Will County Gazette

Sen. Michael Hastings (D-Frankfort) supported legislation that would allow Illinois airline employees to take paid leave to attend to their sick loved ones.

Workers in the airline industry have to choose between caring for a family member and earning a paycheck under the state’s law as they are exempt from using accrued sick time for relatives, according to a release from Hasting’s website. The bill has advanced from the Senate Labor Committee.

“This morning [April 8], I was joined by my friends State Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr., Corliss King, Suzie Lyons and several of their coworkers to advocate for legislation that would give airline employees the chance to use earned sick time to care for sick family members,” Hastings said in an April 8 Facebook post. “This is, quite simply, the right thing to do for working families in Illinois.”

King and Lyons are flight attendants for Southwest Airlines who have experienced the effects of having and not having sick time flexibility. 

Before Illinois’ sick time law removing coverage for airline employees in 2017, King was allowed to use her sick time to help care for her husband, who was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. 

Lyons had to take unpaid leave and lost over a month of income as she was unable to use more than 300 hours of accrued sick time to care for her brother when he had a heart attack.