and paid sick leave for restaurants
• Chicago fair workweek rules for restaurants
• Illinois tip pooling and service charges for restaurants

More in the US guides for food businesses.