State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit Program

In accordance with Illinois Public Act 102-1143, known as the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, the university has established the State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit program that provides eligible employees with up to 40 hours of paid leave from work each year to maintain their health and well-being, care for their families, or use for any other reason of their choosing.

Academic Affairs Employee Information

Eligibility

Beginning July 1, 2024, and every July thereafter, eligible employees (Academic Affairs faculty and staff, including graduate research assistants and extra help) will be issued 40 hours of State of Illinois Paid Leave Benefit time at the start of the fiscal year or their date of hire if hired after July 1. The time may be used through June 30 of the following year.

Operational Needs

Each functional area within Academic Affairs has different operational needs, and we collaborate to meet the overall needs to support the university's mission. Minimum staffing varies by unit. Requests may be denied if adequate staffing levels cannot be met.

To ensure the operational needs, faculty and staff should be conscientious about taking leave during their area’s peak periods. In addition, Academic Affairs is instituting some blackout periods, when this leave cannot be requested:

• Meetings Week – the week before the semester starts.
• The first week of classes during Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.
• The last week of classes during Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.
• Finals week during Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.
• The days after finals week until grades are submitted.

Faculty and staff should be conscientious about taking leave on designated in-person days. Frequent patterns of leave on designated in-person days can lead to operational disruption. This may result in changes to remote working allowances to rebalance the operational needs of the unit.