The Illinois Labor Law Guide

The minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate employers must pay most employees. The federal rate remains $7.25 per hour, while Illinois and many local jurisdictions set higher rates. Effective January 1, 2026, the statewide minimum wage in Illinois remains:

• $15.00 per hour for most employees.
• $13.00 per hour for employees under 18 who work fewer than 650 hours in a calendar year.

Local minimum wage rates

Some jurisdictions enforce their own minimum wage ordinances.

• Chicago: $16.60 per hour for employers with 4 or more employees. This rate remains in effect through June 30, 2026, and a scheduled adjustment based on CPI may occur on July 1, 2026.
• Cook County (excluding Chicago): matches the state rate at $15.00 per hour. Annual increases are reviewed for July 1 effective dates, though the rate currently mirrors the state minimum.
• Evanston and Oak Park: currently align with Cook County and state levels. The minimum wage in 2026 remains $15.00 per hour unless new local laws are adopted.

The state minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. Employers may take a tip credit of up to 40% of the state minimum wage, which produces a tipped minimum wage of $9.00 per hour. Employers must ensure the tipped wage plus tips equals at least the full minimum wage of $15.00 per hour, and they must provide evidence that employees received the claimed tips.

Chicago

Current rate: as of July 1, 2025, the full minimum wage is $16.60 per hour and the tipped minimum wage is $12.62 per hour for employers with four or more employees. This rate remains in effect during the first half of 2026.

Phase-out adjustment: under Chicago's One Fair Wage ordinance, the city is phasing out the tipped wage credit. Effective July 1, 2026, the maximum allowable tip credit drops to 16% of the full minimum wage.

Practical impact: starting July 1, 2026, employers must pay at least 84% of the full minimum wage in cash wages (subject to any CPI adjustments to the base rate announced by the city), plus the tips employees earn. If the tipped wage plus tips do not equal the full minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.

Future outlook: the tip credit will decrease by 8% annually until July 1, 2028, when the tipped minimum wage will equal the city's full minimum wage.

Cook County (excluding Chicago)

Current rate: the tipped minimum wage is $9.00 per hour, based on a 40% tip credit from the county's minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. This continues into 2026 unless increased due to CPI-based adjustments or a new ordinance.

Practical impact: employers must ensure the tipped wage plus tips meet or exceed the full minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. Certain municipalities within Cook County may opt out of the county ordinance, but in those cases the identical state rate ($15.00 / $9.00) generally applies.

Evanston and Oak Park

These municipalities follow the Cook County and state minimum wage structure for tipped workers. The tipped minimum wage in Evanston and Oak Park remains at $9.00 per hour in 2026, absent any local ordinance setting a higher rate.

Under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, non-exempt employees must be paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a single workweek.

Meal periods

Employers must provide an unpaid meal period of at least 20 minutes to employees who work 7.5 continuous hours or more. This break must begin no later than 5 hours after the start of the work period.

Extended shifts

Employees are entitled to an additional 20-minute meal period for every additional 4.5 continuous hours worked beyond the initial 7.5 hours. Reasonable time spent using restroom facilities does not count toward these mandatory meal periods.

Day of rest

Employers must allow employees at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in every consecutive 7-day period. This is a rolling requirement, meaning an employee generally cannot be scheduled to work more than six consecutive days, regardless of how those days align with a standard calendar week.

Paid Leave for All Workers Act (statewide)

Under the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA), most employers must provide eligible employees with up to 40 hours of paid leave during a 12-month period.

• Accrual and usage: employees accrue at least one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked. Employers may also frontload the entire 40 hours at the beginning of the year.
• Practical impact: this leave can be used for any reason, including vacation, personal days, or illness.
• Exemptions: employers in municipalities with their own qualifying paid leave ordinances (such as Chicago and Cook County) are generally exempt from PLAWA but must strictly adhere to their local laws.

Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick & Safe Leave

Chicago employers are subject to a dual-accrual system. Employees do not just earn general paid leave; they earn two distinct types of leave simultaneously.

• Accrual rate: for every 35 hours worked, an employee accrues one hour of general Paid Leave and one hour of Paid Sick Leave.
• Practical impact: employees can accrue up to 40 hours of Paid Leave and up to 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave per year (80 hours total). Paid Leave can be used for any reason, while Paid Sick Leave is reserved for illness, injury, or safe leave (for example, domestic violence situations).

Cook County Paid Leave

The Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance aligns closely with the state's PLAWA but is enforced locally. Employers must provide workers with up to 40 hours of paid leave annually, accrued at a rate of one hour for every 40 hours worked. This time can be used for any reason.

Paid sick leave and the Employee Sick Leave Act (ESLA)

While PLAWA provides time off that can be used for illness statewide, Illinois also enforces the Employee Sick Leave Act (ESLA). If an employer voluntarily provides dedicated sick leave benefits, ESLA requires that employees be allowed to use that time to care for covered family members on the same terms they would use it for their own illness.

Other protected leaves

Illinois mandates several other specific forms of unpaid leave that employers must accommodate, including:

• Family Bereavement Leave Act: up to 10 unpaid days for FMLA-covered employers following the loss of a family member or certain pregnancy-related events.
• Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act: up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the loss of a child by suicide or homicide.
• Civic Leave: mandatory leave for jury duty and voting.

