Richer Towns Reject Cook County Minimum Wage Hike

The Cook County Living Wage Ordinance takes effect July 1, 2017. It raises the minimum hourly wage suburban employers must pay their workers immediately and requires a minimum level of earned sick leave be offered to qualifying employees.

Wages will rise to $10 per hour immediately and gradually rise to $13 per hour over the course of three years. Minimum wage hikes will thereafter be tied to inflation. In Chicago city limits, minimum wage is already higher. It will first rise to $11 per hour and reach $13 per hour a year earlier than in the rest of the county.

But not everywhere: more than three dozen of Cook County's 132 municipalities have elected to exert their Home Rule authority and choose to exempt local employers from the law.

This week, the Des Plaines City Council voted 4-3 to raise wages, unlike other northwestern suburbs such as Arlington Heights, Palatine, Shaumburg, Elk Grove Village and Hoffman Estates. Meanwhile, Glenview voted to join with its wealthier northern neighbors in Northbrook and stick with an $8.25 per hour minimum wage and reject paid sick leave requirements.

Unincorporated areas of Cook County and municipalities that do not have home rule authority will need to abide by the new rules. State lawmakers have passed bills through both houses to implement scheduled increases in Illinois minimum wage. Gov. Bruce Rauner has until July 30 to exercise his veto before it becomes law. Rauner told WBEZ he supports a higher minimum wage but the bill (SB81) had been passed for "political spin and a headline."

» In the Cook County Opt-Out Map below, find out which communities will be raising minimum hourly wages and benefits next month and where employers will be exempted.

(The map above shows the areas that have opted out in black. Municipalities that have yet to complete the final vote are pictured in gray. Data compiled by Patch.)

Related:

• Glenview Trustees Vote To Opt Out of Minimum Wage Increase
• No Minimum Wage Increase Or Mandatory Sick Leave Coming To Northbrook
• Niles Trustees Vote To Opt Out Of County Minimum Wage, Sick Leave Rules
• Orland Park Opts Out Of Minimum Wage Law
• Tinley Park Exempts Businesses From Minimum Wage Law
• Homewood Rejects Minimum Wage Increase