Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EXPERT INSIGHTS—Illinois adopts first of its kind paid military funeral honors detail leave, (Aug 14, 2025)

Law Firms Mentioned:Littler Mendelson

Organizations Mentioned:Littler Mendelson, PC

By Jeff Nowak, Stephanie Mills-Gallan, Sebastian Chilco, and Meg Karnig of Littler Mendelson

On August 1, 2025, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 220, amending the state's Military Leave Act to require employers to provide up to 40 hours of paid leave for eligible employees when serving on a funeral honors detail. This leave is in addition to other paid leave an employer already provides to its employees, whether due to legal requirements (e.g., under the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act) or as a voluntary company benefit. The law went into effect upon signing.

Covered Employers and Employees

Employers with 51 or more employees must provide funeral honors detail leave. This leave is available to an employee who has been employed by the same employer for at least 12 months and has provided at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave. To be eligible for funeral honors detail leave, the employee must also be:

Trained to participate in a funeral honors detail at the funeral of a veteran; and
Either:

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
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. "Authorized provider" means an individual or group recognized by the armed forces who are not service members or employees of the United States government and who supplement the uniformed members of a military funeral honors detail.[1]

The law does not state whether the 51+ employee threshold for employer coverage is limited to employees working in Illinois or includes an employer's employees outside Illinois.

Amount of Leave

Covered employees may take up to eight hours of paid leave per month to participate in a funeral honors detail, with up to a total of 40 hours of funeral honors detail leave per calendar year. Employees may take this leave in lieu of, and without having exhausted, any accrued or unused vacation leave, personal leave, compensatory leave, sick leave, or disability leave. Employees must be paid their regular rate of pay for this leave.

Reasons for Leave

As set forth in the statute, "funeral honors detail" is an honor guard detail provided for the funeral of any veteran consisting of at least two members of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of whom is from the deceased veteran's service branch, with the remainder of the detail consisting of members of the armed forces or members of an authorized provider. The funeral honors detail performs a funeral ceremony, which includes the folding of a U.S. flag, the presentation of the flag to the veteran's family, and the playing of "Taps."

Certain employers, including independent living facilities, nursing home facilities, other similar congregate care facilities, or facilities providing 24/7 care may deny requests for funeral honors detail leave under very specific circumstances, including where the employee's absence would reduce staffing levels below an established minimum or impair the safe and efficient operations of the facility.

Requesting and Verifying Leave

Employees must provide reasonable advance notice prior to taking the leave. The employer may request documentation verifying the employee's participation in the funeral honors detail. Acceptable verification may include confirmation from the veterans service organization that dispatched the employee to the funeral honors detail or official notice provided to the employee in relation to the funeral honors detail.

Employer Notice and Posting

There is no obligation under the law to give employees written notice of their rights or to develop a written policy. Likewise, there is no workplace posting requirement. There also is no requirement to track and report available paid leave balances to employees.

Comparison to USERRA Leave

Leave under the new law is in addition to an employee's rights under USERRA, which specifically includes "funeral honors duty as authorized by section 12503 of title 10 or section 115 of title 32" as part of USERRA's definition of "service in the uniformed services." USERRA does not have the tenure and hours requirements of the new law so an employee may be entitled to leave under USERRA where the employee may not be under the new law. However, leave under USERRA is unpaid. The new law's definition of who is entitled to take leave is also broader than USERRA, since USERRA only applies to members of the Armed Services, not retirees or "authorized providers." Employers will need to examine both statutes to determine an employee's eligibility for leave.

Next Steps

Given the August 1, 2025 effective date, Illinois employers may need to make necessary adjustments to their military leave policies and leave request processes as soon as possible. Notably, employers should be mindful of the employee-friendly notice and verification provisions and the obligation to avoid exhausting accrued paid leave, as this new paid leave benefit operates outside the employer's existing paid leave policies.

Footnotes

1. Authorized providers may include but are not limited to veterans service organizations, trained volunteers of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, honor guards, and other appropriate individuals and organizations that support the rendering of military funeral honors.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Jeff Nowak, Stephanie Mills-Gallan, Sebastian Chilco and Meg Karnig

Littler Mendelson

633 West Fifth Street

63rd Floor

California

90071

United States

Tel.: +1 213 443-4245

E-mail: JKlein@littler.com

URL: www.littler.com/

Attorneys: (Littler Mendelson).

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