Chicago City Wire

CHICAGO — Today, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Paid Time Off and One Fair Wage ordinances go into effect while the minimum wage increases to $16.20 per hour. More Perfect Union, a nonprofit media company, released a video interview with Mayor Johnson about these changes and his vision for Chicago’s working families.

“It is a new day in Chicago,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Over 60,000 service industry employees just got a raise and over 1.38 million workers just doubled their paid time off. We are making Chicago the most pro-worker city in the country while growing our local economy. I could not be prouder of the work we have accomplished that translates to concrete improvements in the quality of life for the working people of Chicago.”

By proclamation issued last week during ‘Chicago Workers’ Rights Week,’ July 1 is now “Paid Time Off Day” in Chicago.

The Chicago City Council passed the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance (Paid Time Off Ordinance) on November 9, 2023. This ordinance guarantees up to five days of paid vacation time and five days of paid sick time for all Chicago workers who work at least 80 hours within any 120-day period – doubling the number of guaranteed paid time off for Chicago’s workers.

Under the Johnson Administration, the One Fair Wage Ordinance was passed by the Chicago City Council in October of 2023, phasing out the subminimum wage for tipped workers over a five-year period. This legislation will provide for wages of tipped workers such as restaurant servers, bartenders, bussers, and runners who earn a subminimum wage of $11.02 per hour to increase by eight percent per year until it reaches parity with Chicago’s standard hourly minimum wage on July 1, 2028.

Since reaching $15 per hour in 2021, the minimum wage increases annually according to changes to the Consumer Price Index or 2.5%, whichever is lower.

To view informational fliers, Frequently Asked Questions, and public notices on Chicago’s labor laws, visit Chicago.gov/LaborStandards.

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