(820 ILCS 192/5)

(This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a delayed effective date)

Sec. 5. Findings; legislative intent; construction.

(a) The General Assembly finds that it is in the public policy interests of the State for all working Illinoisans to have some paid leave from work to maintain their health and well-being, care for their families, or use for any other reason of their choosing.

(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly by enacting this Act:

(1) To establish a minimum paid leave standard for all workers in Illinois.

(2) To provide employment security and economic security for employees who need to use paid time off from work for any reason.

(3) To safeguard the welfare, health, safety, and prosperity of the people of Illinois.

(4) To ensure that an employee not be denied use of leave for noncompliance with leave notification policies if the employer has not provided a written copy of its notification policy to the employee.

In order to effectuate this intent, the provisions of this Act shall be liberally construed in favor of providing workers with the greatest amount of paid time off from work and employment security.

(c) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining paid sick leave, paid vacation, paid holidays, or any other paid time off or paid leave policy more generous than policies that comply with the requirements of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing the use of paid leave at an earlier date than this Act requires.

Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, nothing in this Act shall be construed to waive or otherwise limit an employee's right to final compensation for any type of leave promised to be paid under a contract of employment or employment policy and earned by the employee pursuant to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act.

(Source: P.A. 102-1143, eff. 1-1-24.)