Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed Public Act 104-0078, amending the Military Leave Act (formerly the Family Military Leave Act) to require employers with 51 or more employees to provide paid leave for employees participating in funeral honors details. These new employee benefits are effective August 1, 2025, and grant eligible employees up to 8 hours of paid leave per calendar month, and no more than 40 hours per year, to serve in such details. Eligible employees are defined as those workers who have been employed for at least 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period immediately before the leave request. They must also be trained to participate in a funeral honors detail and either be active, reserve, or retired members of the U.S. armed forces, including the Illinois National Guard, or be “authorized providers” such as members of veterans service organizations who are recognized and trained to supplement military personnel in conducting the honors detail. “Funeral honors detail” means the honor guard detail provided at the funeral of a veteran in compliance with federal law and includes folding and presenting the United States flag and the playing of “Taps.”
Employees must provide reasonable notice to their employer before taking funeral honors detail leave, and employers may require confirmation from the dispatching veterans service organization or other official documentation to verify participation. The leave must be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay and cannot be deducted from accrued vacation, personal, sick, compensatory, or other leave categories. Employers in specific residential or care facilities such as nursing homes, assisted living centers, independent living facilities, or similar congregate environments or 24/7 care settings may deny leave if granting it would reduce staffing below established minimum levels or impair safe and efficient operations. Any denial must align with operational necessities and must not conflict with existing collective bargaining agreements. The Act provides that employees who take funeral honors detail leave are entitled to restoration to their previous or equivalent position upon return and the employer must preserve the employee’s seniority, benefits, pay, and other terms or conditions of employment unless the employer can show that such actions were due to factors unrelated to the leave.
Because this statute establishes a new paid leave requirement, employers should review and update their leave policies to include this category. Managers should be trained to understand both the tenure and hours-worked eligibility thresholds and the limited circumstances under which leave may be denied. Employers should also establish documentation and tracking procedures for monthly and annual leave caps and confirm that policies align with any applicable collective bargaining agreements. Although the number of eligible employees may be small, noncompliance with the law, even if inadvertent, can result in legal exposure.
If you have any questions about the new Illinois Paid Military Funeral Honors Detail Leave, other state or federal leave laws, or any other employment law matter, please contact Michael A. Airdo at mairdo@airdowerwas.com or James C. Jansen at jjansen@airdowerwas.com.