Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson

Filed: 4/5/2019

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 471

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 471 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
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

 

 

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1    shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees
2    with time off to attend to their own health care needs
3    ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient
4    employees. It will also reduce the spread of disease within
5    workplaces and to the public, such as customers, when
6    employees go to work sick, a practice known as
7    "presenteeism". Routine medical care results in savings by
8    detecting and treating illness and injury early and
9    decreasing the need for emergency care. These savings
10    benefit public and private payers of health insurance.
11        (3) When the school of a worker's child is closed
12    because of extreme weather, it is often at the last minute
13    and workers cannot find someone to babysit, so they are
14    forced to stay at home to take care of their children.
15        (4) Nearly one-quarter of American women report
16    domestic violence and nearly one in 5 women report
17    experiencing rape at some time during their lives. Many
18    workers, men and women, need time off to care for their
19    health after these incidents or to take legal action.
20    Without paid time off, victims are in danger of losing
21    their jobs.
22        (5) Employed individuals who have court appointments,
23    sentencing hearings, probation, conditional discharge,
24    parole, or mandatory supervised release requirements, or
25    are visiting a family member in jail or prison need paid
26    time off work so that their families do not fall further

 

 

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1    into economic jeopardy and so that they are not further
2    penalized, as these court-related events are frequently
3    scheduled during work hours.
4        (6) Employers that provide paid sick time see better
5    productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower turnover,
6    which saves them the costs of replacing and training
7    workers.
8    (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace
9Act to provide at least a minimum time-off standard of paid
10sick time for all workers.
 
11    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
12    "Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological,
13adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, a child of
14a person standing in loco parentis, or any other individual
15whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of
16a child.
17    "Construction industry" means any constructing, altering,
18reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing,
19refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom
20fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking,
21painting, decorating, demolishing, or adding to or subtracting
22from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street,
23bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant,
24waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other
25structure, project, development, real property, or

 

 

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1improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the
2performance of the work herein described involves the addition
3to or fabrication into, any structure, project, development,
4real property, or improvement herein described of any material
5or article of merchandise.
6    "Construction industry" also includes moving construction
7related materials on the job site or to or from the job site,
8snow plowing, snow removal, and refuse collection.
9    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
10    "Employ" means to suffer or permit to work.
11    "Employee" means any person who performs services for an
12employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This
13includes persons working any number of hours, including a
14full-time or part-time status.
15    "Employee" does not include any person who the employer
16establishes:
17            (A) has been and will continue to be free from
18        control and direction over the performance of their
19        work, both under a contract of service and in fact;
20            (B) is engaged in an independently established
21        trade, occupation, profession or business; or
22            (C) is deemed a legitimate sole proprietor or
23        partnership.
24    A sole proprietor or partnership shall be deemed to be
25legitimate if the employer establishes that:
26        (1) the sole proprietor or partnership is performing

 

 

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1    the service free from the direction or control over the
2    means and manner of providing the service, subject only to
3    the right of the employer for whom the service is provided
4    to specify the desired result;
5        (2) the sole proprietor or partnership is not subject
6    to cancellation or destruction upon severance of the
7    relationship with the employer;
8        (3) the sole proprietor or partnership has a
9    substantial investment of capital in the sole
10    proprietorship or partnership beyond the ordinary tools
11    and equipment and a personal vehicle;
12        (4) the sole proprietor or partnership owns the capital
13    goods and gains the profits and bears the losses of the
14    sole proprietorship or partnership;
15        (5) the sole proprietor or partnership makes its
16    services available to the general public on a continuing
17    basis;
18        (6) the sole proprietor or partnership includes
19    services rendered on a Federal Income Tax Schedule as an
20    independent business or profession;
21        (7) the sole proprietor or partnership performs
22    services for the contractor under the sole proprietor's or
23    partnership's name;
24        (8) when the services being provided require a license
25    or permit, the sole proprietor or partnership obtains and
26    pays for the license or permit in the sole proprietorship's

 

 

