Chicago Employers: Get Ready for Minimum Wage and Fair Workweek Changes On July 1, 2025
Chicago remains one of the most regulation-heavy cities in the country when it comes to employment law. For employers, staying compliant isn’t optional—it’s mission-critical.
Two significant legal updates take effect on July 1, 2025, and they’ll impact everything from payroll to scheduling protocols. Here’s what you need to know.
Minimum Wage Increases Across the Board
Effective July 1, 2025, Chicago’s minimum wage will increase under the city’s Minimum Wage Ordinance:
  • The standard minimum wage will rise to $16.60 per hour.
  • For youth and transitional employment programs, the minimum wage will increase to $16.50 per hour.
  • Tipped employees—including servers, bartenders, and other front-of-house staff—will earn a new minimum wage of $12.62 per hour. Under the One Fair Wage Ordinance, this figure will rise by 8% annually until it matches the citywide standard minimum wage by July 1, 2028.
If you rely on tip credits or use different wage classifications, now is the time to verify your pay practices and make system updates.
Expanded Coverage Under the Fair Workweek Ordinance
Also on July 1, 2025, more employees will fall under the protections of Chicago’s Fair Workweek Ordinance, which governs scheduling predictability and compensation for late changes.
The ordinance applies to workers in seven key industries:
  • Building services
  • Healthcare
  • Hotel
  • Manufacturing
  • Restaurant
  • Retail
  • Warehouse services
To be covered, employees must earn $32.60 per hour or less, or $62,561.90 per year or less.
Covered employers include businesses with at least 100 employees globally (or 250 employees and 30 locations for restaurants). These employers must:
  • Provide work schedules with advance notice
  • Compensate employees for schedule changes made without sufficient notice
  • Give workers a written estimate of their schedule at the time of hire
If your workforce includes part-time, hourly, or rotating staff in any of these industries, the new compensation thresholds could bring you into coverage for the first time—or expand your existing obligations.
How to Prepare—and Stay Ready
Both of these updates demand proactive planning. Employers should review:
  • Current wage rates for all categories of employees
  • Classification and scheduling practices
  • Software tools and internal protocols used for compliance
But even more than that, Chicago employers need systems that keep pace with change—not just a one-time fix.
That’s why we created Workplace Law Ready™, a flat-fee compliance solution designed specifically for Illinois employers operating in complex legal environments like Chicago and Cook County. The program includes:
  • A compliant, customized employee handbook tailored to your real practices—not off-the-shelf boilerplate
  • Onboarding and termination tools to help you hire and separate the right way
  • Legally required postings and self-guided harassment prevention training
  • A live HR law training session for owners and managers—so your leadership team knows how to spot and avoid the next issue before it starts
Whether you’re just trying to stay above water or looking to streamline your policies with confidence, we make sure you’re prepared for what’s coming next—not just what already happened.
Chicago’s labor standards are enforced by the Office of Labor Standards (OLS) within the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. To access official resources, visit Chicago.gov/LaborStandards.
If you’re not sure whether these changes affect your business—or if your systems are still built around yesterday’s laws—now is the time to get ready.

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