ILLINOIS: Expands Scope of the Employee Sick Leave Act

Governor J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 158 (HB 158), which amends the Employee Sick Leave Act (ESLA) to cover leave for a family member’s “personal care.” The ESLA—Illinois’ statewide “kin care” law—has been in effect since January 1, 2017, and generally requires employers to permit employees to use their “personal sick leave benefits” to care for the employee’s family member. Employers may limit the amount of annual kin care leave to the amount of personal sick leave that would be earned or accrued during six months at the employee’s then-current rate of entitlement. In other words, for employees accruing 40 hours of personal sick leave benefits per year, the ESLA entitles employees to use 20 of those 40 hours for care of a family member. read more 

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