Many Illinois residents now have guaranteed access to paid time off without providing a reason to employers. 

On January 1, 2024, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act was introduced to the Illinois General Assembly in a monumental milestone for workers’ rights.

According to the Illinois Department of Labor, guaranteed paid time off without specific cause has only been adopted by two other states, Maine and Nevada adopting similar acts in 2019 and 2020 respectively. 

The Paid Leave for All Workers Act mandates employers to give workers an hour of paid leave for every 40 hours of work, up to 40 hours. 

According to the new law, paid time off can be used after 90 days of employment and when proper notice is given to employers.

This act will impact most full-time workers in Illinois, with exceptions given to seasonal workers, federal workers, student workers, and employees with paid time off already in the terms of their employment.

“We do think that employees need time off to reset and regenerate and spend time with their family, attend ball games and things like that, so they can bring their best self to work,” said ECC Chief Human Resources Officer Anthony Ray. 

While employee mental health is incredibly important and often the main argument in favor of the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, there are many counter arguments for this act’s approach to the tremendous issue.

“I think for some businesses it’s going to hurt because they didn’t build leave plans into their business model,” said Ray. 

Businesses potentially being harmed by being forced to raise the cost of employment is quite a common concern among critics of the new law. 

“I’m worried about small businesses because large companies don’t have so much of the constraint,” said Associate Professor of Economics Leticia Starkov. “If someone stops coming in one day or two hours a day, if it’s a large company they can cover for that, but imagine a small business with three people working… if one of them calls in, what are their options?” 

COVID-19 had a dire impact on small businesses, and many closed during the economic downturn. According to Bryce Hill, Director of Fiscal and Economic Research at Illinois Policy.org, in Illinois alone over 35% of small businesses closed and more than half of all food services went out of business.

Many recovering businesses that barely survived the pandemic are now being hit again with legislation that raises the price of employment. 

Ray summarized the common backlash of the implementation of the Paid Leave for All Workers Act over the last few months. 

“The central theme of what they are trying to do, which is to ensure that people have time off to enjoy their families and those types of things, I don’t think is bad,” said Ray. “Maybe the way they did it may not be perfect but the premise itself is not bad.” 

With no way to measure the future benefit or backlash, only time will tell whether the new Paid Leave for All Workers Act will have any lasting effects on Illinois and its workforce.