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1    or partnership's name;
2        (9) the sole proprietor or partnership furnishes the
3    tools and equipment necessary to provide the service;
4        (10) if necessary, the sole proprietor or partnership
5    hires its own employees without approval of the employer,
6    pays the employees without reimbursement from the employer
7    and reports the employees' income to the Internal Revenue
8    Service;
9        (11) the employer does not represent the sole
10    proprietorship or partnership as an employee of the
11    employer to the public; and
12        (12) the sole proprietor or partnership has the right
13    to perform similar services for others on whatever basis
14    and whenever it chooses.
15    "Employee" does not include any employee of an employer
16subject to Subchapter II of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C.
17181 et seq.).
18    Nothing in this Act shall hinder or prohibit the ability of
19an exempted employee from taking uncompensated time off due to
20any reason for leave allowable for paid sick time under Section
2115.
22    "Employer" means any individual; person; partnership;
23association; corporation; limited liability company; business
24trust; employment or labor placement agency or business where
25wages are made directly or indirectly by the agency or business
26for work undertaken by the employee under hire to a third party

 

 

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1pursuant to a contact between the agency or business with the
2third party; the State of Illinois and local governments; or
3any political subdivision of the State or local government, or
4State or local government agency; for which one or more persons
5is gainfully employed, express or implied, whether lawfully or
6unlawfully employed, who employs a worker or who employs a
7worker not excluded as an employee pursuant to the definition
8of "employee" or, notwithstanding any other law, who is the
9employer or joint employer for collective bargaining purposes
10of a bargaining unit of employees. "Employer" does not include
11school districts organized under the School Code, park
12districts organized under the Park District Code, or any City
13of Chicago Sister Agency under the Chicago Minimum Wage and
14Paid Sick Leave Ordinance as of the effective date of this Act.
15    "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, child or
16parent of an employee's spouse, sibling, grandparent,
17grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose
18close association with the employee is the equivalent of a
19family relationship.
20    "Health care provider" means a person:
21        (1) who is:
22            (A) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
23        branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor
24        of medicine;
25            (B) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
26        branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor

 

 

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1        of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine;
2            (C) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
3        branches or as an osteopathic physician in another
4        state or jurisdiction;
5            (D) a chiropractic physician licensed under the
6        Medical Practice Act of 1987; or
7            (E) any other person determined by final rule as of
8        the date this Act becomes law under the Family and
9        Medical Leave Act of 1993; and
10        (2) who is not employed by an employer to whom the
11    provider issues certifications under this Act.
12    "Paid sick time" means a portion of or an entire scheduled
13or regular workday when an employee is unable to report to work
14because of a reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
15    "Parent" means a biological, adoptive, or foster parent, a
16stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, a person who stands in
17loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse, or any
18other individual whose close association with the employee is
19the equivalent of a parent.
20    "Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil
21union as defined by law.
22    "Victim services organization" means a nonprofit,
23nongovernmental organization that provides assistance to
24victims of domestic or sexual violence, including rape crisis
25centers, organizations carrying out a domestic violence
26program, organizations operating a shelter or providing

 

 

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1counseling services, and a legal services organization or other
2organization providing assistance through the legal process.
 
3    Section 15. Provision of paid sick time.
4    (a) An employee who works in Illinois who is absent from
5work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) is entitled to
6earn and use a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick time during a
712-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid sick time
8under the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for
9an employee shall be calculated annually from the date of hire
10or the effective date of this Act, whichever is later.
11    (b) Paid sick time shall be provided to an employee by an
12employer to:
13        (1) care for the employee's own physical or mental
14    illness, injury, or health condition, or seek medical
15    diagnosis or care, or attend a medical appointment;
16        (2) care for the employee's family member who is
17    suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or
18    health condition, or seek medical diagnosis or care, or
19    attend a medical appointment;
20        (3) care for a child whose school or place of care has
21    been closed by order of a public official due to a public
22    health emergency or to not go in to work because of the
23    closure of the employee's place of business by order of a
24    public official due to a public health emergency;
25        (4) be absent from work because the employee or the

 

 

