City Council Passes Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance

The Office of Labor Standards recently passed the Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance. Effective immediately, all Chicago workers – including independent contractors – are granted several protections to make it easier to receive the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine. The only way we will fully recover from this pandemic is by ensuring the vaccine is easily accessible to all Chicagoans. This new regulation ensures workers can get the vaccine during their work shift, if necessary, without fear of retaliation from their employer.

The Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance grants the following protections for all Chicago workers, including independent contractors:

  • An employer cannot retaliate against a worker for taking time during a shift to get a vaccine. This means the employer cannot terminate, demote, discipline, or take any other adverse action against a worker for taking time off to receive the vaccine.

  • An employer cannot require a worker to get a vaccination during off-shift hours – they must allow workers to receive the vaccine during work hours if they so choose, and they cannot retaliate against them for doing so.

  • A worker may use their accrued paid sick leave or paid time off to get the vaccine, and their employer must allow them to use accrued paid time for that purpose.

  • An employer that requires a worker to get vaccinated must compensate the worker for up to four hours per dose if the vaccine appointment is during their shift. In this case, an employer cannot require the worker to use their paid sick leave or paid time off to cover the hours missed to get vaccinated.

Any worker that believes their employer has violated the Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance or any other of Chicago’s labor laws are encouraged to file a complaint by calling 3-1-1, using the CHI 3-1-1 app, or by filing a Complaint Form at chicago.gov/laborstandards. Employers that violate the Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance may be subject to fines of between $1,000 and $5,000 per offense.

For information on how to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine, visit chicago.gov/COVIDVax.

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