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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Violence in the workplace stemming from a domestic
3partner of an employee is disturbing and costly; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The unfortunate reality for many victims of
5domestic abuse that manage to leave their abuser is that they
6are still able to be tracked down at their place of employment;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, Data on domestic violence shows that during the
9few months after a breakup the potential victim is at the
10greatest risk of suffering from an act of violence from a
11former partner; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Employees need reasonable accommodations from
13their employers in order to minimize the risk to the employee
14from a former domestic partner as well as the risk of violence
15to other employees; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Many employers have well-developed security plans
17in place to protect employees from risks, including the risk of
18a domestic partner entering the workplace with an intent to
19inflict violence; and
 
20    WHEREAS, A dangerous communications gap often exists in

 

 

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1which the employee who is aware of the danger from a former
2domestic partner does not share this information with the
3employer because he or she does not want to face retaliation
4from the employer; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Current State law protects employees from
6employer retaliation due to disclosing a potential risk of
7workplace violence from a current or former domestic partner;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, This statutory protection is not widely known or
10understood; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Department of Labor currently has statutory
12authority to issue a posting requirement to inform employees
13and employers of this statutory right to disclose the existence
14of a risk of workplace violence without retaliation of any kind
15pursuant to 820 ILCS 180, but to date has not chosen to issue a
16posting requirement with that language; and
 
17    WHEREAS, If the Department of Labor were to issue a revised
18posting requirement with clear language that informs employers
19and employees of the right to disclose the risk of workplace
20violence due to a current or former domestic partner without
21any retaliation, more employees would likely disclose to their
22employers the risk they are facing and more employers could

 

 

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1take necessary precautions to protect their employees from the
2risk of violence; therefore, be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
4HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
5urge the Department of Labor to issue revised posting
6requirements that clearly and unambiguously inform employers
7and employees of the legal prohibition on retaliation or firing
8of any employee who discloses the existence of a current or
9former domestic partner that represents a threat of workplace
10violence in order to help save lives; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12delivered to the Department of Labor Acting Director Anna Hui.