In accordance with Illinois Public Act 102-1143, known as the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, the university has established the State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit program that provides eligible employees with up to 40 hours of paid leave from work each year to maintain their health and well-being, care for their families, or use for any other reason of their choosing.
The intent of the Paid Leave for All Workers Act was to establish a minimum standard of paid leave for all workers in Illinois, to provide employment and economic security for employees who need to use paid time off, to safeguard the welfare, health, safety, and prosperity of the people in Illinois, and to ensure that employees are not denied use of leave time for noncompliance with leave notification requirements if those requirements were not communicated by the employer.
NIU values the needs of its employees and the work they perform. The university also recognizes that employees perform their best when they have the flexibility to take time away from work for reasons of their choosing. As such, the university determined this benefit would be provided to all eligible employee classifications to the fullest extent possible, regardless of other paid time already available to them, to align with the intent of the Paid Leave for All Workers Act.
Eligible employees will be issued 20 hours of State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit time on March 31, 2024, or for those hired after March 31, on their date of hire. This benefit time may be used beginning March 31, 2024, through June 30, 2024. Beginning on July 1, 2024, and every July thereafter, eligible employees will be issued 40 hours of State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit time at the start of the fiscal year or their date of hire if hired after July 1. The time may be used through June 30 of the following year.
The State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefits policy is available in the NIU Policy Library.
The Paid Leave for All Workers Act permits a one-time, 90-day waiting period for access to paid time off. This can be implemented 90 days from the date the law was enacted or from an employee’s date of hire. The university utilized the 90-day waiting period to gather additional information through the state’s rules making process prior to implementation.
Employees in the following employment classifications, regardless of status (i.e., full-time, part-time, regular or temporary) are eligible:
The Paid Leave for All Workers Act (Public Act 102-1143) specifically excludes a student enrolled in and regularly attending classes in a college or university that is also the student’s employer.
Eligible employees will be issued 20 hours of leave time on March 31, 2024, to be used through June 30, 2024. Then, eligible employees will be issued 40 hours of leave time on July 1, 2024, and every July thereafter to be used through June 30 of the following year.
No, all eligible employees, regardless of full-time equivalency (FTE) will be issued the same number of leave time.
No, all new hires on or after March 31, 2024, will be issued 20 hours of leave time to be used by June 30, 2024. All new hires on or after July 1, 2024, and every July thereafter, will be issued 40 hours of leave time to be used by the following June 30. The State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit will be available to new hires on their date of hire.
No, this leave time can only be requested for use on days when the employee is scheduled to work and for the hours they would normally be scheduled to work.
No. An employee will receive a maximum of 40 hours of this leave time per fiscal year to use across all of their jobs on campus.
Employees who transfer positions within the university will carry their balance with them, provided they are moving to a classification that is eligible for this benefit.
Employees requesting time off utilizing this benefit must arrange their leave time with consideration for the university’s core operational needs. If the employee can anticipate the need to use this benefit, they should provide their supervisor as much advanced notice as possible, and at a minimum, at least seven calendar days before use of the leave time. In situations where the need for the use of this benefit is unforeseeable, the employee must notify their supervisor as soon as reasonably possible through their departmental call-in or notification procedures.
There is no order in which employees must use their accrued benefits. Employees can determine which benefit they would like to use when requesting time away from work. They must clearly communicate which benefit they intend to use at the time of the leave request.
No. An employee is not required to produce documentation, give a reason to justify the need for leave or find a replacement to cover absences when using this benefit.
Supervisors are expected to approve time off requests that use this benefit to the greatest extent possible while ensuring that operational needs of their units are met. However, supervisors can deny a request based on operational necessity.
Employees must report use of their State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit leave time on their Hourly Time Sheet or Salaried Benefit Usage Form to the nearest quarter of an hour. Employees are not permitted to report more leave time in a day than they would have normally been scheduled to work.
Eligible employees will see their remaining State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit balance on their semi-monthly pay advice. Please note, for salaried employees, the balances displayed are a month in arrears.
No, any unused hours at the end of the fiscal year will be removed from the employee’s balance. Eligible employees will be issued a new 40 hours at the beginning of the next fiscal year.
No. State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit time is not compensable upon separation from the university. If the employee is rehired by the university in the same fiscal year, they will not be issued a new 40 hours of leave time, but rather, their balance at the time of separation will be restored on the employee's rehire date.
No, absences utilizing the State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit will not be considered on performance evaluations, nor will absences be subject to disciplinary action provided proper notification procedures were followed and the absence was designated as State of Illinois Paid Leave benefits at the time of the request.
No, leave taken utilizing this benefit will not count toward an extra help employee’s 900-hour limit. The 900-hour limit is based on hours physically worked.
HRS is working to implement enhancements to Manager Self-service in the MyNIU HR system. Once implemented, supervisors will see a listing of their employees, their compensation and their available leave balances. More information will be provided to supervisors when this functionality is implemented.
Yes. Supervisors must keep a record of the requests they approve and deny.
Any denials of requests for the use of State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit must be provided to the employee in writing (in a communication that is printed or can be printed) and must include the reason for the denial. Types of communications include, but are not limited to, an email, a text message and a Teams instant message.
Supervisors need to communicate to their employees their departmental procedures for requesting time away from work. They will also be responsible for approving the time utilized on their employee’s hourly timesheets and/or salaried benefit usage forms.
Updated 3/1/24
This page will continue to be updated as new frequently asked questions arise and once the rules for this law have been finalized with any additional clarifications.