Cook County Sick Leave & Minimum Wage Laws: Cities Overwhelmingly Against

Cook County Cities Pull Out of County Law

When Chicago and Cook County passed their sick leave law last year, which also raised minimum wage across the Country, few would have predicted the staggering response by the towns and cities within Cook County. Cook County has a unique law that allows individual political subdivisions, in other words towns and cities, to opt out of county laws individually.

As a result over 100 of the County’s 132 municipalities have opted out of the new sick leave law that took effect on July 1st.  Most of those have opted out only in the last 2 months prior to the law taking effect and several others within days of the new law becoming effective.

Overview of the New Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Law.

Illinois currently has a minimum wage of $8.25 per hour. Under the new law, minimum wage in Cook County rose to $10 an hour on July 1st. It is scheduled to rist $1 an hour until the year 2020, when it will rise according to the Consumer Price Index.

The Sick Leave provisions of the law provide 1 hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked. Employees are able to earn up to 5 days of paid sick leave to care for themselves or a family member who is sick. The law is short and leaves many questions of application unanswered for businesses, many of which are still unanswered even after the County released its revised rules in June.

Cities Opting Out of Sick Leave and Minimum Wage

To date, 108 municipalities have opted out of minimum wage and sick leave requirements imposed by the county. These municipalities are:

Alsip – June 5, 2017

Arlington Heights – May 1, 2017

Barrington – November 15, 2016

Bartlett – April 18, 2017

Bedford Park – January 12, 2017 Sick Leave Only

Bellwood – March 2017

Bensenville – June 2017 Sick Leave Only

Berkeley – May 16, 2017

Blue Island – June 27, 2017

Bridgeview – June, 2017

Broadview – June 2017

Brookfield – June 2017

Buffalo Grove – May 15, 2017

Burbank – June 2017

Burnham – June 13, 2017

Burr Ridge – April 24, 2017?

Calumet City – July 2017  

Calumet Park Village June 8, 2017

Chicago Heights – June 2017

Chicago Ridge- June 2017

Cicero – July 20, 2017 Minimum Wage Only

Country Club Hills – June 26, 2017

Crestwood – June 2017

Des Plaines City – June 19, 2017

Deer Park – July 20 2017

Dixmoor – July 13, 2017

East Dundee – July 17. 2017

East Hazel Crest – April 2017

Elgin – June 2017

Elk Grove – April 25, 2017

Elmwood Park – March 20

Evergreen Park – April  17, 2017

Flossmoor- June 2017

Forest Park – June 12, 2017

Forest View – July 2017

Franklin Park – June 19, 2017

Glenview – June 16, 2017

Glenwood – July 10, 2017

Golf – June 2017

Hanover Park – May 2017

Harvey – July 2017

Harwood Heights – May 2017

Hazel Crest – July 2017

Hickory Hill – April 2017

Hillside – June 2017

Hinsdale – June 2017

Hodgkins – June 2017  

Hoffman Estates – May 2017

Hometown – June 27, 2017

Homewood May 23, 2017

Indian Head Park – May 11, 2017

Inverness – June 2017

Justice – June 2017

La Grange Park – June 2017

La Grange Village- June 26, 2017

Lansing – June 22, 2017

Lemont – June 2017

Lincolnwood – June 2017

Lynwood – May 2017

Lyons – May 23, 2017

Markham – July 2017

Matteson – July 2017

Maywood – May 16, 2017

Melrose Park – May 8, 2017

Merrionette Park – July 2017

Midlothian – June 2017

Morton Grove – June 2017

Mount Prospect – February 7, 2017

Niles – May 23, 2017

Norridge – May 2017

North Riverside – June 19, 2017

Northbrook – May 23, 2017

Northlake – June 2017

Oak Forest – December 13, 2016

Oak Lawn – May 2017

Orland HIlls – June 2017

Orland Park – June 5, 2017

Palatine – April 2017

Palo Heights Feb 7, 2017

Palos Hills – June 2017

Palos Park April 10, 2017

Park Forest – July 17, 2017

Park Ridge – June 19, 2017

Posen – June 13, 2017

Prospect Heights – June 2017

Richton Park – June 2017  

River Forest – March 13, 2017

River Grove – June 2017

Riverside – April 20, 2017

Rolling Meadows – May 2017

Roselle – June 26, 2017

Rosemont – December 14, 2016

Sauk Village – July 2017

Schaumburg – March 28, 2017

Schiller Park – June 1, 2017

South Barrington – May 2017

South Chicago Heights – June 2017

South Holland – June 2017

Steger – June 2017

Stickney – June 2017

Stone Park – July 2017

Streamwood April 6, 2017

Summit Village – May 15, 2017

Thornton – June 2017

Tinley Park – February, 2017

Westchester – July 2017

Western Springs – May, 2017

Wheeling April 17, 2017

Willow Springs – June 2017

Wilmette  – June 2017

Worth – June 2017

Final Decision, Unless. . .

Although it would appear that once cities and villages choose to comply with the Cook County minimum wage and sick leave ordinance or to opt out of it, that is the end of the story. However, Despres Schwartz and Geoghegan, a public interest law firm, has issued a memo stating that non-home rule municipalities are liable to lawsuits if they opt out of the county law. In other words, the courts have yet to determine if non-home rule towns have a right to opt out. Some of the villages and cities that have opted out of the Cook County minimum wage are not home-rule political subdivisions. One example is Broadview.

Businesses, especially those in non-home rule cities should closely monitor if Cook County or any individual employee or other file suit against the non-home rule entities regarding the minimum wage in cook county.

Let SwipeClock Help

Businesses located anywhere in Cook County must be aware of the geographical lines in which the minimum wage changes and the parts of the county in which sick leave laws are in place. These businesses have to comply with multiple conflicting City and County ordinances defining Sick leave accrual and usage laws.

Additionally, these businesses have to also comply with Federal Overtime Laws, the Family Medical Leave Act and any other national or local laws that are enacted. SwipeClock provides a comprehensive array of workforce management and time tracking tools that can help businesses to more easily stay in compliance with local and national laws.

Records are effortlessly kept for years and accrual is automatically tracked and reported to employees according to the state and city laws. Additionally, with geo-timekeeping clocks, businesses can effortlessly track time worked in specific cities to ensure compliance.

Written by Annemaria Duran. Last updated on July 28, 2017