SPRINGFIELD – The New Year is beginning with significant changes to employment law in Illinois, as it becomes the third state to mandate paid days off for any reason. As of Jan. 1, the Illinois Paid Leave Act for All Workers will go into effect.

“On Jan. 1, most employers in the state are going to be required to provide 40 hours of paid time off to their workers,” said Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA, an employment solutions firm based in Chicagoland. “Under the Act, employees can request their day(s) off with only seven days’ notice. If the absence is not foreseeable, they only need to request the day(s) off as soon as possible.”

Wilson says that employers cannot require or ask their staff to find someone to cover their shifts if they need to take time off. Additionally, he says, employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees who take their paid time off, such as by neglecting to put them on the schedule or giving them opportunities for advancement.

The H.R. expert says that Illinois employers need to be ready right now for these changes.

“Even during the holiday rush, employers need to be thinking about these changes,” he said. “You need to hang up the IDOL’s notice in a conspicuous place and put the new copy in your employee handbooks. And, you need to ascertain that your records of employees’ hours and paid leave are accurate and easily accessible. You don’t need to supply paid leave information on every paycheck, but your employees can request this information at any time and you need to have it at your fingertips.”