Chicago has some of the most detailed domestic worker protections in the country, including a written contract requirement. A good agency will know them. Either way, as the employer, they’re yours to follow.
From the North Shore suburbs to Lincoln Park and the West Loop, Chicago families hire for long workdays and longer winters. Agree up front on snow days, school closures and who covers when the nanny can’t get in.
If you live in the suburbs, check which rules apply where the work happens: Chicago’s city ordinances apply inside the city.
In most placements, you, not the agency, are the nanny’s employer. That makes the household-employment rules your responsibility.
A written contract is required in Chicago. Since January 1, 2022, Chicago requires a written agreement that states the wage and the weekly schedule, with each shift’s start and end times. On request, it must be in the worker’s primary language.
Overtime and a day of rest. Under the Illinois Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, overtime applies after 40 hours a week. Domestic workers are entitled to 24 consecutive hours off in every 7 days; if she agrees to work that day, those hours are paid at the overtime rate. Chicago also requires a 20-minute break per 7.5-hour shift.
Paid leave and sick leave. Chicago’s Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance accrues 1 hour of paid leave and 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked.
Minimum wage. Chicago’s minimum wage is higher than Illinois’s and covers all domestic workers regardless of employer size. It changes each July; check the city’s current rate.
Pay, tax and labor rules vary by state and city. This guide explains common practice; a household payroll provider, accountant or your state labor department can confirm what applies to you.
Tammy Gold, LCSW, spent years matching families with nannies before writing Secrets of the Nanny Whisperer (Penguin). Today she works beside families, and their agencies, as a neutral expert: defining the job, interviewing candidates, checking references and setting up the first 30 days.
Every agency describes itself as the best. These are the signals that separate a great one:
Many families find a great nanny without an agency, through referrals, local parent groups and job sites. You save the fee and take on the screening yourself: interviews, reference checks, a paid trial day and a written agreement. See how to hire a nanny.
Tammy Gold, LCSW, is not an agency and has no stake in which candidate you choose. By video, she works with families in Chicago and anywhere else: defining the job, reviewing candidates an agency sends, joining your interviews, and planning the first 30 days with your new nanny.
Keep the agency, or skip it, and add someone with no stake in which candidate you choose. $189 for an hour, by video.
$189
Screening call, reference questions, clinical interview, and trial-day checklist.
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Tammy is not a placement agency and has no affiliation with, or financial interest in, any agency, daycare or payroll service. She provides independent expert guidance; decisions remain your family’s. Legal, tax and licensing questions belong with the appropriate professional or state agency.