Illinois Labor Laws

In the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which dates back to 1938, is a critical federal law for time and labor management, setting hourly wage rates and overtime pay, and requiring employers to keep accurate records of their employees’ working hours. These laws act as directives for employers, keeping them in check, and minimizing any forms of abuse or exploitation.

Employee time management is governed by both federal and state laws in Illinois. However, where these policies conflict, the one offering stricter protections applies.

Generally, Illinois labor laws offer increased protections to employers and employees, as compared to the FLSA. A brief overview of minimum wage, overtime, and break provisions in the state is as follows:

Employers who contravene state time management or labor laws can face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. If workers feel their employer has violated these laws, they can file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor for investigation and legal action.

The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination when employers make hiring decisions. Protected characteristics include:

Working employees are protected from wage discrimination due to gender under the Illinois Equal Pay Act. Differences in wages between employees can only be based on merit, seniority system, or the employee’s production capabilities. Employers are also prohibited from paying workers different wages due to their race. 

Illinois follows the at-will employment policy. This means that employers can end an employee’s employment contract for any reason, at any time, so long as the reason for termination is not illegal or discriminatory.

Employers are also required to provide mandatory severance pay upon termination. An employee’s final paycheck must include all wages and benefits owed and should be given no later than the next regularly scheduled payday. 

Some important policies that affect employment in Illinois include:

• Workplace Safety Laws: The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) requires employers to continuously inspect and improve safety conditions to reduce the risk of workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Employers are also required to train and educate their employees regarding workplace safety, as well as conduct educational activities to ensure safe working conditions.
• Whistleblower Protection Laws: The Illinois Whistleblower Act offers state employees the right to ‘blow the whistle’ by reporting or testifying against any legal wrongdoing committed by their employers. Such employees are also protected from employer retaliation for whistleblowing. 
• Non-Compete Agreement Laws: Employers are prohibited by the Illinois Freedom to Work Act to include a non-compete clause in employment contracts for employees earning up to $75,000 per year. This amount will be increased to $80,000 annually on January 1, 2027. Without a non-compete agreement, employees are free to work elsewhere, provide services to other employers, and even start their own businesses without any restrictions from the workplace policy.
• Social Media Laws: The Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act prohibits employers from requesting or coercing workers and job applicants to provide account details about their personal social media profiles. Furthermore, employees are protected from employer retaliation for refusal to comply. 
• Biometric Data Collection Laws: In 2008, the Illinois state legislature enacted the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) to give employees control over their biometric data and prevent companies from collecting such info. The act mandates written consent from employees for any biometric data collection required for work-related purposes. Types of biometric data covered by this act include fingerprints, hand scans, DNA, retina or iris scans, voice prints, and facial geometry.
• Recordkeeping Laws: Under the FLSA, employers are required to keep employee records for three years. These records must include the employee’s full name, social security number, occupation, date of birth, home address, gender, the regular hourly rate of pay, the basis for wages paid, total net wages and deductions, total gross daily or weekly wages, and date of each payment. Records used in wage calculations must be retained for two years. All records should be stored in a central location easily accessible by state authorities for inspections.

A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration an employer must pay an employee for work performed in a specific time period. The minimum wage in Illinois, as of January 1, 2025, is $15.00 per hour. This rate applies to all employers with four or more employees as well as domestic employers with one or more workers. 

Minors working less than 650 hours annually are entitled to a minimum wage of $13.00 per hour. 

A tipped employee is a worker who regularly receives gratuities from customers for their service. Labor laws in Illinois do not specify the accumulated monthly tip threshold for a worker to be categorized as a tipped employee. 

Employers in Illinois can pay their tipped employees a reduced cash wage of $9.00 per hour, retaining a tip credit of $6.00. A tipped employee’s hourly wages and earned tips must equal Illinois’s minimum wage requirements. If not, the employee is required to make up the difference.

Apart from tipped employees and minors, learners and student employees in Illinois are exempt from Illinois’s minimum wage provisions. They are entitled to earn 70% of the state minimum wage, which currently stands at $10.50 per hour. 

Note that learner employees are entitled to a lowered minimum wage for the first six months of employment, after which they must be paid regular wages. Employers in Illinois can also apply for a special license to pay subminimum wages to individuals with mental and physical disabilities. 

The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act specifies that an employee’s pay periods must occur semi-monthly. This means that employees must receive their compensation no later than 13 days after the end of a pay period. 

Certain roles may be compensated on a monthly basis including executive, administrative, professional, and commission-based positions. Earned commissions may also be paid once monthly. An employee who believes they haven’t been paid fairly can file a complaint with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission either in person or online. 

According to federal and state law, any employee working more than 40 hours a week is eligible to earn overtime pay for every hour worked beyond 40. 

Overtime pay in Illinois is calculated at one-and-a-half times the employee’s regular hourly wage. As of January 1, 2025, overtime pay for minimum wage workers is $22.50 per hour.

One Day Rest in Seven in Illinois

The Illinois One Day Rest in Seven Act (ODRISA) mandates employers to provide employees a 24-hour period of rest in a seven-day workweek. However, employers can request an exception to this rule by notifying the Illinois Department of Labor they have employees volunteering to work on the seventh day. 

