093_HB2376eng

 
HB2376 Engrossed                     LRB093 06976 AMC 07125 b

 1        AN ACT concerning health care.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Short  title.  This  Act  may be cited as the Nursing and
 5    Hospital Worker Protection Act.

 6        Section 5. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:
 7        "Employee" means any individual permitted to work  by  an
 8    employer  in  an occupation, including both individuals hired
 9    directly by  the  company  and  those  hired  pursuant  to  a
10    contract with an outside entity, such as a staffing agency.
11        "Employer"  means any person or entity licensed under the
12    Hospital Licensing Act, or the parent or holding  company  of
13    such person or entity, who directly or indirectly, or through
14    an  agent  or  any other person, employs or exercises control
15    over the wages, hours, or working conditions of any person.
16        "Health System" means a company (i) that is non-profit or
17    for-profit, religious or non-religious and  (ii)  that  owns,
18    operates, or controls more than 2 hospitals.
19        "Hospital"  means  an  entity licensed under the Hospital
20    Licensing Act.
21        "Nurse" means a person licensed as a registered nurse  or
22    registered  professional nurse under the Nursing and Advanced
23    Practice Nursing Act.
24        "Violation" means a  finding  by  a  court,  governmental
25    commission,  or  neutral  arbiter  that wage and hour laws or
26    regulations were violated.
27        "Wage and hour laws or regulations" means  any  State  or
28    federal law that regulates the hours and wages paid or worked
29    by registered nurses.

30        Section 10. Limits on mandatory overtime. A nurse may not
 
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 1    be  disciplined, discriminated against, dismissed, discharged
 2    or retaliated against, or made subject to any  other  adverse
 3    employment  decision  for  refusing  to  work  more  than  12
 4    consecutive  hours a day or 40 hours per week. A nurse may be
 5    disciplined for refusing mandatory overtime in the case of an
 6    unforeseen emergency when overtime  is  required  as  a  last
 7    resort  to  ensure patient safety. A nurse who is mandated to
 8    work more than 12 consecutive hours,  as  permitted  by  this
 9    Section,  must  be  allowed  at least 24 consecutive hours of
10    off-duty time immediately following the worked overtime.

11        Section 15.  Wage  and  hour  provisions  for  registered
12    nurses.
13        (a)  Any  employer  that is a health system as defined in
14    this Act and commits more than 500  violations  of  wage  and
15    hour  laws  or  regulations  for  registered  nurses within a
16    3-year period shall be fined  up  to  5%  of  gross  hospital
17    patient revenues.
18        (b)  The fine monies shall be allocated to the Department
19    of Public Health for nursing scholarships awarded pursuant to
20    the  Nursing  Education  Scholarship  Law  in addition to any
21    other funds set aside and appropriated for that purpose.
22        (c)  The  Attorney  General  shall   determine   if   500
23    violations  were  committed  and set the penalty based on the
24    severity of the violations.

25        Section  20.  Rest  periods.  A  hospital  employee  must
26    receive a 30-minute meal period and 2 15-minute rest  periods
27    for  every 5 hours of work. Pursuant to mutual consent by the
28    employer and the  employee,  an  employee  may  (i)  waive  a
29    30-minute  meal period if the day's work will be completed in
30    no more than 6 hours or  (ii)  may  waive  the  second  of  2
31    30-minute  meal periods when the day's work will be completed
32    in no more than 12 hours and the first 30-minute meal  period
 
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 1    was not waived.
 2        When  an  employer fails to provide a meal or rest period
 3    in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Act, the
 4    employer shall pay the employee one additional hour of pay at
 5    the employee's regular rate of compensation for each  workday
 6    that the meal or rest period is not provided.

 7        Section  99.  Effective  date. This Act takes effect upon
 8    becoming law.