Today, Michael Reever, Vice-President of Government Relations, testified in opposition to a proposed Cook County paid sick leave mandate. The Chicagoland Chamber has consistently expressed that policies such as this ordinance cannot be viewed in a policy vacuum, and while the employer community wants to be a responsible partner in righting the fiscal ship of the County- the business community is not willing to absorb additional harmful costs related to expensive mandates.
The ordinance duplicates the City of Chicago ordinance, allowing employees to accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours worked and employees can accrue up to a total of 40 hours within a 12 month period. An employee can begin to use paid sick leave on the 180th calendar day following the start of his or her employment. Employees covered under FMLA will be able to roll over 40 hours from the previous year. The ordinance takes effect July 1, 2017.
Reever stated, “it puts employers at a competitive disadvantage by creating a complex and unnecessary patchwork of labor laws that employers must administrate and follow.”
The Chicagoland Chamber has continuously expressed the business community’s concerns and offered thoughtful suggestions to make the ordinance easier to administrate. The mandate was passed by the Board of Commissioners without adjustments by a vote of 1 nay, 1 present, and 14 ayes.
Click here to read Reever’s full testimony on the paid sick leave mandate.