Workforce Bulletin

Eligible Illinois employees are now entitled to up to 40 hours of paid leave annually to serve on military funeral honors detail thanks to an amendment (the “Amendment”) to Illinois’s Military Leave Act that Governor Pritzker signed on August 1, 2025. The new law benefits qualified employees of Illinois employers with more than 50 employees and took immediate effect to allow paid leave for those qualified to participate in a military funeral honor guard.

The Amendment limits the benefit to those who are qualified to participate in a “Funeral Honors Detail,” an honor guard detail provided for the funeral of any veteran in compliance with federal regulations. A Funeral Honors Detail performs specified services at a veteran’s funeral ceremony, such as folding the United States flag and presenting it to the veteran’s family, or playing “Taps” at a veteran’s funeral.

The Amendment applies to Illinois employers with at least 51 employees, but it is silent as to whether this count includes employees beyond the state’s borders. Covered employers must provide at least eight hours of paid military funeral honors detail leave (“Funeral Honors Detail Leave”) per month, up to 40 hours per calendar year, to qualified employees.

Only two months after Missouri’s statewide paid sick and safe time law became effective, Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 567, which will repeal the earned paid sick time benefit effective August 28, 2025.

As we previously reported, Missouri was one of three states to adopt a sick leave obligation for private employers, adopted through ballot measures during the 2024 election. By commencing leave accrual and usage on May 1, 2025, Missouri was the first of the three states to require private employers to provide paid sick time to all employees within the state. Currently, Missouri employers must provide one hour of paid sick and safe leave (PSSL) for every 30 hours worked.