101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB1972

 

Introduced 2/15/2019, by Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
30 ILCS 105/5.891 new

    Creates the Healthy Workplace Act and amends the State Finance Act. Requires employers to provide specified paid sick days to employees. Sets forth the purposes for and manner in which the sick days may be used. Contains provisions regarding employer responsibilities, unlawful employer practices, and other matters. Provides that an employee who works in the State who is absent from work for specified reasons is entitled to earn and use a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick time during a 12-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid sick time under the provisions of the Act. Provides that it is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid paying sick time, or discipline an employee for the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in connection with the Act, including considering the use of paid sick time as a negative factor in an employment action that involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting, disciplining, or counting the paid sick time under a no-fault attendance policy. Provides that any employer that the Department of Labor or a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or with reckless disregard violated any provision of the Act or any rule adopted under the Act is subject to a civil money penalty to be paid to the employee not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense. Provides that the Department of Labor shall administer the Act. Authorizes individuals to file civil actions with respect to violations. Creates the Healthy Workplace Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.


LRB101 08180 JLS 53246 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB1972LRB101 08180 JLS 53246 b

1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Healthy Workplace Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings and purpose.
7    (a) The General Assembly finds:
8        (1) Nearly every worker in the State is likely to need
9    time off to attend to his or her own illness or that of a
10    family member. More than 30% of all private sector workers
11    in Illinois (almost 2,000,000 people) have no right to a
12    paid sick day. Over three-fourths of the lowest-wage
13    workers do not receive paid sick time and cannot forfeit a
14    day's work, so they often come into work sick.
15        (2) Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid
16    illness and injury by detecting illnesses early on and
17    shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees
18    with time off to attend to their own health care needs
19    ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient
20    employees. It will also reduce the spread of disease within
21    workplaces and to the public, such as customers, when
22    employees go to work sick, a practice known as
23    "presenteeism". Routine medical care results in savings by

 

 

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1    detecting and treating illness and injury early and
2    decreasing the need for emergency care. These savings
3    benefit public and private payers of health insurance.
4        (3) When the school of a worker's child is closed
5    because of extreme weather, it is often at the last minute
6    and workers cannot find someone to babysit, so they are
7    forced to stay at home to take care of their children.
8        (4) Nearly one-quarter of American women report
9    domestic violence and nearly one in 5 women report
10    experiencing rape at some time during their lives. Many
11    workers, men and women, need time off to care for their
12    health after these incidents or to take legal action.
13    Without paid time off, victims are in danger of losing
14    their jobs.
15        (5) Employed individuals who have court appointments,
16    sentencing hearings, probation, conditional discharge,
17    parole, or mandatory supervised release requirements, or
18    are visiting a family member in jail or prison need paid
19    time off work so that their families do not fall further
20    into economic jeopardy and so that they are not further
21    penalized, as these court-related events are frequently
22    scheduled during work hours.
23        (6) Employers that provide paid sick time see better
24    productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower turnover,
25    which saves them the costs of replacing and training
26    workers.

 

 

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1    (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace
2Act to provide at least a minimum time-off standard of paid
3sick time for all workers.
 
4    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
5    "Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological,
6adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, a child of
7a person standing in loco parentis, or any other individual
8whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of
9a child.
10    "Construction industry" means any constructing, altering,
11reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing,
12refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom
13fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking,
14painting, decorating, demolishing, or adding to or subtracting
15from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street,
16bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant,
17waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other
18structure, project, development, real property, or
19improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the
20performance of the work herein described involves the addition
21to or fabrication into, any structure, project, development,
22real property, or improvement herein described of any material
23or article of merchandise.
24    "Construction industry" also includes moving construction
25related materials on the job site or to or from the job site,

 

 

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1snow plowing, snow removal, and refuse collection.
2    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
3    "Employ" means to suffer or permit to work.
4    "Employee" means any person who performs services for an
5employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This
6includes persons working any number of hours, including a
7full-time or part-time status.
8    "Employee" does not include any person who the employer
9establishes:
10            (A) has been and will continue to be free from
11        control and direction over the performance of their
12        work, both under a contract of service and in fact;
13            (B) is engaged in an independently established
14        trade, occupation, profession or business; or
15            (C) is deemed a legitimate sole proprietor or
16        partnership.
17    A sole proprietor or partnership shall be deemed to be
18legitimate if the employer establishes that:
19        (1) the sole proprietor or partnership is performing
20    the service free from the direction or control over the
21    means and manner of providing the service, subject only to
22    the right of the employer for whom the service is provided
23    to specify the desired result;
24        (2) the sole proprietor or partnership is not subject
25    to cancellation or destruction upon severance of the
26    relationship with the employer;

