Workplace Protections

If your employer employs 50 or more employees, you can take a total of 12 work-weeks of leave during any 12–month period. If your employer employs between 15 and 49 employees, you can take a total of eight work-weeks of leave during any 12–month period. If your employer employs between one and 14 employees, you can take a total of four work-weeks of leave during any 12–month period. However, if you have already taken 12 weeks off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, this law does not permit you to take additional time.¹ The weeks can be taken consecutively, at different times (intermittently), or on a reduced work schedule.² If you are dealing with a death in your family as a result of a crime of violence, the Illinois workplace protections law referred to throughout this section allows you to take up to two weeks, or ten work-days, of unpaid bereavement leave specifically for:

1. going to a funeral, or an alternative to a funeral or wake;
2. making necessary arrangements after the death; or
3. grieving.³

To qualify, you must take this leave within 60 days of when you learn of your family member’s death.⁴

On a related note, Illinois has another law called the Family Bereavement Leave Act (“FBLA”) that applies if you have worked for your employer for at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months. The FBLA allows you to use a two-week unpaid bereavement leave for the death of a family member for the three reasons described above and within the 60-day time period. The FBLA can be used up to three times per year if you suffer the deaths of multiple family members. FBLA leave may also be used after a stillbirth, miscarriage, unsuccessful reproductive procedure, unfinished adoption or surrogacy, or a diagnosis that negatively impacts fertility or a pregnancy.⁵ For additional information about the FBLA, see Family Bereavement Leave Act FAQs on the Illinois government website.

It’s important to know that taking bereavement leave under the FBLA will not decrease the available four to 12 weeks described above for dealing with incidents of domestic violence or any crime of violence for the first five reasons laid out in What actions, specifically, can I use my time off from work to do?⁶ This means that you could end up taking up to 18 unpaid weeks in one year if, for example, you have to deal with three different deaths and you also work for a large employer, and you need to take 12 weeks off to go to court to address domestic violence.

Note: You cannot take two weeks of unpaid bereavement time under the FBLA and then claim an additional two weeks under the workplace protections law described at the beginning of this question. The two weeks available under these sections of the law will be the same two weeks if you qualify under both.⁷

You can also use existing paid leave, including family, medical, sick, annual, personal, or similar leave, instead of taking the unpaid leave but you cannot be required to do so; it’s your choice whether to use paid leave or unpaid leave.⁸

¹ 820 ILCS § 180/20(a)(2)​
² 820 ILCS § 180/20(a)(3)​
³ 820 ILCS §§ 154/10(a)(1)-(3); 180/20(a)(1)(F)-(H)
⁴ ​820 ILCS § 180/20(a)(4)
⁵ 820 ILCS §§ 154/10(a), (b), (e); 154/5
⁶ 820 ILCS § 180/20(a)(4)(B)
⁷ ​820 ILCS § 180/20(a)(4)(A)
⁸ 820 ILCS § 180/25