Under Illinois law, your employer may not be able to fire you because you are sick or taking care of a sick family member. The outcome depends on:

• Where your employer is based in Illinois,
• Whether your employer offers sick leave as a benefit to employees, and
• Whether your employer is covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

"At-will employment" gives your employer many legal options for firing you. Let’s start with a brief explanation of at-will employment, followed by the sick leave laws in Illinois, Cook County, and Chicago, and the FMLA.

At-will employment

There are two common types of employment relationships: "for cause" and "at-will." A for-cause agreement means the employer can only fire an employee for a reason that is listed in the employment agreement. An at-will agreement means the employer can fire an employee for any reason at any time, usually without notice, if that reason is legal. Most employment agreements are at-will.

If you are an employee-at-will, your employer can fire you for any reason or no reason at all. They do not need a “good reason.”

However, they can't fire you for an illegal reason. For example, your employer cannot fire you because of your race, or any other protected characteristic like sex, age, disability, or gender, because that would be discriminatory and illegal. Your employer also cannot fire you for engaging in activities protected by the law, such as taking sick leave. Some state and local laws offer guaranteed paid sick leave. Your employer cannot fire you for lawfully using that leave.

Illinois Sick Leave Act and Paid Leave for All Workers

For all workers in Illinois, the Illinois Sick Leave Act, 820 ILCS 191, allows employees to use sick leave time already available to them under an employer’s sick-leave policy to take care of themselves or relatives. This law only applies to employees who have sick leave as an employment benefit. The Illinois Sick Leave Act does not require employers to give employees sick days. It does protect employees from being retaliated against for using sick days.

If you are an employee working in Illinois, outside of Cook County, and your employer does not offer sick days, you may not have a right to sick days for yourself or a family member.

Learn more about the Illinois Sick Leave Act.

Beginning January 1, 2024, the Illinois "Paid Leave for All Workers" Act goes into effect. Find out more about this law, where most Illinois employees can take paid leave for any reason.

Sick Leave for Illinois Teachers

If you are a full-time teacher in Illinois, learn more about what sick leave you are entitled to.

Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance

In Cook County, the Paid Leave Ordinance gives you one hour of paid leave per 40 hours worked. As an employee, you can earn and use up to 40 hours of paid leave in 12 months. Paid leave can be used for any reason. The Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance went into effect on December 31, 2023. Enforcement will start on February 1, 2024.  

Learn more about the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance and Regulations. 

City of Chicago Paid Leave Ordinance

Starting July 1, 2024, any employee working in the city of Chicago for at least 80 hours within any 120-day period will earn paid leave and sick leave hours. Once you meet the 80-hour requirement, you will stay a covered employee as long as you work for your employer.

For every 35 hours worked, you will earn at least:

• one hour of general paid leave, and
• one hour of paid sick leave.

As an employee, you can earn up to 10 days of paid leave a year. The days will include 5 days of general paid leave and 5 days of paid sick leave. General paid leave can be used for any reason.

Learn more about the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance.

FMLA

The Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 C.F.R. 825, is a federal law that allows you to take unpaid leave from your job for certain qualifying situations. You must have worked for your employer for at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months. Not all employers are covered under FMLA. For example, private sector employers are only covered if they employ 50 or more people, within 75 miles of the worksite, for 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year.

This means that if you work for an employer with a 100 employees spread out over the country, but only 20 employees work within 75 miles of the worksite where you report into, then your employer is not obligated to provide FMLA leave.

This unpaid leave is job-protected, meaning your employer cannot terminate you for taking the time off or prevent you from taking the time off. FMLA is frequently used as unpaid parental leave, but it can also be used for employees who are sick or are caring for a sick family member. FMLA can be used in a block of time or it can be used intermittently.

Under FMLA, you are allowed 12 weeks of leave in a year if you have a serious health condition that makes you unable to do your job. You can also use it if you have a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.

Learn more about the FMLA.

Example of a worst-case scenario

The following is a worst-case scenario:

• You work for a private employer;
• Your employer has fewer than 50 employees;
• Your employer is based outside of Cook County; and
• Your employer has no sick leave policy.

If all these conditions are true, your employer could fire you for being sick or taking care of a sick family member.