Save Jobs and Support Wilmette Businesses: Opt OUT of Cook County's Mandated Minimum Wage/Sick Leave Ordinance

Cook County is trying to dictate to Wilmette small business owners what they must pay employees, and how much paid sick leave they must provide.* But most Wilmette business owners already pay well over the current minimum wage and offer generous paid sick leave. They don't need Cook County to tell them how to run their businesses.

What our entrepreneurs do need is flexibility so they can successfully manage their business in both prosperous and lean times, through seasonal variations, or through any unexpected hardship. This means deciding what wages and benefits to offer.

After imposing the highest county sales tax in the nation - and don't forget the sugar tax fiasco - Cook County is the least qualified governing body in the country to tell a small business owner how to run a sustainable business.

Nobody knows or invests in a small business like its owner. Tell the Wilmette Village Board to trust and support our local entrepreneurs. Tell them you want to see a thriving Wilmette. Tell them they should reaffirm their decision to OPT OUT of Cook County's minimum wage/sick leave mandate like 80% of other Cook County municipalities have done.

The final vote by the Village Board happens June 26!

* The Cook County ordinance takes the mandatory hourly minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2020, and it's pegged to the consumer price index after that for which the sky is the limit! The sick leave ordinance requires employees receive up to 40 hours a year of paid sick leave, pro-rated for part time workers. Unlike the minimum wage mandate, the paid sick leave requirement applies to workers under the age of 18, meaning that 16-year-old part time workers in Wilmette would receive the benefit. Government entities, i.e., the Wilmette park district, are exempt from the ordinance entirely.