IL HB2978

Employees at companies with 16-50 employees are entitled to 10 days of unpaid leave when their child is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); employees at companies with 51+ employees are entitled to 20 days

Leave may be taken continuously or intermittently, with employers allowed to require minimum increments of 2 hours; this leave is in addition to any Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitlements

Employees must be reinstated to their former or equivalent position with no loss of benefits, and health insurance must be maintained during the leave period

Employers cannot require employees to use other available paid leave instead of NICU leave, though employees may voluntarily substitute other leave types

Violations are subject to civil penalties up to $5,000 per affected employee, with enforcement handled by the Illinois Department of Labor; employees must file complaints within 60 days of the alleged violation