Cook County, Illinois Further Revises Mandatory Paid Leave Rules

On April 10, 2025, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved further revisions to the Commission on Human Rights’ regulations implementing the county’s paid leave ordinance. Many private employers will welcome these clarifications.

No Accrual of Paid Leave When Using Paid Leave: The paid leave ordinance requires statutory paid leave to accrue based on “hours worked.” Originally, the rules had stated that employers were required to allow employees to accrue statutory paid leave when using statutory paid leave.  The revised rules revert to the ordinance’s “hours worked” standard. 

Pay Date When Paid Leave Used: The ordinance is silent as to when statutory paid leave must be paid after it is used. The rules initially required payment by the payday for the pay period during which the employee used such leave. Now, however, payment need not be made until the payday for the pay period after the pay period during which the employee used leave.

Additional Benefits When Using Paid Leave: Previously, the rules required that, if an employer would compensate an employee for regular work with additional benefits (e.g., paid leave accrual, seniority or health benefits), the employer also had to offer those additional benefits to employees when they use statutory paid leave. As revised, the rules say that if an employer elects to offer additional benefits when employees use statutory paid leave (paid leave accrual, seniority or health benefits), they must do so in the same manner and to the same extent as if the employee had performed regular work. 

Use if Employee Suspended or Placed on Disciplinary Leave: At first, the rules said employers could not allow employees to use statutory paid leave when they were suspended or placed on leave for disciplinary reasons. As amended, employers cannot require employees to use statutory paid leave, but they can choose to allow employees to use it under these circumstances.

Next Steps: Employers should determine whether and how (if at all) the revised rules impact their paid leave policies and practices. If the revisions impact an employer’s policy, and it intends to revise that policy, remember that the regulations also require that employers notify employees of changes to their policy in writing within five days of making the changes.