 

 

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1        (3) the sole proprietor or partnership has a
2    substantial investment of capital in the sole
3    proprietorship or partnership beyond the ordinary tools
4    and equipment and a personal vehicle;
5        (4) the sole proprietor or partnership owns the capital
6    goods and gains the profits and bears the losses of the
7    sole proprietorship or partnership;
8        (5) the sole proprietor or partnership makes its
9    services available to the general public on a continuing
10    basis;
11        (6) the sole proprietor or partnership includes
12    services rendered on a Federal Income Tax Schedule as an
13    independent business or profession;
14        (7) the sole proprietor or partnership performs
15    services for the contractor under the sole proprietor's or
16    partnership's name;
17        (8) when the services being provided require a license
18    or permit, the sole proprietor or partnership obtains and
19    pays for the license or permit in the sole proprietorship's
20    or partnership's name;
21        (9) the sole proprietor or partnership furnishes the
22    tools and equipment necessary to provide the service;
23        (10) if necessary, the sole proprietor or partnership
24    hires its own employees without approval of the employer,
25    pays the employees without reimbursement from the employer
26    and reports the employees' income to the Internal Revenue

 

 

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1    Service;
2        (11) the employer does not represent the sole
3    proprietorship or partnership as an employee of the
4    employer to the public; and
5        (12) the sole proprietor or partnership has the right
6    to perform similar services for others on whatever basis
7    and whenever it chooses.
8    Nothing in this Act shall hinder or prohibit the ability of
9any employee, including those as defined in the federal
10Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 351 et seq.)
11from taking uncompensated time off due to any reason for leave
12allowable for paid sick time under Section 15 of this Act.
13    "Employer" means any individual; person; partnership;
14association; corporation; limited liability company; business
15trust; employment or labor placement agency or business where
16wages are made directly or indirectly by the agency or business
17for work undertaken by the employee under hire to a third party
18pursuant to a contact between the agency or business with the
19third party; the State of Illinois and local governments; or
20any political subdivision of the State or local government, or
21State or local government agency; for which one or more persons
22is gainfully employed, express or implied, whether lawfully or
23unlawfully employed, who employs a worker or who employs a
24worker not excluded as an employee pursuant to the definition
25of "employee". "Employer" does not include school districts
26organized under the School Code, park districts organized under

 

 

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1the Park District Code, or any City of Chicago Sister Agency
2under the Chicago Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance as
3of the effective date of this Act.
4    "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, child or
5parent of an employee's spouse, sibling, grandparent,
6grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose
7close association with the employee is the equivalent of a
8family relationship.
9    "Health care provider" means a person:
10        (1) who is:
11            (A) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
12        branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor
13        of medicine;
14            (B) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
15        branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor
16        of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine;
17            (C) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
18        branches or as an osteopathic physician in another
19        state or jurisdiction;
20            (D) a chiropractic physician licensed under the
21        Medical Practice Act of 1987; or
22            (E) any other person determined by final rule as of
23        the date this Act becomes law under the Family and
24        Medical Leave Act of 1993; and
25        (2) who is not employed by an employer to whom the
26    provider issues certifications under this Act.

 

 

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1    "Paid sick time" means a portion of or an entire scheduled
2or regular workday when an employee is unable to report to work
3because of a reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
4    "Parent" means a biological, adoptive, or foster parent, a
5stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, a person who stands in
6loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse, or any
7other individual whose close association with the employee is
8the equivalent of a parent.
9    "Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil
10union as defined by law.
11    "Victim services organization" means a nonprofit,
12nongovernmental organization that provides assistance to
13victims of domestic or sexual violence, including rape crisis
14centers, organizations carrying out a domestic violence
15program, organizations operating a shelter or providing
16counseling services, and a legal services organization or other
17organization providing assistance through the legal process.
 
18    Section 15. Provision of paid sick time.
19    (a) An employee who works in Illinois who is absent from
20work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) is entitled to
21earn and use a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick time during a
2212-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid sick time
23under the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for
24an employee shall be calculated annually from the date of hire
25or the effective date of this Act, whichever is later.

