Illinois labor laws set a $15.00 hourly minimum wage, require overtime after 40 hours in a week, guarantee meal and weekly rest breaks, give nearly every private-sector worker up to 40 hours of paid leave a year, limit what employers can take out of your paycheck, and let you recover unpaid wages by filing a claim with the Illinois Department of Labor.1Illinois Department of Labor. Illinois Department of Labor Most protections apply to anyone performing work inside the state, with narrow exceptions noted below.
What You Earn: Minimum Wage and Overtime
The Illinois minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. That rate took effect on January 1, 2025, and remains in place through 2026, with no further scheduled increase on the books.2Illinois Department of Labor. Minimum Wage Law It applies to nearly every worker aged 18 and older under 820 ILCS 105.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 105 – Minimum Wage Law
Two lower rates exist. Tipped employees can be paid 60% of the standard wage, or $9.00 per hour, as long as tips bring total earnings to at least $15.00 per hour. Workers under 18 who log fewer than 650 hours per calendar year for a single employer can be paid $13.00 per hour.2Illinois Department of Labor. Minimum Wage Law
If an employer pays below the legal minimum, you can sue for three times the underpaid amount, plus 5% of the underpayment for each month it goes unpaid, plus attorney’s fees. The Department can add a $1,500 penalty, and up to 20% more where the employer acted willfully or with reckless disregard.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 105 – Minimum Wage Law You have three years from the date of the underpayment to file a civil action.
Overtime kicks in after 40 hours in a single workweek, paid at one and a half times your regular rate. Illinois follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act framework, which means performance bonuses and commissions earned during the pay period must be folded into the regular rate before the multiplier is applied.
Not every job qualifies for overtime. Employees in executive, administrative, or professional roles may be exempt if they earn at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year) and their actual duties pass the federal duties tests for those categories.5U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions That salary floor sits at the 2019 level after a federal court vacated a 2024 rulemaking that would have raised it. If your pay or title puts you near the line, verify your classification rather than assuming it.
Breaks and Days Off
The One Day Rest in Seven Act (820 ILCS 140) gives you at least 24 consecutive hours off in every rolling seven-day period. An employer that needs you to work that seventh day must first get a permit from the Department of Labor and your voluntary agreement.6Illinois Department of Labor. One Day Rest in Seven Act (ODRISA)
Meal breaks run on a specific schedule. Any shift of at least 7.5 hours requires a meal period of at least 20 minutes, starting no later than five hours into the shift. For every additional 4.5 continuous hours worked after that, you earn another 20-minute meal break.6Illinois Department of Labor. One Day Rest in Seven Act (ODRISA) Each day a required meal break is withheld, and each seven-day stretch worked without the mandated rest day, counts as a separate violation per employee.7Illinois Department of Labor. One Day Rest in Seven Act FAQ
Several categories of workers fall outside the weekly-rest rule, including part-timers working 20 hours or fewer per week for one employer, agricultural and coal mining employees, seasonal canning and processing workers employed for 20 weeks or fewer per year, watchmen and security guards, bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees, outside salespeople, towing vessel crew on Illinois waterways, and workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement that sets hours, days, and rest periods. Emergency situations requiring experienced labor to prevent injury, property damage, or an operational shutdown also override the rule.8Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 140 – One Day Rest in Seven Act
Paid Leave for Any Reason
The Paid Leave for All Workers Act (820 ILCS 192) covers nearly every private-sector employee in the state. You earn one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year, and accrual starts on day one of the job.9Illinois Department of Labor. Paid Leave for All Workers Act The leave can be used for any reason, and your employer is not allowed to ask why you need the time.
One waiting period applies: you cannot begin using accrued leave until 90 days after you start the job.10Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 192 – Paid Leave for All Workers Act This is a separate pool from anything created by the older Employee Sick Leave Act, which only lets you use existing personal time for family medical needs. Employers must post a Department of Labor notice about the Paid Leave Act in a visible spot at the workplace.
Getting Paid and Final Paychecks
The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (820 ILCS 115) requires wages to be paid at least twice a month, with each payment arriving no later than 13 days after the pay period in which the wages were earned. Commissions may be paid monthly instead.11Illinois Department of Labor. Wage Payment and Collection Act FAQ
When your job ends, the final paycheck must be paid in full no later than the next regularly scheduled payday, and it must include the cash value of any earned, unused vacation time.12Illinois Department of Labor. Wage Payment and Collection Act You can ask in writing to receive your final check by mail, and the employer must comply.
