A New Paid Sick Leave Law for Chicago — Plus Updated Minimum Wage Poster

The City of Chicago just released a poster for its new Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, which has an effective date of July 1, 2017. Plus, the city released an updated Minimum Wage poster, showing wage information from July 1, 2017 through July 1, 2020. Keep reading to find out what’s happening in the Windy City!

Details of the Paid Sick Leave Poster

As of July 1, 2017, employers who maintain a business facility within the City of Chicago, and/or are required to have a business license to operate in the city, must offer Paid Sick Leave (PSL) to their employees. This new law applies to employees who work at least 80 hours within a 120-day period.

Employees are entitled to earn 1 hour of PSL for every 40 hours worked. Salaried employees who are exempt from overtime requirements accrue 1 hour of PSL for every week of employment. Unless an employer set a higher limit, PSL is capped at 40 hours within a 12-month period. In addition, employees must be allowed to carry over a maximum of 20 unused hours at the end of the 12-month period, unless an employer chooses a higher limit.

Paid Sick Leave may be used for an employee’s own or a family member’s care due to illness or injury, domestic violence or a sex offense, and a public health emergency that results in the closing of a business, school, or child care facility.

Minimum Wage Poster Updates

Wage amounts for 2015 and 2016 have been removed, and information for 2020 has been added. Here is the wage breakdown:

• For non-tipped employees, the minimum wage increases to $11.00 effective July 1, 2017, to $12.00 effective July 1, 2018, and to $13.00 effective July 1, 2019.
• For tipped employees, the minimum wage increases to $6.10 effective July 1, 2017, and future amounts will be determined annually on or before June 1.
• Beginning July 1, 2020, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation.

How to Keep Those Posters Coming!

If you order our City/County Poster 1-Year Plan, you will automatically receive the updated Chicago poster as soon as it becomes available. And because we offer free poster updates for mandatory changes—no matter how many occur during the year—you can count on us to keep you in compliance!