Public Act 100-0100
 
SB1697 EnrolledLRB100 08917 JLS 19060 b

    AN ACT concerning human rights.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended by
changing Section 2-102 as follows:
 
    (775 ILCS 5/2-102)  (from Ch. 68, par. 2-102)
    Sec. 2-102. Civil Rights Violations - Employment. It is a
civil rights violation:
    (A) Employers. For any employer to refuse to hire, to
segregate, or to act with respect to recruitment, hiring,
promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or
apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure or terms,
privileges or conditions of employment on the basis of unlawful
discrimination or citizenship status.
    (A-5) Language. For an employer to impose a restriction
that has the effect of prohibiting a language from being spoken
by an employee in communications that are unrelated to the
employee's duties.
    For the purposes of this subdivision (A-5), "language"
means a person's native tongue, such as Polish, Spanish, or
Chinese. "Language" does not include such things as slang,
jargon, profanity, or vulgarity.
    (B) Employment Agency. For any employment agency to fail or
refuse to classify properly, accept applications and register
for employment referral or apprenticeship referral, refer for
employment, or refer for apprenticeship on the basis of
unlawful discrimination or citizenship status or to accept from
any person any job order, requisition or request for referral
of applicants for employment or apprenticeship which makes or
has the effect of making unlawful discrimination or
discrimination on the basis of citizenship status a condition
of referral.
    (C) Labor Organization. For any labor organization to
limit, segregate or classify its membership, or to limit
employment opportunities, selection and training for
apprenticeship in any trade or craft, or otherwise to take, or
fail to take, any action which affects adversely any person's
status as an employee or as an applicant for employment or as
an apprentice, or as an applicant for apprenticeships, or
wages, tenure, hours of employment or apprenticeship
conditions on the basis of unlawful discrimination or
citizenship status.
    (D) Sexual Harassment. For any employer, employee, agent of
any employer, employment agency or labor organization to engage
in sexual harassment; provided, that an employer shall be
responsible for sexual harassment of the employer's employees
by nonemployees or nonmanagerial and nonsupervisory employees
only if the employer becomes aware of the conduct and fails to
take reasonable corrective measures.
    (E) Public Employers. For any public employer to refuse to
permit a public employee under its jurisdiction who takes time
off from work in order to practice his or her religious beliefs
to engage in work, during hours other than such employee's
regular working hours, consistent with the operational needs of
the employer and in order to compensate for work time lost for
such religious reasons. Any employee who elects such deferred
work shall be compensated at the wage rate which he or she
would have earned during the originally scheduled work period.
The employer may require that an employee who plans to take
time off from work in order to practice his or her religious
beliefs provide the employer with a notice of his or her
intention to be absent from work not exceeding 5 days prior to
the date of absence.
    (E-5) Religious discrimination. For any employer to impose
upon a person as a condition of obtaining or retaining
employment, including opportunities for promotion,
advancement, or transfer, any terms or conditions that would
require such person to violate or forgo a sincerely held
practice of his or her religion including, but not limited to,
the wearing of any attire, clothing, or facial hair in
accordance with the requirements of his or her religion,
unless, after engaging in a bona fide effort, the employer
demonstrates that it is unable to reasonably accommodate the
employee's or prospective employee's sincerely held religious
belief, practice, or observance without undue hardship on the
conduct of the employer's business.
    Nothing in this Section prohibits an employer from enacting
a dress code or grooming policy that may include restrictions
on attire, clothing, or facial hair to maintain workplace
safety or food sanitation.
    (F) Training and Apprenticeship Programs. For any
employer, employment agency or labor organization to
discriminate against a person on the basis of age in the
selection, referral for or conduct of apprenticeship or
training programs.
    (G) Immigration-Related Practices.
        (1) for an employer to request for purposes of
    satisfying the requirements of Section 1324a(b) of Title 8
    of the United States Code, as now or hereafter amended,
    more or different documents than are required under such
    Section or to refuse to honor documents tendered that on
    their face reasonably appear to be genuine; or
        (2) for an employer participating in the E-Verify
    Program, as authorized by 8 U.S.C. 1324a, Notes, Pilot
    Programs for Employment Eligibility Confirmation (enacted
    by PL 104-208, div. C title IV, subtitle A) to refuse to
    hire, to segregate, or to act with respect to recruitment,
    hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for
    training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure
    or terms, privileges or conditions of employment without
    following the procedures under the E-Verify Program.
    (H) (Blank).
    (I) Pregnancy. For an employer to refuse to hire, to
segregate, or to act with respect to recruitment, hiring,
promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or
apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure or terms,
privileges or conditions of employment on the basis of
pregnancy, childbirth, or medical or common conditions related
to pregnancy or childbirth. Women affected by pregnancy,
childbirth, or medical or common conditions related to
pregnancy or childbirth shall be treated the same for all
employment-related purposes, including receipt of benefits
under fringe benefit programs, as other persons not so affected
but similar in their ability or inability to work, regardless
of the source of the inability to work or employment
classification or status.
    (J) Pregnancy; reasonable accommodations.
        (1) If after a job applicant or employee, including a
    part-time, full-time, or probationary employee, requests a
    reasonable accommodation, for an employer to not make
    reasonable accommodations for any medical or common
    condition of a job applicant or employee related to
    pregnancy or childbirth, unless the employer can
    demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue
    hardship on the ordinary operation of the business of the
    employer. The employer may request documentation from the
    employee's health care provider concerning the need for the
    requested reasonable accommodation or accommodations to
    the same extent documentation is requested for conditions
    related to disability if the employer's request for
