Chicago Ordinance Prohibits Retaliation Against Employees for Time Spent Receiving COVID-19 Vaccinations

Chicago recently enacted an ordinance granting employees rights in connection with getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Employers should be aware of these key provisions:

• An employer may not take adverse action against an employee who gets a vaccine during working hours.
• Regardless of whether an employer mandates vaccination, it cannot mandate that employees receive the vaccine during nonworking hours.
• If an employer requires vaccination and the vaccine is administered during the employee's normal work hours, the employer (1) must compensate the employee for the time taken to get the vaccine, up to four hours at the employee's regular rate of pay; and (2) cannot require that the employee use paid sick leave or paid time off ("PTO") to get vaccinated.
• If an employee wants to use any available paid sick leave or PTO to get a vaccine, the employer must allow the employee to use that time.