Some suburbs planning to opt out of Cook County’s new paid-leave rules

After opting out of the state’s new Paid Leave for All Workers Act to avoid unstaffed public safety and public works shifts, some Northwest suburbs could soon do the same for a similar Cook County ordinance that goes into effect Feb. 1.

Both the state and county laws guarantee workers 40 hours of paid leave annually for any reason.

But unlike the state law, the county ordinance gives employees a right to sue their employer over alleged violations and does not exempt school and park districts.

Streamwood plans to use its home rule authority to opt out. Village Manager Sharon Caddigan questioned the reason for a county law that excludes exemptions the state considers appropriate.

It’s unclear whether non-home rule municipalities can opt out as they could with the state law. Prospect Heights City Administrator Joe Wade, whose municipality does not have home rule authority, said the city’s attorney is researching that issue.

In a frequently asked questions list on its website, county officials said the ordinance doesn’t prohibit an employer from adopting its own paid leave policy to address operational issues and meet safety objectives. They added that employers of unionized workers also can address concerns through the collective bargaining process.

The villages of Schaumburg and Buffalo Grove are using home rule powers to not only opt out for themselves but all employers within their borders -- something they didn’t do for the state law.

Buffalo Grove lies in both Cook and Lake counties. Their opting out of the Cook County ordinance keeps labor laws uniform throughout the village.

Schaumburg’s action is based on requests from business organizations in the village, like the Technology & Manufacturing Association that expects to feel a negative impact from the county ordinance, Schaumburg Economic Development Director Matt Frank said.

While most employers in Schaumburg would still be bound by the regulations of the state law, it’s believed that the state is the more appropriate entity to be setting such labor laws, Village Manager Brian Townsend said.

That’s why the village didn’t previously use its home rule authority to opt those employers out of the state’s act, he added.

One employer for whom Schaumburg’s pending action would make a practical difference is the Schaumburg Park District. It employs a number of seasonal part-time workers and was already exempt from the state law, Executive Director Tony LaFrenere said.

The park district calculated last year that the staffing changes required under the paid-leave act would cost it $150,000. And with increases to minimum wage in the coming years, that figure could escalate to twice that in the foreseeable future, LaFrenere said.

Other home rule municipalities will be able to opt out of the county’s ordinance at any time.

Cook County officials recently addressed the reasons for reinforcing the state’s law with countywide regulations.

“The greatest impact will be felt by low-wage workers and workers not represented by a union,” Cook County Commissioner Alma Anaya said. “Workers no longer have to choose between a paycheck and their personal well-being or that of their loved ones.”

Flor Ramirez, a suburban worker and member of Arise Chicago, joined county officials for their announcement earlier this month.

"It is difficult for many people like me who are working mothers and fathers to take time off,“ Ramirez said in her statement. ”It is a big ordeal to ask for a day off out of fear, and threats of losing our jobs. With the new paid time off law we will be able to prioritize our own and our children's health, go to our children's school appointments and important events, and just have time to be with them and play. While these sound like simple dreams, the truth is that for many of us, before this law, there was zero possibility to have paid time off."