Human Resources > paid-sick-leave

Information about the Chicago Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

You will find FAQs below for both DePaul Employees, and also Student Employees.  These questions should answer many questions regarding the changes to paid sick leave.  If you have additional questions, please contact HR.

Chicago Paid Sick Leave FAQs (DePaul Employees Only). See FAQs for student employees below.

The ordinance took effect on July 1, 2017. Affected employees will begin accruing sick leave time as of that date. 
Refer to the chart below:

Table


  • Employee’s illness or injury, or to receive medical care, treatment, diagnosis, or preventative medical care
  • Illness or injury of a family member (see below), or to care for a family member receiving medical care, treatment, diagnosis, or preventative medical care
  • If the employee or family member is the victim of domestic violence or a sex offense
  • If the employee’s place of business is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency
  • If the employee needs to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency
  • Spouse or domestic partner
  • Spouse or domestic partner’s parent
  • Child (biological, adopted, step or foster, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, legal guardian or ward)
  • Sibling
  • Parent (including biological, foster, adoptive or legal guardian, step, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor)
  • Grandparent
  • Grandchild
  • Any other individual related by blood or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship
Part-time hourly staff, hourly student employees, and full-time and part-time temporary employees may use a maximum of 60 hours of paid sick leave in a calendar year. The 60 hours includes any time carried over from the previous calendar year and any time accrued during the current year.
Yes. The maximum carried over “bank” of time is limited to 60 hours. Employees who have a maximum of 60 hours in their “bank” would not be able to carry over any additional unused time at the end of a calendar year.
Employees can begin using paid sick time in any increment once it is accrued.  
No.  Paid sick leave is not paid out upon termination. 

For absences of more than five (5) consecutive work days, Managers should request that employees obtain a note from a medical provider that the employee was under Doctor’s care for the time off.  The note should not contain specific detail about the injury or illness but should specify the dates of care to verify that the employee was off of work due to injury or illness.  The employee should send the doctor’s note to DePaul’s HR/benefits department via email at hrbenefits@depaul.edu.

If the leave is related to domestic violence or a sex offense, the employee may certify with a police report, court document, statement from an attorney, clergy member, victim advocate, the employee, or other person with knowledge of circumstances.  The documents should be sent to DePaul’s HR/benefits department via email at hrbenefits@depaul.edu.

Employees received a targeted email that provided details of the paid sick leave changes to everyone employed at the university. Paid sick leave information was also published on Newsline. Employees received formal notice with the first paycheck with any possible sick time accrual in June of 2017. Members of the Human Resources team posted notices in visible areas across the university.
Part-time hourly staff, hourly student employees, and hourly temporary employees can see their accrual for sick time by reviewing the Leave/Compensatory Time tab on their timesheets.  A balance of accrued sick time is also included on employees’ bi-weekly paycheck stubs.  Timesheets for affected employee groups are updated to include a time reporting code for paid sick time. 

A Paid Time-Off report is produced biweekly by the Controller’s Office and made available to Budget Managers through Campus Connection. Budget Managers have the ability to delegate report access to others in their departments who require access to the information. The Paid Time-Off report will be updated to include sick leave accrual and usage information for employee groups affected by the Chicago Paid Sick Leave Ordinance.

In addition to the Paid Time-Off report, managers with access to approve employee timesheets may view their employees’ leave balances on the Leave/Compensatory Time tab of their employees’ timesheets.

It is suggested that Managers do not allow employees to “make-up” missed sick time. As an example, an employee who typically works 20 hours per week and takes 3 hours of sick time should work the remaining 17 hours only during that week.
No.  Only regular hours worked count towards overtime in a given week.
A policy is in the process of being developed, but the DePaul policy has not been finalized and approved yet.   The revised policy will incorporate all updates from the Chicago Paid Sick Leave and address any inconsistencies between both policies.

Chicago Paid Sick Leave FAQs (Student Employees)

Student employees (along with part-time non-exempt employees and temporary employees) who are paid on an hourly basis are eligible to accrue paid sick leave at a rate of 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, effective July 1, 2017.  Student employees can take sick leave time in any increments once time is accrued. 

The student employee will accrue paid sick leave for all hourly positions.  There is one combined accrual, and the student employee will be able to use accrued sick leave in any hourly position.

Example:  Sally generally works 15 hours per week in the Office of Admission and 5 hours per week in the Career Center.  After four weeks, Sally has worked a total of 80 hours and has accrued 2 hours of paid sick leave.  During the next week, Sally was scheduled to work a 2 hour shift in the Career Center but called in sick instead.  Sally has earned 2 hours of paid sick time, so she would enter those hours on her timesheet for the Career Center.

The student employee would only accrue and use paid sick leave for the hourly position.

Example: John has an hourly student service position in the College of Education and a stipend position as a Chicago Quarter Mentor.  He works 8 hours a week in the College of Education and 10 hours a week as a Chicago Quarter Mentor.  John accrues sick time only for hours worked in his hourly position in the College of Education.

If John needs to use sick time in his hourly position, his available paid sick leave is limited to his accrual balance.  John would report sick time on his timesheet. Any sick time taken in excess of the accrued paid sick leave balance would not be reported on his timesheet. It would be unpaid.

If John needs to use sick time in his stipend position, the sick time would not be reported on his timesheet and the hours would not be subtracted from his accrued sick leave balance. There would be no reduction to his stipend payment as a result of having taken sick time.

Student employees who have been terminated retain their accrued sick leave from their previous position(s) only if they are rehired within the same calendar year. Student employees who transfer to another position with no break in service retain their accrued sick leave.

Example 1: Taylor accrued 6 hours of sick time while working for the Admissions office. She left that position in March and started a new job with Study Abroad in October of the same year.  Taylor will have 6 hours of accrued sick time when she begins her job with Study Abroad. 

Example 2: Leo accrued 4 hours of sick time while working for Campus Rec but left that position in July.  He obtained a new position with CDM in March of the following year. He would start his new job in CDM with no accrued sick time.

Example 3: Joshua accrued 3 hours of sick time while working for Human Resources.  Joshua accepted a position with Finance with no break in service, and resigned from his position in Human Resources.  Joshua  keeps the 3 hours of accrued sick time he earned while working in Human Resources.

Student employees who accrue paid sick leave cannot use more paid sick time than they have accrued.  Any sick time taken by student employees in excess of their accrued paid sick leave balance will be unpaid. 
Student employees who are paid by stipend do not have their pay reduced when they use sick time.  Student employees in stipend positions must follow the attendance policy guidelines to communicate with their managers when using sick time. 
In accordance with the Attendance Policy, student employees must communicate with their manager within one hour of their scheduled start time.  If they fail to communicate with their manager, the instance could lead to progressive discipline.  If this happens on multiple occasions, it could lead to further progressive discipline and/or termination.  If managers are experiencing issues with their student employee(s), they must consult with Sarah Carbone, Associate Director of Student Employment, before action is taken. 
Student Employees receive notice through  the Office of Student Employment when they complete new hire paperwork. It is encouraged that managers review this policy with new student employees during the onboarding process to address any questions and reinforce their department’s attendance policy and procedures. It may be necessary to have an additional discussion about the Chicago Paid Sick Leave Ordinance with student employees at the beginning of the academic year. 

During the academic year, student employees in one or more hourly position(s) should not “make-up” hours used as paid sick time within the work week.  As an example, a student employee who typically works 25 hours per week and takes 3 hours of paid sick time should only work the remaining 22 hours or less during that week. This should also be followed for international student employees who are restricted to 20 hours of paid time per week to ensure their visa status is not put at risk. 

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