On July 24, 2019, the city of Chicago enacted the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance, intended to “enact and enforce fair and equitable employment scheduling practices in the City of Chicago…” Most provisions of the Ordinance go into effect on July 1, 2020.
The Ordinance covers employers primarily engaged in building services, health care, hotel, manufacturing, restaurant, retail and warehouse services industries and who employ 100 or more employees (250 or more employees for not-for-profit corporations), at least 50 of whom are considered “Covered Employees.” A Covered Employee spends the majority of his or her time at work in a covered industry while physically present in the city of Chicago and who earns $50,000 or less per year as a salaried employee, or $26.00 or less per hour as an hourly employee. For purposes of meeting these minimums, the number of Covered Employees is aggregated if they are employed by members of a unitary business group for Illinois income tax purposes.
The Ordinance covers restaurants only if the business has at least 30 locations and 250 employees. Restaurant businesses having three or fewer locations in the city under a sole franchise are exempt from coverage. In addition, there are certain other exceptions for employees who self-schedule or who work at certain types of venues or events.
Click here for the full GT Alert, which covers the requirements of the Ordinance, rights of Covered Employees, and enforcement and penalties.