Cook County $1 Minimum Wage Hike Might Not Apply To You

TINLEY PARK, IL — Check your check for Cook County's $1 minimum wage increase. Chances are you didn't get it because most municipalities opted out of ordinances that raise hourly pay and mandates paid sick leave.

On July 1, the Cook County minimum wage rose to $12 per hour. Voters approved the law to do that in 2017. It boosts pay in steps so that by 2020, minimum wage will be $13. After that, pay rises based on the rate of inflation, but doesn't exceed 2.5 percent. A second ordinance permitted workers to earn up to five days of paid time off each year.

However, municipalities were able to opt out and nearly 90 percent chose not to raise the minimum wage or offer sick leave, although several, including Glenview, opted back in. Skokie recently dropped a measure to opt out.

In the southwest suburbs, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Homewood, Oak Forest, Chicago Heights and others all will not see the rise in minimum wages. They also opted out of the sick leave ordinance.

Arise, a faith-based, pro-labor advocacy group, listed the locations that have raised the minimum wage or offered sick leave under the county ordinance, so you can check to see if your city or village is listed there.

However, change could come this year. Last November, every municipality in Cook County supported both ordinances in a referendum. Here is a snapshot, provided by Arise, of the results of some villages that approved the measure.

Voters who want to persuade their elected officials to adopt the ordinances this year can organize and request it, said Arise spokeswoman Shelly Ruzicka. Doing raises the pay floor above the state increase in January 2020, which sets the minimum at $9.25. The state also is not mandating sick leave for workers, she said.

Up next: Are South Cook municipalities changing their minds?