Illinois employers should be aware of two new leave-related laws.
First, the Child Bereavement Leave Act, which took effect on July 29, mandates that Illinois employers with at least 50 employees provide employees who suffered the loss of a child with up to two weeks (10 work days) of unpaid leave. Leave can be taken to attend the funeral, make arrangements necessitated by the death of the child, or to grieve the death. If an employee has already used all of his or her 12 weeks of available FMLA leave, the employer does not need to provide the additional 10 days for reasons related to the death of a child. Employees may elect to substitute available paid leave, but employers may not require them to do so.
Second, the Employee Sick Leave Act, which takes effect on January 1, 2017, provides greater flexibility to family caregivers. The Act requires Illinois employers who provide employees with paid sick leave to allow their employees to use that time to care for the employee’s immediate family members, parents-in-law, grandchildren, or grandparents. Employers must allow employees to use sick leave for caregiving just as they do for their own illness or injury, though employers may cap the amount of sick leave to be used for caregiving responsibilities at what the employee would have earned during 6 months. The Act does not extend the maximum period of leave under the FMLA, regardless of whether the employee receives sick leave compensation during that leave.
Illinois employers should review bereavement and sick leave policies to make sure that they are compliant with this new legislation.
The Employment Lawyers 