 

 

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1    (b) Paid sick time shall be provided to an employee by an
2employer to:
3        (1) care for the employee's own physical or mental
4    illness, injury, or health condition, or seek medical
5    diagnosis or care, or attend a medical appointment,
6    provided the employee is not an employee as defined in the
7    federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 351
8    et seq.);
9        (2) care for the employee's family member who is
10    suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or
11    health condition, or seek medical diagnosis or care, or
12    attend a medical appointment;
13        (3) care for a child whose school or place of care has
14    been closed by order of a public official due to a public
15    health emergency or to not go in to work because of the
16    closure of the employee's place of business by order of a
17    public official due to a public health emergency;
18        (4) be absent from work because the employee or the
19    employee's family member is the victim of:
20            (A) domestic violence as defined in Section 103(3)
21        of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986; or
22            (B) sexual violence, which means:
23                (i) any conduct proscribed by Article 11 of the
24            Criminal Code of 2012 except Sections 11-35 and
25            11-45;
26                (ii) Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of

 

 

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1            the Criminal Code of 2012, or
2                (iii) a similar provision of the Criminal Code
3            of 1961; or
4        (5) be absent from work to visit the employee's family
5    member who is in jail or prison, for the employee to attend
6    his or her own or his or her family member's appointment
7    regarding court sentencing, probation, conditional
8    discharge, parole, or mandatory supervised release
9    requirements, or any other court hearing or trial.
10    (c) Paid sick time shall accrue at the rate of one hour of
11paid sick time for every 40 hours worked up to a minimum of 40
12hours of paid sick time unless the employer selects a higher
13limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements
14of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1))
15shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes
16of paid sick time accrual unless their normal work week is less
17than 40 hours, in which case paid sick time accrues based on
18that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid
19sick time they need to use, provided that employers may set a
20reasonable minimum increment for the use of paid sick time not
21to exceed 4 hours per day.
22    (d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for
23paid sick time. However, employees engaged in an occupation in
24which gratuities or commissions have customarily and usually
25constituted and have been recognized as part of the
26remuneration for hire purposes shall be paid by their employer

 

 

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1at least the full minimum wage in the jurisdiction in which
2they are employed when paid sick time is taken. Paid sick time
3under this Act shall not be charged or otherwise credited to
4employee vacation accounts.
5    (e) Paid sick time shall begin to accrue at the
6commencement of employment or on the effective date of this
7Act, whichever is later. Employees shall be entitled to begin
8using paid sick time 180 days following commencement of their
9employment or 180 days following the effective date of this
10Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be
11construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing
12the use of paid sick time at an earlier date than this Section
13requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage
14employers from adopting or retaining paid sick time policies
15more generous than policies that comply with the requirements
16of this Act.
17    (f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying
18illness, injury, or health condition, or for time used pursuant
19to item (4) of subsection (b), when paid sick time used covers
20more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable documentation
21signed by a health care provider of the employee's choice
22involved in following or treating the illness, injury, or
23health condition, and indicating the need for the amount of
24sick time taken, shall be deemed acceptable certification.
25Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require an employee
26to provide as certification any information from a health care

 

 

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1provider that would be a disclosure in violation of Section
21177 of the Social Security Act or the regulations promulgated
3pursuant to the federal Health Insurance Portability and
4Accountability Act of 1996. If an employer possesses health
5information or any information related to domestic or sexual
6violence about an employee or employee's family member, the
7information shall be treated as confidential and not disclosed
8except with the permission of the affected employee. For paid
9sick time used pursuant to item (4) of subsection (b), any one
10of the following is acceptable documentation, and only one of
11the following shall be required: a police report, court
12document, any reasonable documentation signed by a health care
13provider, or signed statement from an attorney, a member of the
14clergy, a victim services organization or advocate, or the
15employee. It is up to the employee to determine which
16documentation to submit. If a document has been submitted, the
17employer shall not request or require any other document if the
18reason for the sick time is related to the same incident of
19violence or the same perpetrator of the violence. The employer
20shall not delay the commencement of leave taken for purposes of
21subsection (b) nor delay pay for this period on the basis that
22the employer has not yet received the certification.
23    (g) Paid sick time shall be provided upon the oral request
24of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick time under this
25Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer
26with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is

 

 

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1to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the
2employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practical
3after the employee is aware of the necessity of the leave. An
4employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick
5time under this Act, that the employee search for or find a
6replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee
7is on paid sick time leave.
8    (h) Paid sick time shall carry over annually to the extent
9not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act
10shall be construed to require an employer to allow use of more
11than 40 hours of paid sick time for an employee unless the
12employer agrees to do so.
13    (i) It is unlawful for an employer to interfere with,
14restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid
15paying sick time, or discipline an employee for the exercise
16of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in
17connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid
18sick time as a negative factor in an employment action that
19involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting,
20disciplining, or counting the paid sick time under a no-fault
21attendance policy.
22    (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this
23Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
24any family member under any group health plan for the duration
25of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
26as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the

