HB3908sam001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Christopher Belt

Filed: 5/10/2024

10300HB3908sam001 LRB103 29765 SPS 73286 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3908

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3908 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Firefighter Paid Family Leave Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Family member" means an employee's child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent.

"Firefighter" has the meaning set forth in Section 4-106 of the Illinois Pension Code. "Firefighter" includes an individual eligible to participate in a fund established under Article 4 of the Illinois Pension Code, an individual who is not eligible to participate in a fund established under Article 4 who is employed on a full-time basis as a firefighter or paramedic, and a firefighter paramedic who is employed by a municipality or fire protection district to perform duties as a paramedic, emergency medical technician (EMT), emergency medical technician basic (EMT-B), emergency medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I), or advanced emergency medical technician (A-EMT).

"Serious health condition" means an illness, impairment, or physical or mental condition that requires inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility or continuing medical treatment or continuing supervision by a health care provider.

Section 10. Paid family leave.

(a) A firefighter shall receive 6 weeks of paid family leave per calendar year that may be used for the following:

(1) for the birth of a child and to care for a newborn child;

(2) to care for a newly adopted child under 18 years of age, a newly placed foster child under 18 years of age, or a newly adopted or placed foster child older than 18 years of age if the child is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability; and

(3) to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

(b) An employer shall reasonably accommodate additional physical recovery time for a firefighter returning from leave used for the purpose described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), including light-duty assignments or an agreed to reassignment of duties until the firefighter is able to return to full duties.

(c) The employer shall compensate an employee granted leave under this Act at the employee's regular rate of pay, paid at the same interval the employee was paid while working, for those regular work hours during which the employee is absent from work.

Section 15. Limitations. The paid family leave requirements established by this Act shall be provided to a firefighter who has been employed full-time by an employer for at least one year, regardless of the employer's leave policies.

Section 20. Waiver. A firefighter may voluntarily waive the paid family leave requirement established by this Act by returning to work before the 6 weeks of leave have elapsed or by declining, in writing, to accept the paid family leave.

Section 25. Collective bargaining agreements. Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, nothing in this Act shall be construed to waive or otherwise limit an employee's right to final compensation for any type of leave promised to be paid under a contract of employment.

Section 30. Prohibited acts.

(a) No employer shall discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate a person because the person has filed or communicated to the employer an intent to file a claim, a complaint, or an appeal or has testified or is about to testify or has assisted in any proceeding, under this Act, at any time.

(b) It is unlawful for any employer to threaten to take or to take any adverse action against an employee because the employee:

(1) exercises rights or attempts to exercise rights under this Act;

(2) opposes practices which the employee believes to be in violation of this Act; or

(3) supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act.

(c) It is unlawful for any employer to consider the use of paid leave by an employee as a negative factor in any employment action that involves evaluating, promoting, disciplining, or counting paid leave under a no-fault attendance policy.

Section 35. Employment protection; maintenance of benefits.

(a) An employee who takes leave under this Act shall be entitled, on return from the leave, to be restored by the employer to the position of employment held by the employee when the leave commenced, or to be restored to an equivalent position with equivalent employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.

(b) An employee who takes leave under this Act shall not loss any employment benefit accrued by the employee prior to the date on which the leave commenced.

Section 40. Home rule. A home rule unit may not regulate the provision of paid family leave to firefighters in a manner more restrictive than the regulation by the State of the provision of paid family leave to firefighters under this Act. This Section is a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions exercised by the State.

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