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1    employee's family member is the victim of:
2            (A) domestic violence as defined in Section 103(3)
3        of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986; or
4            (B) sexual violence, which means:
5                (i) any conduct proscribed by Article 11 of the
6            Criminal Code of 2012 except Sections 11-35 and
7            11-45;
8                (ii) Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of
9            the Criminal Code of 2012, or
10                (iii) a similar provision of the Criminal Code
11            of 1961; or
12        (5) be absent from work to visit the employee's family
13    member who is in jail or prison, for the employee to attend
14    his or her own or his or her family member's appointment
15    regarding court sentencing, probation, conditional
16    discharge, parole, or mandatory supervised release
17    requirements, or any other civil or criminal court hearing
18    or trial.
19    (c) Paid sick time shall accrue at the rate of one hour of
20paid sick time for every 40 hours worked up to a minimum of 40
21hours of paid sick time unless the employer selects a higher
22limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements
23of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1))
24shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes
25of paid sick time accrual unless their normal work week is less
26than 40 hours, in which case paid sick time accrues based on

 

 

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1that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid
2sick time they need to use, provided that employers may set a
3reasonable minimum increment for the use of paid sick time not
4to exceed 4 hours per day.
5    (d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for
6paid sick time. However, employees engaged in an occupation in
7which gratuities or commissions have customarily and usually
8constituted and have been recognized as part of the
9remuneration for hire purposes shall be paid by their employer
10at least the full minimum wage in the jurisdiction in which
11they are employed when paid sick time is taken. Paid sick time
12under this Act shall not be charged or otherwise credited to
13employee vacation accounts.
14    (e) Paid sick time shall begin to accrue at the
15commencement of employment or on the effective date of this
16Act, whichever is later. Employees shall be entitled to begin
17using paid sick time 180 days following commencement of their
18employment or 180 days following the effective date of this
19Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be
20construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing
21the use of paid sick time at an earlier date than this Section
22requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage
23employers from adopting or retaining paid sick time policies
24more generous than policies that comply with the requirements
25of this Act.
26    (f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying

 

 

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1illness, injury, or health condition, or for time used pursuant
2to item (1) or (2) of subsection (b), when paid sick time used
3covers more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable
4documentation signed by a health care provider of the
5employee's choice involved in following or treating the
6illness, injury, or health condition, and indicating the need
7for the amount of sick time taken, shall be deemed acceptable
8certification. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
9require an employee to provide as certification any information
10from a health care provider that would be a disclosure in
11violation of Section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the
12regulations promulgated pursuant to the federal Health
13Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. If an
14employer possesses health information or any information
15related to domestic or sexual violence about an employee or
16employee's family member, the information shall be treated as
17confidential and not disclosed except with the permission of
18the affected employee. For paid sick time used pursuant to item
19(4) of subsection (b), any one of the following is acceptable
20documentation, and only one of the following shall be required:
21a police report, court document, any reasonable documentation
22signed by a health care provider, or signed statement from an
23attorney, a member of the clergy, a victim services
24organization or advocate, or the employee. It is up to the
25employee to determine which documentation to submit. If a
26document has been submitted, the employer shall not request or

 

 

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1require any other document if the reason for the sick time is
2related to the same incident of violence or the same
3perpetrator of the violence. The employer shall not delay the
4commencement of leave taken for purposes of subsection (b) nor
5delay pay for this period on the basis that the employer has
6not yet received the certification.
7    (g) Paid sick time shall be provided upon the oral request
8of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick time under this
9Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer
10with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is
11to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the
12employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practical
13after the employee is aware of the necessity of the leave. An
14employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick
15time under this Act, that the employee search for or find a
16replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee
17is on paid sick time leave.
18    (h) Paid sick time shall carry over annually to the extent
19not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act
20shall be construed to require an employer to allow use of more
21than 40 hours of paid sick time for an employee unless the
22employer agrees to do so.
23    (i) It is unlawful for an employer to interfere with,
24restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid
25paying sick time, or discipline an employee for the exercise
26of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in

 

 

