Chicago City Council passes expansion of paid leave for workers
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance Thursday that will mean more paid time off for Chicago workers.
The expanded paid leave ordinance passed Thursday evening by a vote of 36-12. As CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported, the ordinance was the only item on the City Council agenda Thursday afternoon.
The passage of the ordinance means all workers in Chicago – anyone who works for any company – will earn one hour of leave for every 35 hours worked. For a full-time job, that equates to 10 days of personal time off total – five sick days specifically, and then another five to be used for any reason.
"Today is a great day for the workers of Chicago, the businesses of Chicago, and the future of Chicago," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a news release Thursday night. "This ordinance, accomplished through compromise and collaboration, is an important step on the path to revitalizing the economy of our great city."
Originally, supporters of the expanded paid leave ordinance had proposed an even more sweeping plan that would have allowed workers to earn one hour of paid time off for any reason for every 15 hours worked, with no cap on how much time they could earn in a given year. For a full-time worker who averages 40 hours a week, that would have meant at least 16 days of paid time off a year.
But after weeks of negotiations with various business groups, the city's labor unions and other supporters of expanded paid leave agreed to scale back their proposal to allow for workers to earn up to six days of paid sick leave and six days of paid time off for any reason per year.
Even that proposal ran into a buzzsaw of opposition from business leaders, since it would have required employers to reimburse workers for any paid time off when they leave the job. After last-minute negotiations over the past two days, sponsors agreed to a concession allowing limiting payouts for unpaid time off for small businesses.
Employers would not be required to pay out for any workers' unused sick leave when they leave the job. As for other paid time off, small employers with 50 or fewer workers would not have to pay out unused paid time off, and employers with 51 to 100 workers would have to pay out up to two days of unused paid time off in 2024, and all unused paid time off starting in 2025. Employers with more than 100 workers would have to pay out any unused paid time off when employers leave the job as soon as the ordinance goes into effect on Dec. 31.
However, most business groups in Chicago have opposed requiring employers to pay out employees for any unused sick days, noting no other cities or states require such payouts as part of paid leave requirements.
Another concession sponsors agreed to was to delay workers' right to sue employers for failing to comply with the new regulations. Supporters said that would give employers more time to understand the rules, but business groups had unsuccessfully fought to give employers a required grace period during which workers and their bosses could try to resolve any disputes, or to seek to have city officials mediate a dispute, before workers could sue. Sponsors of the ordinance said workers and their employers always have the option of trying to resolve such disputes internally before a worker resorts to a lawsuit.
The ordinance has faced opposition in the past by some small business owners – as well as the Illinois Restaurant Association and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, among other business groups. They though it would put an unnecessary strain on small business.
The business coalition that had been trying to negotiate a compromise that they could support it said the ordinance "cements Chicago's status as a hostile place to do business."
"Once again, proponents failed to recognize the compounding effect these policies have on businesses that are already struggling to make ends meet due to an alarming number of anti-business proposals by the City, continued supply chain and labor challenges, persistent crime, and skyrocketing property taxes," the coalition said in a statement.
But Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd), who chairs the Workforce Committee and sponsored the ordinance, called the measure "the most progressive paid leave policy in the United States of America."
"This policy will be good for both workers and their employers," he said last week, as the City Council Workforce Committee endorsed the ordinance by a vote of 13-2.
One alderwoman said Thursday that the ordinance would be the first of its kind in Chicago, and the country.
In the next year, the City Council will also consider an amendment to give employers a 30-day "cure period," which would allow them to fix any alleged violations of the paid leave ordinance before workers could file a lawsuit.
Before the ordinance was approved, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) moved to amend the ordinance with the cure period right away. However, Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) and other supporters noted that the right for workers to sue over violations does not kick in until 2025, and blocked Reilly's motion, instead moving forward to pass the ordinance as it stands and send Reilly's amendment to committee for debate at a later date.
The ordinance will start taking effect at the start of the New Year.
