Family & Safety

In Illinois, the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) allows survivor employees, as well as family or household members of employees who are survivors, unpaid time off from work to deal with issues related to domestic violence, stalking, sexual abuse, gender violence, or violent crime. The time can be used to recover and get help. VESSA also requires reasonable accommodations in the workplace to help protect the employee.

Under the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), employees who are survivors or family members/household members of a survivor can use this unpaid time off for:

• Getting medical help for or recovering from the physical or psychological injuries caused by the violence resulting from domestic violence, stalking, sexual abuse, gender violence, or violent crime;
• Getting services from a victim services organization;
• Getting counseling;
• Participating in safety planning, including relocating, to increase safety;
• Seeking legal help, including preparing for or participating in legal proceedings related to the violence;
• Attending the funeral or other similar services for a family or household member who is killed in a crime of violence;
• Making arrangements resulting from the death of a family or household member who is killed in a crime of violence; or
• Grieving the death of a family or household member who is killed in a crime of violence.

Under the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), how much time off that is available in a 12-month period to an employee who is a survivor or family or household member of a survivor depends on how many people are employed by the employer:

• At least 50 employees: 12 workweeks of unpaid leave
• 15 to 49 employees: 8 workweeks of unpaid leave
• 1 to 14 employees: 4 workweeks of unpaid leave

VESSA leave may be taken consecutively, intermittently, or on a reduced work schedule. The employee can only use a total of two workweeks for unpaid time to attend the funeral or other similar service, make arrangements resulting from the death, or grieve the death of a family or household member who is killed in a crime of violence. If the employee is entitled to take unpaid leave under both the Family Bereavement Leave Act and VESSA, the leave would run concurrently, and the employee would not be eligible for more bereavement leave than is provided by the Family Bereavement Leave Act.

In order to ask for unpaid time off under the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), the employee must provide the employer with 48 hours notice if practicable. The Request time off work after surviving violence Easy Form generates a letter that can be given to the employer.

The employer may also require the employee to provide documentation of the violence, including situations where the employee cannot provide 48 hours' notice before an unscheduled VESSA leave. The employee can provide a sworn statement:

• Stating they are a survivor of domestic violence, stalking, sexual abuse, gender violence, or violent crime, or have a family or household member who is;
• Stating the leave is for one of the purposes described under the reasons listed above; and
• Providing one of the following if the employee has it:
  • Documentation from a victim services organization, lawyer, clergy, or medical professional that the survivor or their family or household member has sought help addressing the violence,
  • Police, court, or military record,
  • Death certificate, published obituary, or written verification of a death or memorial documenting the death of a family or household member who was the victim, or
  • Other corroborating evidence.

The employee can choose which document to submit to the employer, and the employer can not request more than one document to be submitted during the same 12-month period if the leave is for the same incident or the same abuser or perpetrator. 

Yes, an employee can ask their employer to make reasonable changes (“accommodations”) under the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) to help them stay safe and economically secure. If the employer doesn’t make the changes, they must tell the employee why doing so would be an “undue hardship.” An “undue hardship” means a change that would be very hard or expensive for the employer.

Reasonable changes must be made promptly.  Any pressing circumstances or danger must be considered by the employer in deciding these accommodations.  

Reasonable accommodations include an adjustment to a job structure, workplace, or work requirement, such as:

• A transfer or reassignment,
• Different work schedules or leave,
• Changed telephone number or seating assignment,
• Installation of a lock,
• Implementing a safety procedure,
• Help with documenting domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, stalking, or any other crime of violence that happens at the workplace, or
• Any reasonable accommodation in response to actual or threatened violence.

Yes, any information provided to an employer or requests made under the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) must be kept confidential, unless the employee consents in writing or it is required by law.

No. The employer cannot discriminate against any employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or any criminal violence, or who uses their rights under the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA). The employer cannot fire, harass, or discriminate against the employee in terms of pay, privileges, or terms of employment.

The employee can file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor within three years of the violation.

No. Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, an employer cannot refuse to hire, fire, harass, or discriminate in other ways against an employee because of their protective order status. “Order of protection status” means the employee is protected under a protective order such as an Order of Protection, Stalking No Contact Order, or sexual assault Civil No Contact Order under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, Article 112A of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, the Stalking No Contact Order Act, the Civil No Contact Order Act, or a protective order issued by a court in another state.

The Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA) requires most Illinois employers to provide their employees with a minimum of 40 hours of paid leave during each 12-month period. If the survivor is covered by this law, they may take paid leave for any reason. They are not required to provide a reason or documentation for the leave.

Yes. Under the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act, if a domestic violence survivor believes that their employment would jeopardize their safety or the safety of their spouse, minor child, or parent, then they can quit their job and still receive unemployment benefits. The employee must:

• Tell their employer the reason why they’re leaving and
• Give the Department of Employment Security (unemployment office):
  • A copy of their Order of Protection or other similar document, or
  • A police report or criminal charges documenting the domestic abuse, or
  • Medical documentation of the domestic abuse, or
  • Evidence of the domestic violence from a lawyer, clergy, social worker, health worker, or domestic violence shelter worker.

Yes. Under the Illinois Workplace Domestic Violence Prevention Act, employers can ask for a restraining order from a judge to prevent an abuser from entering the workplace. 

This is a separate order from an Order of Protection that a survivor can get for themselves that could keep the abuser away from the workplace.

Under the Illinois Gender Violence Act, a survivor of gender violence or domestic violence can sue the person who committed the gender-related violence or who encouraged or assisted the act of gender related violence, and get:

• Money for the costs the survivor paid because of the violence,
• Money for emotional distress,
• Money so that the people who harmed the survivor are punished,
• Lawyer fees,
• Court costs, and
• Anything else the court thinks the survivor should get.

Starting January 1, 2024, the survivor can also sue employers if they fail to "supervise, train, or monitor the employee who engaged in the gender-related violence" or "take remedial measures in response to the complaints or reports."

You can read more about survivor protection and rights in the workplace at:

• Illinois Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act: 820 ILCS 180/
• Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act: 820 ILCS 192/
• Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act: 820 ILCS 405/601
• Illinois Workplace Domestic Violence Prevention Act: 820 ILCS 275/
• The Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center - Stalking and the Workplace Fact Sheet

A survivor of domestic abuse or gender-related violence may want to get help from a lawyer if their employer is not cooperating with their reasonable requests to make their workplace safer.

You can use Get Legal Help to find a free legal aid organization or a private lawyer near you.