Holidays

Illinois state law does not require employers to provide paid or unpaid holiday leave. The state also does not require premium pay for employees who work on a holiday, unless working that holiday pushes the employee over 40 hours worked for the week, triggering standard overtime laws. If an employer voluntarily provides paid holidays, they must be administered in accordance with the employer's established, written policy.

The Illinois Child Labor Law regulates the employment of minors under the age of 16 to prioritize their health, safety, and education. Employers are strictly prohibited from hiring children under 16 who fail to present an approved Employment Certificate (work permit) issued by their school.

Working hours for minors (under 16)

Illinois strictly limits the hours a minor can work based on the school calendar. Minors may not work more than 8 hours in any single 24-hour period.

• When school is in session: minors may work up to 3 hours per day (and no more than 8 hours of combined school and work hours in a single day), and a maximum of 18 hours per week.
• When school is not in session (summer/holidays): minors may work up to 8 hours per day and a maximum of 40 hours per week.
• Time-of-day restrictions: minors may only work between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM. From June 1 through Labor Day, these hours are extended to 9:00 PM.

Year-round school exceptions

For minors enrolled in year-round schools, alternative rules apply:

• They may work from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM when school is not in session.
• On school days, they may work until 9:00 PM provided they do not work more than 3 hours per day, do not work more than 2 school days in that week, and do not exceed 24 hours outside of school hours for the week.

Meal break requirements

Employers must schedule and provide a meal period of at least 30 minutes for the minor no later than their 5th consecutive hour of work.

Employer recordkeeping and administrative requirements

To legally hire a minor under 16, employers must:

• Notice of intent: provide the minor with a Letter of Intent to Hire outlining the anticipated hours, days, and nature of the job, which the minor uses to apply for their work permit.
• Record retention: maintain records of employed minors, including their employment certificates, on the premises where the minor is working.
• Supervision: ensure proper supervision of minors at all times and adhere to all labor law restrictions.

Prohibited occupations and locations

Minors are prohibited from working in hazardous occupations and locations. This includes, but is not limited to, mechanic garages, factories, construction, slaughtering and meat packing, operations involving elevated surfaces (ladders and scaffolds), adult entertainment facilities, cannabis business establishments, and establishments where the primary activity is the sale of alcohol or tobacco.

Exemptions

The Child Labor Law does not apply to:

• Sale and distribution of magazines and newspapers outside of school hours.
• Domestic work in and around an employer's home outside of school hours.
• Caddying at a golf course (for minors 13 years of age or older).
• Officiating at certain youth sports activities (for minors 12 and 13 years of age).

Federal overlap

Where both the Illinois Child Labor Law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cover the establishment, employers must comply with whichever law is stricter.

Chicago enforces one of the most comprehensive predictive scheduling laws in the country. The ordinance requires strict advance notice for work schedules and enforces specific Predictability Pay penalties for employer-initiated changes.

Who is covered

• Covered industries: employers primarily engaged in Building Services, Healthcare, Hotels, Manufacturing, Restaurants, Retail, and Warehouse Services.
• Employer size: employers must globally employ 100 or more employees (250 for non-profit corporations), and at least 50 of those must be Covered Employees.
• Restaurant specifics: restaurants are only covered if they have at least 30 locations and 250 employees globally.
• Employee eligibility (2026 thresholds): as of July 1, 2025, employees are covered if they earn $32.60 per hour or less (hourly) or $62,561.90 per year or less (salaried).

Advance notice and good faith estimates

• 14-day notice: employers must provide employees with a written work schedule at least 14 calendar days in advance of the first day of the schedule.
• Good faith estimate: upon hiring, employers must provide a written good faith estimate of the average weekly hours the employee can expect to work, as well as the expected days and times of their shifts for the first 90 days.
• Right to decline: employees have the right to decline any hours added to their schedule that were not included in the original 14-day notice.

Predictability pay (schedule change penalties)

If an employer changes the schedule after the 14-day notice period has passed, they must pay Predictability Pay in addition to regular wages:

• Added hours or changed shift times: if an employer adds hours or changes a shift's time with no loss of hours, they must pay 1 extra hour of pay at the employee's regular rate.
• Subtracted hours or cancelled shifts with more than 24 hours notice: if hours are reduced or a shift is cancelled with more than 24 hours notice, the employer must pay 1 extra hour of pay.
• Cancellations with less than 24 hours notice: if a shift is cancelled or hours are reduced with less than 24 hours notice, the employer must pay 50% (half-time) of the regular rate for every scheduled hour not worked.

The right to rest (the Clopening ban)

• 10-hour rest period: employees are legally entitled to a rest period of at least 10 hours between shifts.
• Premium pay: if an employee voluntarily consents to work a shift that begins less than 10 hours after their previous shift ended, the employer must pay them 1.25 times their regular rate for that entire second shift.

Offer of additional hours

Before hiring new employees or using temporary or contract workers, employers must first offer any additional available shifts to existing Covered Employees who are qualified to do the work.