    documentation is job-related and consistent with business
    necessity. The employer may require only the medical
    justification for the requested accommodation or
    accommodations, a description of the reasonable
    accommodation or accommodations medically advisable, the
    date the reasonable accommodation or accommodations became
    medically advisable, and the probable duration of the
    reasonable accommodation or accommodations. It is the duty
    of the individual seeking a reasonable accommodation or
    accommodations to submit to the employer any documentation
    that is requested in accordance with this paragraph.
    Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, the
    employer may require documentation by the employee's
    health care provider to determine compliance with other
    laws. The employee and employer shall engage in a timely,
    good faith, and meaningful exchange to determine effective
    reasonable accommodations.
        (2) For an employer to deny employment opportunities or
    benefits to or take adverse action against an otherwise
    qualified job applicant or employee, including a
    part-time, full-time, or probationary employee, if the
    denial or adverse action is based on the need of the
    employer to make reasonable accommodations to the known
    medical or common conditions related to the pregnancy or
    childbirth of the applicant or employee.
        (3) For an employer to require a job applicant or
    employee, including a part-time, full-time, or
    probationary employee, affected by pregnancy, childbirth,
    or medical or common conditions related to pregnancy or
    childbirth to accept an accommodation when the applicant or
    employee did not request an accommodation and the applicant
    or employee chooses not to accept the employer's
    accommodation.
        (4) For an employer to require an employee, including a
    part-time, full-time, or probationary employee, to take
    leave under any leave law or policy of the employer if
    another reasonable accommodation can be provided to the
    known medical or common conditions related to the pregnancy
    or childbirth of an employee. No employer shall fail or
    refuse to reinstate the employee affected by pregnancy,
    childbirth, or medical or common conditions related to
    pregnancy or childbirth to her original job or to an
    equivalent position with equivalent pay and accumulated
    seniority, retirement, fringe benefits, and other
    applicable service credits upon her signifying her intent
    to return or when her need for reasonable accommodation
    ceases, unless the employer can demonstrate that the
    accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the
    ordinary operation of the business of the employer.
    For the purposes of this subdivision (J), "reasonable
accommodations" means reasonable modifications or adjustments
to the job application process or work environment, or to the
manner or circumstances under which the position desired or
held is customarily performed, that enable an applicant or
employee affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or medical or
common conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth to be
considered for the position the applicant desires or to perform
the essential functions of that position, and may include, but
is not limited to: more frequent or longer bathroom breaks,
breaks for increased water intake, and breaks for periodic
rest; private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk and
breastfeeding; seating; assistance with manual labor; light
duty; temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous
position; the provision of an accessible worksite; acquisition
or modification of equipment; job restructuring; a part-time or
modified work schedule; appropriate adjustment or
modifications of examinations, training materials, or
policies; reassignment to a vacant position; time off to
recover from conditions related to childbirth; and leave
necessitated by pregnancy, childbirth, or medical or common
conditions resulting from pregnancy or childbirth.
    For the purposes of this subdivision (J), "undue hardship"
means an action that is prohibitively expensive or disruptive
when considered in light of the following factors: (i) the
nature and cost of the accommodation needed; (ii) the overall
financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in
the provision of the reasonable accommodation, the number of
persons employed at the facility, the effect on expenses and
resources, or the impact otherwise of the accommodation upon
the operation of the facility; (iii) the overall financial
resources of the employer, the overall size of the business of
the employer with respect to the number of its employees, and
the number, type, and location of its facilities; and (iv) the
type of operation or operations of the employer, including the
composition, structure, and functions of the workforce of the
employer, the geographic separateness, administrative, or
fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question
to the employer. The employer has the burden of proving undue
hardship. The fact that the employer provides or would be
required to provide a similar accommodation to similarly
situated employees creates a rebuttable presumption that the
accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the
employer.
    No employer is required by this subdivision (J) to create
additional employment that the employer would not otherwise
have created, unless the employer does so or would do so for
other classes of employees who need accommodation. The employer
is not required to discharge any employee, transfer any
employee with more seniority, or promote any employee who is
not qualified to perform the job, unless the employer does so
or would do so to accommodate other classes of employees who
need it.
    (K) Notice.
        (1) For an employer to fail to post or keep posted in a
    conspicuous location on the premises of the employer where
    notices to employees are customarily posted, or fail to
    include in any employee handbook information concerning an
    employee's rights under this Article, a notice, to be
    prepared or approved by the Department, summarizing the
    requirements of this Article and information pertaining to
    the filing of a charge, including the right to be free from
    unlawful discrimination and the right to certain
    reasonable accommodations. The Department shall make the
    documents required under this paragraph available for
    retrieval from the Department's website.
        (2) Upon notification of a violation of paragraph (1)
    of this subdivision (K), the Department may launch a
    preliminary investigation. If the Department finds a
    violation, the Department may issue a notice to show cause
    giving the employer 30 days to correct the violation. If
    the violation is not corrected, the Department may initiate
    a charge of a civil rights violation.
(Source: P.A. 97-596, eff. 8-26-11; 98-212, eff. 8-9-13;
98-1050, eff. 1-1-15.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.