In 2022, Illinois’ state minimum wage rate is $12 per hour. 

Illinois’ minimum wage for tipped employees is $7.20.

All workers who put in over 40 weekly hours are entitled to a minimum wage of at least 1.5 times the regular applicable minimum wage.

Federal law doesn’t require meal breaks, but Illinois law does. If you work at least 7½ hours a day, it entitles you to a 20 minute meal period. That meal period must begin “no later than 5 hours after the start of the work period.” That’s required by the One Day Rest in Seven Act.

Yes, employers are legally allowed to do this. When a tip is placed on a credit card, the Fair Labor Standards Act lets an employer deduct credit card processing fees from the tip, as long as that does not pull the employee’s wages below the minimum wage and the tip is paid by the regular payday.

Employers are required to give 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours in each 1 year period. Employees can carry over 2.5 hours of paid sick days for the following 1 year period, but employers are not required to pay employees for unpaid sick days.