093_SB0065

 
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 1        AN ACT in relation to employment.

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

 4        Section 1. Short title.  This Act may be  citied  as  the
 5    Patient Safety Act.

 6        Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
 7        "Employee"  means an individual employed by a health care
 8    facility  who  is  involved  in  direct  care  activities  or
 9    clinical services and who receives an hourly wage.
10        "Employer" means an individual, partnership, association,
11    or corporation or person or groups of persons acting directly
12    or indirectly in the interest  of  a  health  care  facility.
13    "Employer"  includes  all  State  institutions  and political
14    subdivisions of the State.
15        "Health care facility" includes the following facilities:
16             (1)  An   ambulatory   surgical   treatment   center
17        required to be licensed  under  the  Ambulatory  Surgical
18        Treatment Center Act.
19             (2)  An institution, place, building, or agency that
20        is  required  to be licensed under the Hospital Licensing
21        Act or that is subject  to  the  University  of  Illinois
22        Hospital Act.
23             (3)  An  institution  required  to be licensed under
24        the Nursing Home Care Act.
25             (4)  A hospital, nursing home,  ambulatory  surgical
26        treatment  center,  prison  health  care  unit, or kidney
27        disease treatment center maintained by the State, a  unit
28        of  local  government, or any department or agency of the
29        State or a unit of local government.
30             (5)  A kidney disease treatment center, including  a
31        freestanding hemodialysis unit.
 
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 1             (6)  An  institution or organization delivering home
 2        health  care  services  under  the  Home  Health   Agency
 3        Licensing Act.
 4        "Health care facility" does not include a federally owned
 5    or operated facility or institution.
 6        "Overtime"   means   work  in  excess  of  an  agreed-to,
 7    predetermined scheduled work shift not to exceed 12 hours, or
 8    work in excess of 40 hours in one week, except in the case of
 9    an unforeseen emergent circumstance when overtime is required
10    only as a last resort.
11        "Unforeseen emergent circumstance" means  a  circumstance
12    in  which  the employer has no foreseeable control, as in the
13    instance of war, a national disaster, or a declared state  of
14    emergency.  It does not mean situations in which the employer
15    has  reasonable  knowledge  of  a  decreased  staffing  plan,
16    including  but  not limited to, scheduled vacations, employee
17    illness, or increased patient census.

18        Section 10. Prohibition against mandatory overtime.    No
19    employee  of a health care facility may be required to accept
20    overtime work except in the case of  an  unforeseen  emergent
21    circumstance when overtime is required only as a last resort.
22    Any  other  attempts  to  compel or require employees to work
23    overtime are declared to be contrary to  public  policy,  and
24    any such requirement contained in any contract, agreement, or
25    understanding  executed  after the effective date of this Act
26    is void.

27        Section 15.  Additional prohibitions and limitations.
28        (a)  Notwithstanding  any  provision  of   law   to   the
29    contrary,  no  health care facility shall require an employee
30    to accept overtime work.
31        (b)  The acceptance by  any  employee  of  overtime  work
32    shall  be strictly voluntary, and the refusal of any employee
 
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 1    to accept  such  overtime  work  shall  not  be  grounds  for
 2    discrimination,  dismissal, discharge, or retaliation, or any
 3    other employment decision adverse to the employee.
 4        (c)  The provisions of this Section do not apply  in  the
 5    case of an unforeseen emergent circumstance when the overtime
 6    is required only as a last resort.

 7        Section 20.  Penalties and sanctions.
 8        (a)  An  employer who violates the provisions of this Act
 9    shall be  sanctioned  by  the  appropriate  State  regulatory
10    agency. If a health care facility has 3 or more violations of
11    this  Act  as  determined by the appropriate State regulatory
12    agency, the facility is subject to a  civil  penalty  of  not
13    less than $500, nor more than $5,000 for each such violation.
14    The penalty may be imposed by the State agency that regulates
15    the  health  care facility.  The Attorney General may bring a
16    civil action to enforce the collection of any  civil  penalty
17    imposed under this subsection.
18        (b)  If  a  health care facility has 7 or more violations
19    of this Act as determined by the appropriate State regulatory
20    agency, the facility shall be investigated by the  regulatory
21    agency  and  if  the investigators find an ongoing pattern of
22    deliberate violations of this Act, the health care facility's
23    license may be suspended or revoked by the regulatory agency.

24        Section 25. Private right of action.
25        (a)  Any person who suffers  damage  as  a  result  of  a
26    violation  of  this  Act  committed  by  an  employer  or  an
27    employer's  representative  may  bring  an action against the
28    employer in the circuit  court.   Upon  a  finding  that  the
29    employer   or   the  employer's  representative  committed  a
30    violation of this Act, the court may award the plaintiff  his
31    or  her  actual  damages  together with his or her reasonable
32    attorney's fees incurred in maintaining the action.
 
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 1        (b)  In  any  action  brought  under  this  Section,  any
 2    evidence  that  an  employee  was  required  to work overtime
 3    creates a presumption that the employee's employer  committed
 4    a  violation  of  this  Act.   To rebut this presumption, the
 5    employer must prove that an unforeseen emergent circumstance,
 6    which required overtime work only as a last  resort,  existed
 7    at the time the employee was required or compelled to work.

 8        Section 30. Posting of Act summary. Every employer who is
 9    subject  to  any provision of this Act must keep a summary of
10    this Act approved by  the  Director  of  Labor  posted  in  a
11    conspicuous  and  accessible  place  in or about the premises
12    wherever any person subject to this  Act  is  employed.   The
13    Department  of  Labor  must  furnish copies of the summary on
14    request to employers, without charge.

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