Overtime in Illinois
Daily overtime
Illinois has no daily overtime threshold. Overtime is counted across the workweek only. Just California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado count it by the day.
Weekly overtime
Under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law an employer may not employ someone for a workweek of more than forty hours unless the hours beyond forty are paid at not less than one and a half times the regular rate. The threshold matches federal law; the exemptions do not match it exactly, so being exempt federally does not automatically make you exempt in Illinois.
The seventh consecutive day
Illinois pays no seventh-day premium — that exists only in California. It does, however, require at least twenty-four consecutive hours of rest in every consecutive seven-day period. Since 2023 that period is a rolling seven days rather than a calendar week, which closed a gap that had allowed twelve straight days of work spanning two weeks.
How often you must be paid
Every employer must pay all wages earned during a semi-monthly pay period at least semi-monthly. Executive, administrative and professional employees, and commissions, may be paid once a month. There are separate deadlines for actually handing the money over: wages for a semi-monthly or biweekly period are due within thirteen days of the end of the period; wages for a weekly period within seven days; daily wages the same day where possible and in any event within twenty-four hours; and executive, administrative and professional wages within twenty-one calendar days.
When your last paycheck is due
This is the question people search for most, and in several states the answer depends on whether you left or were let go. In Illinois:
- If you were fired or laid off: At the time of separation if possible, and no later than the next regular payday.
- If you quit: At the time of separation if possible, and no later than the next regular payday.
Illinois uses one rule for both. Every employer must pay the final compensation of a separated employee in full at the time of separation if possible, and in no case later than the next regularly scheduled payday. "Final compensation" is defined broadly — wages, salaries, earned commissions, earned bonuses, the monetary equivalent of earned vacation and earned holidays, and anything else owed under a contract or agreement — so accrued unused vacation is part of the last cheque in Illinois.
Meal and rest breaks
An employee scheduled to work seven and a half continuous hours or more must be permitted a meal period of at least twenty minutes, beginning no later than five hours after the start of the work period. Since 1 January 2023 an additional twenty-minute meal period is required for every further four and a half continuous hours worked — so a twelve-hour shift carries two. Time spent in the toilet does not count as the meal period.
Illinois requires no paid rest breaks, but reasonable restroom breaks must be allowed in addition to the meal period. Federal rules still make any break of under twenty minutes paid working time.
The Illinois minimum wage
The Illinois minimum wage reached $15.00 an hour on 1 January 2025 and is unchanged for 2026 — the phase-in schedule that began in 2020 has finished, and no further statewide increase is scheduled. Chicago and Cook County set higher local rates that move on their own timetable, so check your city as well as the state.
Figure checked 26 July 2026, effective 1 January 2025. Minimum wages move on a schedule and local ordinances move on their own — if you are reading this well after that date, check the agency link below before relying on the number.
If you have not been paid
Claims go to the Illinois Department of Labor through its online wage claim application; you need an Illinois Public ID account to use it, and the old paper complaint forms are no longer accepted.
Deadline: One year after the wages or final compensation were due, for a claim filed with the Department. A court action under the Act has a longer limitations period, so a claim that is too late for the Department is not necessarily too late altogether.
What this page does not cover
- Whether the rules apply to you at all. Overtime and break rules apply to non-exempt employees. If you are genuinely exempt, or an independent contractor, most of this page is not about you — and misclassification is common enough that being called exempt is not the same as being exempt.
- Local ordinances. Cities and counties set their own minimum wages, paid sick leave and, in some places, scheduling rules. Only the state-level position is described here.
- Industry-specific rules. Agriculture, transport, health care, public employment and several other sectors carry their own wage orders and exemptions that override the general position.
- Your contract or union agreement, which can promise more than the law requires — never less.
- This is not legal advice. It is a cited summary of published law, written to be checked. The agency above answers questions for free.
Common questions
Does Illinois have daily overtime?
No. Illinois counts overtime weekly, over forty hours in a workweek. Only California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado have a daily threshold.
When is my final paycheck due in Illinois?
At the time of separation if that is possible, and in no case later than your next regularly scheduled payday. The same rule applies whether you quit or were fired.
Does my employer owe me my unused vacation when I leave in Illinois?
Yes, if it was earned. Illinois defines final compensation to include the monetary equivalent of earned vacation and earned holidays, so accrued unused vacation is part of the final cheque.
Am I entitled to a lunch break in Illinois?
If you are scheduled for seven and a half continuous hours or more, you must be permitted at least twenty minutes, starting no later than five hours into the shift, plus a further twenty minutes for every additional four and a half continuous hours.
Can my employer make me work seven days in a row in Illinois?
Not without twenty-four consecutive hours of rest in each consecutive seven-day period. Since 2023 that is a rolling seven days rather than a calendar week, which closed the gap that used to allow twelve straight days across two weeks.