Illinois law allows most workers to earn 40 hours of paid leave. New legislation could expand that

Workers in the airline and shipping industries could soon see guaranteed paid leave through legislation advancing in the Illinois House of Representatives.

House Bill 4596 passed out of the House Labor and Commerce Committee in a 19-10 partisan vote and now heads to the House for a full chamber vote.

Bill sponsor Rep. Joyce Mason said the bill will be held on second reading to allow for continued conversations, which has received push-back from the Illinois Manufacturers' Association.

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"I believe that all of them already have paid leave in their contracts," Mason, D-Gurnee, said during the hearing. "But the issue here is that, without being under the purview of the Paid Leave for All bill, the companies they work for can still penalize them for taking that time."

The bill is an expansion of the Paid Leave for All Act, legislation signed into law last year by Gov. JB Pritzker ensuring full and part-time workers can earn up to 40 hours of paid leave per year.

Donovan Griffith, vice president of government affairs for the state manufacturers' association, said that negotiations on the legislation took place over four years, and its final form with enough carveouts for business interests to move to neutral. The new bill effectively undermines those negotiations, he added.

"Airlines are heavily federally-regulated, so during those discussions we requested they not be included in the law," said Griffith, citing legislation that prevents states from pursuing policy impacting interstate commerce. "That request was granted and here again four months later we're seeing that change."

Paid leave already applies to airline workers in Chicago, which applies to any employee working at least 80 hours for a Chicago-based employer within any 120-day period.

Those provisions should be applied statewide said Ron Sterling, an Envoy Air — a subsidiary of American Airlines — employee at Willard Airport in Champaign.

"My company provides paid sick days, but we can't use these days consecutively without facing disciplinary actions," he said. "Including airline employees in the Paid Leave Act will allow us to take necessary time off for illness, recovery without fearing discipline."

Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois paid leave rights could be expanded in new legislation