Illinois § 12

§ 12.

Paid leave for funeral honors details. (a) This Section applies to employers employing 51 or more employees. (b) An employee may use up to 8 hours per calendar month to participate in a funeral honors detail, up to a total of 40 hours per calendar year, or more if authorized by his or her employer or if provided for in a collective bargaining agreement. (c) An employee qualifies for paid leave under this Section if the employee: (1) is trained to participate in a funeral honors detail at the funeral of a veteran; and (2) is either: (A) a retired or active member of the armed forces of the United States or a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States, including the Illinois National Guard; or (B) an authorized provider, or a registered member of a nonprofit or other organization that is an authorized provider, including a member of a veterans service organization. (d) An employee taking funeral honors detail leave shall give his or her employer reasonable notice, as is practicable. (e) An employer may request a confirmation from the relevant veterans service organization that dispatched the employee to the funeral honors detail, or any official notice provided to the employee in relation to the funeral honors detail, that can be used as proof of the employee's participation in the detail. (f) An employee that takes leave under this Section may do so in lieu of, and without having exhausted, his or her vacation leave, personal leave, compensatory leave, or any other leave that may be granted to the employee, including sick leave and disability leave. (g) An employer of an employee that takes leave under this Section must pay the employee his or her regular rate of pay for the leave taken to participate in a funeral honors detail. (h) An employer may deny a request for leave under this Section if granting the request would, at an independent living facility, assisted living facility, nursing home facility, or other similar congregate care facility or at a facility providing 24/7 care, reduce staffing levels to below the established minimum or impair the safe and efficient operations of the facility. An employer shall not deny leave under this subsection if doing so violates the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement. (Source: P.A. 104-78, eff. 8-1-25.)