Chicago

On July 1, 2025, several important changes to Chicago labor ordinances went into effect. Chicago’s Minimum Wage Ordinance, Fair Workweek Ordinance, and Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance have all seen significant changes that will impact employers and employees.

New laws require Illinois and Cook County employers to provide employees with paid leave that can be used for any reason, while a new Chicago law, effective July 1, 2024, requires Chicago employers to provide both paid leave that can be used for any reason and paid sick leave.

On July 1, 2024, Chicago will take its first step towards eliminating the tip credit. That day, the tip credit amount an employer can claim decreases from 40% to 32% of the applicable minimum wage. Every year thereafter, on July 1, the tip credit will decrease by 8% until July

Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection has published final rules interpreting the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance, which as of July 1, 2024, will require Chicago employers to provide employees with up to 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave and up to 40

Illinois state and local legislatures kept busy in 2023 with the enactment of numerous new labor and employment laws, including significant changes to paid and sick leave for employees and new protections for temporary laborers and independent contractors. While some laws took effect during 2023, implementation of others was pushed

Executive Summary: In response to the State of Illinois enacting the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (“PLAW Act”), which requires 40 hours of paid leave to be provided to employees that can be used for any reason, but exempts Chicago and Cook County because they already had paid sick leave ordinances, the City of Chicago enacted, on November 9, 2023, a new Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance (the “Ordinance” or “CPLO”).

On December 13, 2023, the Chicago City Council voted to delay the paid leave changes in the new Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) from January 1, 2024 to July 1, 2024. The Ordinance, which was originally enacted only a month earlier on

The Chicago City Council voted on October 6, 2023, to eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped employees working within Chicago by July 1, 2028. The “One Fair Wage” ordinance will gradually phase out the subminimum wage, also known as the tip credit, over a five-year period starting July 1, 2024.

Last year, the Chicago City Council amended the City’s sexual harassment ordinance for the express purpose of promoting zero tolerance of violence and harassment in the workplace.

For nearly a decade, Chicago has maintained a “ban-the-box” ordinance restricting employer’s use of criminal records in employment screening. This ordinance largely mirrored the requirements of Illinois’ state-wide Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act (JOQAA), albeit with some important differences.

The City of Chicago amended its sexual harassment Ordinance on April 27, 2022. Chicago employers should take note of the following significant changes to the law that took effect on July 1, 2022. The amended Ordinance imposes new requirements on employers with respect to training, recordkeeping, and written policy language. It also increases penalties for violations by a factor of ten. But inconsistencies between the new Ordinance and existing law also create a number of questions.

The Chicago Commission on Human Relations has released an English-language model policy and a model sexual harassment prevention poster related to Chicago’s new requirement that employers adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy and provide annual training to employees and supervisors.

On December 21, 2021, Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued Public Health Order 2021-2, a vaccine mandate for certain public accommodations that is meant to help curb the spread of COVID-19 as the Omicron variant continues to surge.