Cook County Vaccine Mandate, Minimum Wage Reminder

Cook County Announces Vaccine Requirement for Customers at Suburban Restaurants, Bars, Venues; Effective Monday, January 3

Today, Cook County announced that any individual 5 years of age or older will be required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to dine indoors, visit gyms, or enjoy entertainment venues where food or drink are being served, effective Monday, January 3. Click here to read the announcement. These regulations mirror the city of Chicago's vaccine requirements.

Click here to visit the Cook County mitigation webpage, with vaccine requirement details, required signage, and more.

Below are key provisions of the new requirements of restaurants, bars, and other indoor dining establishments:

• Effective with January 3, 2022, all indoor settings where food or drink are served for on-premises consumption are required by CCDPH Mitigation Order 2021-11 to check the vaccination status of their patrons, and only allow entry for fully-vaccinated individuals age 5 and older. 
  • Additionally, employees of businesses are required to be vaccinated, or must provide a weekly negative COVID-19 test.
• Businesses are required to post signage that advises their patrons of this requirement at the public entrances of the business.
  • Click here for sample signage in English.
• Businesses must also develop a written plan to document how they will enforce the order.
• Individuals are exempted if they are entering an establishment for less than 10 minutes to order or carry out food, make a delivery or use the bathroom.
• Indoors means any part of business subject to this Order with:
  • A roof or overhang that is enclosed on at least three sides; or
  • A temporary outdoor structure that holds multiple parties that has less than 50% of the sides open to allow airflow; or
  • An outdoor dining structure meant for individual parties that does not have adequate ventilation to allow for four to six air exchanges per hour.
    

As we have stressed for months, the IRA strongly supports vaccinations for everyone in order to help get the pandemic behind us. As a host of different mitigations and restrictions were under consideration in Cook County, we stressed the need for struggling restaurants to be able to safely serve customers, keep people employed, maintain capacity, and have the chance to stay in business long-term.

These vaccine requirements will undoubtedly be a significant challenge for suburban restaurants to implement. The IRA remains fully committed to helping all restaurants comply with Cook County and Chicago's requirements, and pressing local leaders for more support for restaurants and their team members.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

State of Illinois Minimum Wage and Tipped Wage, Cook County Tipped Wage Increase as of January 1, 2022

As a reminder, the state of Illinois' minimum wage and tipped wage rates are set to increase on January 1, 2022. Click here to review the current and upcoming wage rates for the state of Illinois.

Effective January 1, the new minimum wage and tipped wage rates for the state of Illinois are as follows:

• Minimum wage rate - $12.00/hour
• Tipped wage rate - $7.20/hour

Additionally, the tipped wage in Cook County (which is currently tied to the state of Illinois' tipped wage rate) will also increase accordingly with the state. The tipped wage rate in Cook County will be $7.20/hour, effective January 1. Click here to review Cook County's minimum wage law.