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1connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid
2sick time as a negative factor in an employment action that
3involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting,
4disciplining, or counting the paid sick time under a no-fault
5attendance policy.
6    (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this
7Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
8any family member under any group health plan for the duration
9of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
10as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the
11leave.
12    (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring
13financial or other payment to an employee from an employer upon
14the employee's termination, resignation, retirement, or other
15separation from employment for accrued paid sick time that has
16not been used.
17    (l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit
18an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and
19including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick
20time provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than
21those described in this Section.
22    (m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division,
23entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer,
24the employee is entitled to all paid sick time accrued at the
25prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all
26paid sick time as provided in this Section. If there is a

 

 

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1separation from employment and the employee is rehired within
212 months of separation by the same employer, previously
3accrued paid sick time that had not been used shall be
4reinstated. The employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid
5sick time at the commencement of employment following a
6separation from employment of 12 months or less.
7    (n) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
8with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to
9bargain collectively with their employers through
10representatives of their own choosing in order to establish
11wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable
12minimum standards of the provisions of this Act. Nothing in
13this Section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change
14the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements in
15force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective
16date of this Act, requirements of this Section may be waived in
17a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the
18waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and
19unambiguous terms. In no event shall this Section apply to any
20employee working in the construction industry who is covered by
21a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.
 
22    Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.
23    (a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
24make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
25and the amount of paid sick time taken by employees for a

 

 

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1period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department
2access to such records, with appropriate notice and a mutually
3agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of
4this Section. In addition, the records shall be preserved for
5the duration of any claim pending pursuant to Section 35.
6    (b) An agreement by employees to waive their rights under
7this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of Section 15,
8is void as against public policy.
9    (c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies
10with the requirements of this Act are not required to modify
11the policy if such policy offers an employee the option, at the
12employee's discretion, to take paid sick time that is at least
13equivalent to the paid sick time described in this Act.
14    (d) An employer shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous
15place on the premises of the employer where notices to
16employees are customarily posted, and include in an employee
17manual or policy if the employer has one, a notice, to be
18prepared by the Department, summarizing the requirements of
19this Act and information pertaining to the filing of a charge.
20If an employer's workforce is comprised of a significant
21portion of workers who are not literate in English, the
22employer is responsible for providing the notice in a language
23in which the employees are literate. An employer who willfully
24violates the notice and posting requirements of this Section
25shall be subject to a civil penalty to be paid to the employee
26in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate offense.
 

 

 

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1    Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It is unlawful for
2any employer to take any adverse action against an employee
3because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to
4exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which
5such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3)
6supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act. Such
7unlawful employer practices include, but are not limited to,
8any reference to the employee's or any of the employee's family
9members' citizenship or immigration status, or any threat to
10contact or actual contact with any local, State, or federal
11government entities regarding the employee's or any of the
12employee's family members' citizenship or immigration status,
13or sexual harassment. Exercising rights under this Act includes
14filing an action or instituting or causing to be instituted any
15proceeding under or related to this Act; providing or agreeing
16to provide any information in connection with any inquiry or
17proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act; or
18testifying to or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or
19proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act.
 
20    Section 30. Department responsibilities.
21    (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act
22and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act
23for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the
24powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the

 

 

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1Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The
2Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in
3connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act,
4including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to
5issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that
6this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the
7parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an
8Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in
9accordance with hearing procedures established by rule.
10Administrative decisions shall be reviewed under the
11Administrative Review Law.
12    (b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties
13prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that
14comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to
15supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to
16the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may
17bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of
18unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be
19required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department
20on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the
21employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty
22collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall
23be deposited into the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund
24created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing
25this Act.
26    (c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the

 

 

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1collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.
 
2    Section 35. Enforcement.
3    (a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this
4Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may,
5within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting
6the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a
7complaint with the Department or file a civil action.
8    (b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a
9claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit
10court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory
11damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive
12damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in
13addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert
14witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the
15defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing a
16complaint with the Department. Administrative decisions are
17reviewable under the Administrative Review Law.
18    (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a
19preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or
20with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or
21any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money
22penalty to be paid to the employee not to exceed $2,500 for
23each separate offense.
 
24    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding

 

 

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1Section 5.891 as follows:
 
2    (30 ILCS 105/5.891 new)
3    Sec. 5.891. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
 
4    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
5severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
6    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7becoming law.".