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Chicago City Council Requires Restaurants to Give Paid Sick Days to Workers

You get a sick day! You get a sick day! Almost everyone gets sick days!

Members from the Restaurant Opportunities Center rally for paid sick days.
Members from the Restaurant Opportunities Center rally for paid sick days.
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Ashok Selvam is the editor of Eater Chicago and a native Chicagoan armed with more than two decades of award-winning journalism. Now covering the world of restaurants and food, his nut graphs are super nutty.

In a move that will affect Chicago restaurants, the City Council unanimously today approved legislation mandating city employers to grant their employees at least five-paid sick days annually. This makes Chicago the 25th city to adopt such legislation, joining New York, Seattle, Minneapolis and others, according to the Sun-Times.

Construction companies are exempt from the law. Labor groups, such as the Restaurant Opportunity Center, have supported the change, saying it will especially help workers better tend to their families without fear of losing their jobs. Workers would be eligible for sick days after working their jobs for six months. Some business groups have balked at the measure, saying it would increase their overhead costs.