 

 

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1leave.
2    (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring
3financial or other payment to an employee from an employer upon
4the employee's termination, resignation, retirement, or other
5separation from employment for accrued paid sick time that has
6not been used.
7    (l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit
8an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and
9including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick
10time provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than
11those described in this Section.
12    (m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division,
13entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer,
14the employee is entitled to all paid sick time accrued at the
15prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all
16paid sick time as provided in this Section. If there is a
17separation from employment and the employee is rehired within
1812 months of separation by the same employer, previously
19accrued paid sick time that had not been used shall be
20reinstated. The employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid
21sick time at the commencement of employment following a
22separation from employment of 12 months or less.
23    (n) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
24with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to
25bargain collectively with their employers through
26representatives of their own choosing in order to establish

 

 

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1wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable
2minimum standards of the provisions of this Act. Nothing in
3this Section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change
4the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements in
5force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective
6date of this Act, requirements of this Section may be waived in
7a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the
8waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and
9unambiguous terms. In no event shall this Section apply to any
10employee working in the construction industry who is covered by
11a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.
 
12    Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.
13    (a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
14make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
15and the amount of paid sick time taken by employees for a
16period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department
17access to such records, with appropriate notice and a mutually
18agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of
19this Section. In addition, the records shall be preserved for
20the duration of any claim pending pursuant to Section 35 of
21this Act.
22    (b) An agreement by employees to waive their rights under
23this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of Section 15,
24is void as against public policy.
25    (c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies

 

 

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1with the requirements of this Act are not required to modify
2the a policy if such policy offers an employee the option, at
3the employee's discretion, to take paid sick time that is at
4least equivalent to the paid sick time described in this Act.
5    (d) An employer shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous
6place on the premises of the employer where notices to
7employees are customarily posted, and include in an employee
8manual or policy if the employer has one, a notice, to be
9prepared by the Department, summarizing the requirements of
10this Act and information pertaining to the filing of a charge.
11If an employer's workforce is comprised of a significant
12portion of workers who are not literate in English, the
13employer is responsible for providing the notice in a language
14in which the employees are literate. An employer who willfully
15violates the notice and posting requirements of this Section
16shall be subject to a civil penalty to be paid to the employee
17in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate offense.
 
18    Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It is unlawful for
19any employer to take any adverse action against an employee
20because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to
21exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which
22such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3)
23supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act. Such
24unlawful employer practices include, but are not limited to,
25any reference to the employee's or any of the employee's family

 

 

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1members' citizenship or immigration status, or any threat to
2contact or actual contact with any local, State, or federal
3government entities regarding the employee's or any of the
4employee's family members' citizenship or immigration status,
5or sexual harassment. Exercising rights under this Act includes
6filing an action or instituting or causing to be instituted any
7proceeding under or related to this Act; providing or agreeing
8to provide any information in connection with any inquiry or
9proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act; or
10testifying to or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or
11proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act.
 
12    Section 30. Department responsibilities.
13    (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act
14and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act
15for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the
16powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the
17Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The
18Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in
19connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act,
20including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to
21issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that
22this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the
23parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an
24Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in
25accordance with hearing procedures established by rule.

 

 

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1Administrative decisions shall be reviewed under the
2Administrative Review Law.
3    (b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties
4prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that
5comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to
6supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to
7the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may
8bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of
9unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be
10required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department
11on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the
12employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty
13collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall
14be deposited into the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund
15created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing
16this Act.
17    (c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the
18collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.
 
19    Section 35. Enforcement.
20    (a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this
21Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may,
22within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting
23the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a
24complaint with the Department or file a civil action.
25    (b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a

 

 

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1claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit
2court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory
3damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive
4damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in
5addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert
6witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the
7defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing a
8complaint with the Department. Administrative decisions are
9reviewable under the Administrative Review Law.
10    (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a
11preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or
12with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or
13any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money
14penalty to be paid to the employee not to exceed $2,500 for
15each separate offense.
 
16    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
17Section 5.891 as follows:
 
18    (30 ILCS 105/5.891 new)
19    Sec. 5.891. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
 
20    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
21severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
22    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
23becoming law.