Highlights
Impacted Employers:Illinois employers with more than 15 employees
Effective Date:June 1, 2026
Summary:Illinois has enacted legislation that will require covered employers to provide unpaid leave to employees when their child is a patient in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Next Steps:Review policies, practices and training to ensure compliance with the changes. See details below.
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The Details
House Bill 2978
Under House Bill 2978, employers with 16 to 50 employees must provide up to 10 days of unpaid leave when an employee’s child is a patient in a NICU. Larger employers must provide up to 20 days of unpaid leave.
An employer may require that leave be taken in minimum increments no smaller than two hours in duration.
Documentation
If an employee takes NICU leave, an employer may require reasonable verification of the employee's child's length of stay in a NICU. When seeking reasonable verification, the employer is prohibited from requesting any confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or other law.
Interaction with Other Leave Policies
An employee who is entitled to leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and takes NICU leave under House Bill 2978 must be granted, upon completion of and in addition to any leave taken under the FMLA, any NICU leave available under House Bill 2978.
Employers are prohibited from requiring an employee to use any paid leave available to the employee for any reason instead of the leave the employee is entitled to under the new law.
An employee who is entitled to take paid or unpaid leave, including family, medical, sick, annual, personal, or similar leave, from employment, under federal, state, or local law, a collective bargaining agreement, or an employment benefits program or plan, may elect to substitute any period of leave for an equivalent period of leave provided under House Bill 2978.
Retaliation Prohibited
Employers are prohibited from taking adverse action against an employee for exercising their rights under the law.
Next Steps
Review policies, practices and training to ensure compliance with the amended laws.