Late pay has real teeth. You can recover the full unpaid amount plus 5% of the underpayment for each month it stays outstanding. If the Department orders payment and the employer still doesn’t comply within 15 days, the employer owes an additional 1% of the amount owed for each calendar day of continued delay, plus a 20% penalty to the Department.13Justia Law. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 115 – Wage Payment and Collection Act
What Can and Can’t Come Out of Your Check
Illinois narrows what employers can withhold. A deduction is only allowed if it’s required by law (such as tax withholding), it benefits the employee (such as a health insurance premium), it follows a valid wage assignment order, or you give express written consent freely at the time the deduction is made.14Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 115 – Wage Payment and Collection Act – Section 9
That timing matters. A blanket authorization you signed at hiring does not cover a surprise withholding months later for a cash register shortage or a broken piece of equipment. An employer that takes money without a valid basis owes the full amount back, plus the same 5% monthly damages that apply to any other wage underpayment.
Reimbursing Your Work Expenses
If your job requires you to spend your own money on something that primarily benefits your employer, you get paid back. Section 9.5 of the Wage Payment and Collection Act requires reimbursement for all “necessary expenditures” incurred within the scope of employment, such as mileage for work driving, tools or supplies the employer requires you to buy, and cell phone costs when you use a personal device for work.15Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 115 – Wage Payment and Collection Act – Section 9.5
Submit expenses with receipts or other supporting documentation within 30 calendar days of incurring them, unless your employer’s written policy gives you longer. A signed statement describing the expense can substitute for a lost receipt. Employers may set reasonable spending guidelines in a written policy, but a policy offering zero reimbursement or a token amount isn’t valid. Losses from your own negligence, normal wear and tear, or theft (unless the employer’s negligence caused it) are not reimbursable.15Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 115 – Wage Payment and Collection Act – Section 9.5
Workers Under 16
Illinois child labor law (820 ILCS 206) requires every worker under 16 to have an employment certificate before starting a job. The employer provides a letter of intent to hire describing the duties and schedule. The minor then goes to the school district office with a parent or guardian and presents the letter, proof of age, a school schedule statement, and a physical fitness statement signed by a healthcare professional. The school superintendent or a designee decides whether the job would harm the minor’s health, welfare, or education.16Illinois Department of Labor. Child Labor Law Compliance
During the school year, minors under 16 can work no more than 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours per week. On Saturdays and Sundays they may work up to 8 hours per day, but weekly hours cannot exceed 24, and they cannot work more than six consecutive days. All work must fall between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. During the summer (June 1 through Labor Day), the evening cutoff extends to 9:00 p.m., and the cap rises to 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.
A long list of hazardous jobs is off-limits, including construction and demolition, factory work, mining and quarrying, operating power-driven machinery, spray painting, auto repair garage work, and any job involving exposure to dangerous chemicals, radioactive substances, or heavy metals.16Illinois Department of Labor. Child Labor Law Compliance Workers aged 16 and 17 are regulated mainly by the federal Department of Labor, so questions about their specific restrictions go to the U.S. Wage and Hour Division.17Illinois Department of Labor. Child Labor Law FAQ
Construction Worker Misclassification
The Illinois Employee Classification Act (820 ILCS 185) targets construction contractors who treat workers as independent contractors when they are actually employees. Misclassification cuts workers off from workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and the wage protections throughout this article.18Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 185 – Employee Classification Act Penalties run per person and per day, with civil fines up to $1,500 per violation, doubling for willful violations, and up to $2,500 for repeat offenders.19Illinois Department of Labor. Employee Classification Act FAQ
Workplace Safety: Who Covers You
Illinois runs a state OSHA plan that covers state and local government employees only. Private-sector workers file safety complaints with federal OSHA, which enforces its standards directly in Illinois workplaces.20Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Illinois State Plan Illinois has adopted the core federal standards, so the baseline protections are the same regardless of which agency has jurisdiction.
How to File a Wage Claim
If your employer owes you unpaid wages, vacation pay, overtime, commissions, or bonuses, you can file a wage claim with the Illinois Department of Labor.21Illinois Department of Labor. Unpaid Wages Before you start, gather your employer’s legal name and address, your manager’s contact information, your start and end dates, and any pay stubs or personal records of hours worked.
The fastest route is the Department’s online portal. You create an Illinois Public ID account, then use the online wage claim application to enter your employer’s information, the dates of the underpayment, and the gross amount owed. Online claims move noticeably faster than paper ones.21Illinois Department of Labor. Unpaid Wages
Printable claim forms in English, Spanish, and Polish are also available. Completed forms can be mailed to 160 N. LaSalle Street, Suite C-1300, Chicago, IL 60601, or emailed to DOL.Wages@illinois.gov.22Illinois Department of Labor. Instructions for Wage Claim and Minimum Wage Complaint Form
Watch the deadline. The wage claim form says complaints must be filed within one year after the wages were due.22Illinois Department of Labor. Instructions for Wage Claim and Minimum Wage Complaint Form A separate civil lawsuit for minimum wage violations has a three-year statute of limitations.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 105 – Minimum Wage Law Once the Department receives your claim, an investigator reviews it and typically attempts mediation. If mediation fails, the case moves to a formal administrative hearing for a final decision.