What Are Illinois’ Paid Maternity Leave Laws in 2025?

Is your company hiring employees in Illinois? They’re likely to be covered by both the state’s Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA) and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Understanding how leave works in Illinois is essential for continued compliance. If you deny an employee their rights under state and federal laws, you could face penalties and legal action. You may also damage trust in your company during a critical phase of expansion.

Paid leave laws are relatively straightforward. The key is understanding how state and federal regulations interact and how they apply to your business context. Deel has extensive experience managing compliance for US companies of different sizes and industries, so let us break down what you need to know.

Understanding paid family and maternity leave in Illinois

PLAWA entitles most employees to up to 40 hours of paid leave per year. They earn one hour of leave for every 40 hours worked, beginning on their first day.

Employees can request leave after 90 days of working at the same company. Although you can decline, you must have reasonable grounds for doing so and have documented these in your company policy. You may be reported to the Illinois Department of Labor if you unfairly deny requests.

If an employee takes their entitled leave, you must pay them at their regular hourly rate. Tipped employees (i.e., employees who regularly earn at least $30 per month in tips) must receive at least the minimum wage.

Find out how paid maternity leave laws differ by state.

What Illinois state leave covers

Employees can take paid leave under PLAWA for any reason. This means that, unlike under FMLA, they don’t have to provide any documents, such as a doctor’s note or an adoption certificate.

The law’s broad coverage allows employees to take leave due to:

• Illness and injury
• A chronic health condition
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Bonding after adoption or fostering
• Bereavement
• Care for a family member
• Vacations and travel
• Medical and bureaucratic appointments
• Mental health needs

An employer may not require an employee to disclose the reason for their absence. Even if you feel there has been some misconduct, like a no-call, no-show, they’re still protected by the law.

Illinois PLAWA eligibility and applicability

Illinois clarifies who’s eligible for paid leave under PLAWA and which businesses must provide it. Here’s a rundown of the key criteria:

Employee eligibility

Most employees are eligible regardless of their status. They may be full-time, part-time, or temporary, but they’re still entitled to accrue up to 40 hours of leave under PLAWA.

However, certain workers from the following industries aren’t covered:

• Railroad and airline
• Higher education
• Public school district
• Park district
• Construction and freight

As they’re not employees, independent contractors also aren’t entitled to paid leave. Instead, they can take unpaid time off whenever they like, provided it doesn’t breach an existing agreement.

Union employees may be ineligible if they’re still covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) from before the state enacted PLAWA. Once that expires, they may still negotiate terms and waive their right to paid leave.

Employer applicability

All employers hiring within Illinois must provide paid leave under PLAWA unless their workers are in one of the exempt categories above. This includes companies based outside the state and the US.

Note that applicability is based on where you conduct your operations, not where employees reside. Any employees who live outside Illinois but commute or manage operations within Illinois are still eligible for leave.

Job protection and benefits

PLAWA protects an employee’s right to paid leave. The Illinois Department of Labor encourages people to report businesses that fail to meet the following obligations:

• Continuing to manage payroll and taxes for Illinois workers taking leave
• Maintaining access to benefits
• Accepting paid leave requests
• Keeping records of paid leave balances
• Posting the required public notice about PLAWA

Under PLAWA, employers also can’t retaliate against employees for taking or trying to take paid leave.
This includes disciplining workers, denying them raises or promotions, or factoring their attendance into performance reviews.

When employees return from PLAWA-covered leave, you must restore them to their former position or the closest equivalent.

How to apply for maternity and family leave in Illinois

Illinois sets a few requirements for leave applications. Employees must be able to review their balance, access policies and forms, and request time off either verbally or in writing.

But employers are free to set some ground rules. In your company policies, you may require employees to give up to seven days’ notice for foreseeable leave, or otherwise inform you as soon as practicable.

Comparing Illinois state PLAWA and federal FMLA

While they have some overlap, state PLAWA and federal FMLA are different in many respects.

You can require employees to take FMLA leave concurrently with paid PLAWA leave. If someone wants to take a three-month sabbatical, for example, you can pay for forty hours’ worth and reset their accrual balance to zero.

Additional considerations for Illinois employers

There are a few extra details Illinois-based employers need to be aware of when managing leave.

• Chicago: The city has a separate ordinance that offers employees more generous leave than the state. Employers must provide 80 hours of paid leave for any reason to any employees who work more than 80 hours in 180 days
• County Cook: Although the county laws align with PLAWA, they are also under a separate ordinance that predates the state law
• Company policy: If your business provides at least 40 hours of paid leave, you’re compliant with PLAWA as long as accrual and leave-request rules also align with the law
• Shift coverage: You’re not permitted to ask employees taking leave to find colleagues to take over their usual responsibilities
• Leave increments: Employers may require employees to use paid leave in minimum blocks of up to two hours, though you can allow smaller increments (e.g., 30 minutes) if you choose
• Accrual periods: You may set the period as January–December or 12 months from each hire date, with mid-year hires receiving a prorated amount
• Frontloaded leave: You may provide all paid leave at the beginning of the year instead of having employees earn it over time, and you have the option to enforce or waive the 90-day waiting period for new hires

For a broader look at legislation, read our guide to employment and labor laws in Illinois.

Simplify state-by-state compliance with Deel

Managing compliance within a single state is challenging enough. You must research complex local employment laws and consider regional variations. When you run departments across the US and beyond, small details like PLAWA-covered leave can easily get missed.

Deel PEO can take care of your HR, payroll, and compliance while you focus on the big picture. Our solution offers you:

• Continuous updates with US, state, and local laws
• Automated leave accrual balances
• Employee profiles and self-serve capabilities
• Streamlined payroll and benefits
• Localized contract creation to align with regulations
• 24/7 customer support for any questions or issues

Need help managing state-by-state compliance? Book a demo with Deel to learn more about how we support