Paid Leave

DePaul’s updated policy applies to all full- and part-time employees.

Leave for full-time faculty, part-time staff, and part-time faculty in particular will be impacted by these changes.

Under the new laws, employees are eligible for up to forty (40) hours of paid leave to be used for any reason in a calendar year.

DePaul’s existing vacation policy provides more leave than the law requires. Therefore, no changes will be made to the vacation policy.

Illinois defines "paid leave" as a policy that allows workers to be compensated when they take time off work to maintain their health and well-being, care for their families, or use for any other reason of their choosing. At DePaul, this time generally falls under vacation and sick time.

The new laws do not grant any additional time off under DePaul’s existing vacation or sick time policies, which provide at least the minimum amount of leave required by the Paid Leave Ordinance (i.e., 40 hours) in a calendar year. The laws do, however, provide more options regarding how those hours can be used.

The laws will also require more formal structure regarding how the hours are recorded and reported.

Part-Time Staff

While part-time staff will continue to accrue sick time at a rate of one (1) hour per forty (40) hours worked, under these new laws, they will be able to use forty (40) hours of their accrued time for any reason, and they will no longer need to provide documentation or certification for their absences.

Full-Time Staff

Full-time staff already accrue greater than forty (40) hours under DePaul’s vacation policy, so these new laws will not impact them.

Part-Time Faculty & Full-Time Faculty

Faculty will be able to use sick time if they are unable to teach for any reason. However, it's expected that any missed instructional time will be made up.

Visit the DePaul Teaching Commons for some helpful guidance on activities that count toward instructional time.

Student Employees

Student employees (including graduate assistants, teaching fellows, and paid interns) will continue to accrue sick time at a rate of one (1) hour for every forty (40) hours worked for up to forty (40) hours in a calendar year, and they will not be required to provide any documentation or certification for their sick leave.

Time off for an employee with multiple roles will be dictated by their primary role at DePaul. They will not get credit for both roles.

If you have questions about your primary role, please visit the HR & Payroll Help Center for further information.

For employees who accrue sick time, unused hours will carry over year to year in a sick time “bank.”

Non-exempt full-time staff are allowed to hold onto a maximum of thirty (30) days in a sick time “bank.”

For non-exempt part-time staff, any accrued but unused paid leave will be carried forward from year to year; however, in no event may more than sixty (60) hours of accrued sick time be used for any reason.

No. Sick leave is not paid out upon termination, resignation, or retirement.

The Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act and Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance become effective on January 1, 2024.

We anticipate that the Chicago Paid Leave Ordinance will become effective on July 1, 2024.

Part-time and full-time faculty along with part-time staff can start using paid leave for any reason on March 31, 2024.

If employees have used all accrued time under the sick leave policy, they can only take additional time as it accrues.

Faculty and staff will be able to record sick time in BlueSky by clicking the Time and Absences tile (i.e., the tile with a clock), then selecting Add Absence. For Type, select "Sick" from the drop-down menu, then enter "IL Paid Leave" in the Reason field.

Faculty will only need to record sick time. If no sick time is being used, faculty do not need to record any time that week.

Employees should provide notice of time off as soon as it is foreseeable. Time off will be subject to manager approval.

Please refer to the Sick Time, Short and Long-Term Disability policy for further details.

No documentation or certification is required unless otherwise outlined in the Personal Leave of Absence policy.

Please refer to Leave of Absence for more information.

You can also submit a Benefits General Inquiry to the Benefits team or call (312) 362-8232.

Managers need to comply with both the Sick Time, Short and Long-Term Disability policy and the Vacation policy. 

Managers are responsible for informing employees of the availability of leave and instructing employees to contact DePaul’s leave administrator to initiate the leave of absence process.

Managers must review all absence requests for approval.

Employees will not be paid for absences without manager approval in BlueSky. It is not enough to approve an employee’s timecard, which is consistent with current practice.

If a manager has questions about an employee’s use of vacation or sick time, they can visit the HR & Payroll Help Center for further information or refer to the Leave of Absence page.

No action will be required at this time.

By March 31, 2024, BlueSky will be updated to allow employees to enter time as “paid leave.”

Additional changes to the policies may be required by July 1, 2024, to accommodate the Chicago Paid Leave ordinance.