Illinois To Become Second State To Offer NICU Leave

It's summer and new laws are getting ready to go into effect.

One Illinois State Representative doesn't want Illinois families to go through a situation like she did.

State Rep. Laura Faver Dias, who was a teacher at the time, told NBC Chicago her story:

I gave birth at 27 weeks...We were in the NICU for 89 days. So, we had a long, hard stay in the NICU, and I would go every day...I saw how many parents were not able to be in the NICU. It’s really critical that moms and dads can be there during that time, but you also have to save time for when you bring your babies home from the NICU.

Her efforts have resulted in Illinois' new Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act.

It guarantees parents who have babies in the NICU an additional 20 days of unpaid leave. That's in addition to the 12 weeks of federally-mandated through the FMLA.

There's some specifics from the bill, which basically says:

• if the parent has an employer who has 16-50 employees: maximum 10 days of "unpaid neonatal intensive care leave" as long as the baby is in the NICU
• if the parent has an employer with 50+ employees: maximum 20 days of unpaid neonatal intensive care leave

Illinois is the 2nd state to require job-protected NICU leave. Colorado does too.

Illinois' new bill passed bipartisan in August 2025 and will go into effect on June 1st this year.

There's no federal law about paid family or parental leave. FMLA applies to organizations with 50+ employees, so Illinois' bill also helps smaller employers.