Mirroring a recent City of Chicago Ordinance, the Cook County Board voted last week to mandate that employers provide employees with paid sick time off from work to care for him or herself, a family member becomes ill, or in the event of domestic violence or the closing of a school or business due to a public health emergency. This ordinance extends sick pay to Cook County workers outside of Chicago city limits and applies to anyone who works at least 80 hours for any size employer within any four-month period. As with the Chicago Ordinance, the County Ordinance goes into effect July 1, and provides employees with one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours worked. Employees can accrue a maximum of one week of paid sick time per year, unless the employer voluntarily offers more. Unfortunately, the Cook County Ordinance does not apply to construction workers or unionized employees. Not surprisingly, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association oppose the measure.