Governor signs bill requiring employers to offer paid leave to employees

Posted on March 14, 2023
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Monday requiring employers to offer paid leave to employees. (Facebook/Kimberly Lightford)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Giving your workers peace of mind is valuable, say proponents of a new law requiring employers to offer paid leave. So valuable, they say, that workers will become more productive and more dedicated, knowing they can tend to their personal affairs or stay home sick without fear of losing money or employment.

Asked to assuage business owners’ – especially small business owners’ – fears. Gov. JB Pritzker siad, “These are earned days off, so it is not as if you take a job one day and then, all of a sudden, have five days off. I think just like bigger businesses, small businesses want their workers to be more productive and be able to deal with their stresses and emergencies at home, so they can be better and more productive at work.”

Other backers say women and people of color are overrepresneted in jobs which have not offered sick time or any other paid leave.

The law, signed into law Monday, takes effect Jan. 1.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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