For a deeper understanding of your overtime rights, read our detailed article on overtime rights in Illinois. 

Following the FLSA’s update on January 1, 2025, employees who earn more than $1,128 (or $58,656 annually) are considered ‘exempt’ and are not eligible for overtime pay in Illinois. This typically includes employees working in administrative, executive, or professional occupations. 

Additionally, the following occupations are also considered exempt from overtime pay in the state under the FLSA:

• Outside sales representatives
• Highly compensated employees earning $151,164 per year 
• Computer employees earning at least $27.63 hourly
• Aircraft, boat, truck and trailer salespersons
• Airline workers
• Domestic employees residing with their employer
• Fishermen
• Seamen on American and non-American vessels
• Taxi drivers
• Local delivery drivers and their helpers
• Workers transporting fruit and vegetables
• Federal investigators
• Workers taking care of the elderly

In Illinois, employers must give their employees a meal break of 20 minutes or more if their shift lasts at least 7.5 hours. This break must be given after five hours of consecutive work.

If an employee works for 12 or more hours consecutively, they can be given an additional break lasting 20 minutes. Employees are also entitled to reasonably timed breaks to use the restroom.

The Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act entitles nursing employees to take reasonably timed breaks to express milk in their workplace. Time required for breastfeeding breaks may also be taken from the employee’s daily meal or rest periods.

These breaks are paid and must be provided for one year after a child’s birth. Employers in Illinois are required to provide adequate accommodations including a private room in or near the employee’s workplace, that is not a bathroom stall and protects the employee’s privacy while expressing milk. 

Illinois leave laws mandate certain types of leave that employers must offer including:

• Paid Leave: Starting January 1, 2024, employees in Illinois can take up to five days of paid leave in one year. Paid leave begins to accrue as soon as employment starts at a rate of one hour of leave for every 40 hours of work. Employees can use this benefit after 90 days of employment. Any unused paid leave from one year may not be transferred to the next year at the discretion of the employer. 
• Medical and Family Leave: In Illinois, all employers are required to offer medical and family leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). To be eligible, employees must have worked for at least 12 months and 1,250 hours for a company of at least 50 employees. Additionally, employees can be absent for up to 12 weeks every 12 months. Reasons to request this leave include bonding with a new child, recuperating from a serious health condition, caring for a family member in poor health, dealing with exigencies arising from a family member’s military service, and caring for a family member who suffered a serious injury during active duty.
• Donation Leave: Illinois employers are obligated to provide their employees one hour of donation leave every 56 days to donate blood. Employees can also take ten days off in a 12-month period for organ donation. Employees are eligible for donation leave in Illinois if they have been employed for at least six months. 
• Bereavement Leave: Employers with 50 or more employees must offer two weeks of unpaid time off for an employee to arrange and attend the funeral or grieve the death of a family member. Employees can also take bereavement leave due to miscarriage, negative fertility and pregnancy diagnoses, and failed adoption. As of January 1, 2024, employees can take six to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the loss of a child due to suicide or murder under the Illinois Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act.
• Jury Duty Leave: In Illinois, employers can let workers take unpaid time off from work to attend jury duty. Before taking leave, an employer can require an employee to provide their jury duty summons and notice of leave within a reasonable time period. Employees are protected from retaliatory action for taking jury duty leave. However, this leave is not mandated if it causes undue hardship to the employer.
• Voting Leave: Employers are required to grant workers up to two hours of voting leave. Eligible employees must have their shift starting within 2 hours of the polls opening or ending within 2 hours of the polls closing. To take voting leave, workers must provide prior notice.
• School Visit Leave: Employees who are parents and guardians can take eight hours of unpaid leave during a year to attend their child’s necessary school meetings, conferences, and activities. School visit leave can be taken once an employee has exhausted other leave benefits. Only employers with 50 or more employees are mandated by law to provide this leave.
• Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault Leave: Under the Illinois Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they are a victim of domestic, sexual, gender, or any other type of violence. This leave may be used to seek counsel, medical care, safety with authorities, and legal assistance. The Act also allows employees to take two weeks of unpaid leave to grieve the death of a family member subject to violence. Employees are protected from employer retaliation for using this benefit.

The following public holidays will be observed in Illinois in 2025:

An individual under the age of 18 is considered a minor and is offered workplace protections under state and federal child labor laws. 

The minimum age of employment in Illinois is 14. However, minors as young as 12 may be employed in certain sports, golf caddying, newspaper deliverers, and movie production. 

Work Permits for Minors in Illinois

Minors aged under 16 seeking employment in Illinois must obtain an employment certificate from an issuing officer in the minor’s school or district school.

In Illinois, there are specific work hour regulations set in place for minors aged 14 and 15. When school is in session, these minors can work three hours daily with weekly work hours not exceeding 24. 

However, daily work hours cannot exceed eight, combining school and work hours. On weekends and during summer break, children aged 14 and 15 can work up to eight hours daily with a weekly maximum of 48 hours. They can work six days a week. 

All work hours can only be scheduled between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. but can be extended to 9 p.m. from June 1st till Labor Day. Minors are also entitled to a 30-minute meal break, which must be scheduled after the fifth hour of the minor’s shift.

Minors in Illinois are prohibited from taking on jobs that put them at risk including working in/around: