98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB1047

 

Introduced , by Rep. Jim Durkin

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
820 ILCS 55/10  from Ch. 48, par. 2860

    Amends provisions of the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act prohibiting certain inquiries by an employer. Deletes language in those provisions regarding an employee's social networking website account information. Provides that: an employer may not request or require an employee or prospective employee to provide a user name, password, or other means to gain access to the employee's or prospective employee's personal online account; an employer may request or require an employee to disclose any user name, password, or other means for accessing an electronic communications device supplied or paid for in whole or in part by the employer or accounts or services provided by the employer or by virtue of the employee's employment relationship with the employer or that the employee uses for business purposes; an employer may not discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize or threaten to discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize an employee solely for an employee's refusal to disclose specified information, fail or refuse to hire any prospective employee as a result of the prospective employee's refusal to disclose specified information, or be held liable for failure to request or require that an employee or prospective employee disclose specified information; those provisions do not prevent an employer from conducting certain investigations; the provisions do not limit an employer's right to have specified workplace policies and monitor usage of the employer's electronic equipment and electronic mail under specified circumstances; and those provisions do not prohibit an employer from obtaining information about a prospective employee or an employee that is in the public domain or that is otherwise obtained in compliance with the provisions. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB1047LRB098 04224 JLS 34249 b

1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act is
5amended by changing Section 10 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 55/10)  (from Ch. 48, par. 2860)
7    Sec. 10. Prohibited inquiries.
8    (a) It shall be unlawful for any employer to inquire, in a
9written application or in any other manner, of any prospective
10employee or of the prospective employee's previous employers,
11whether that prospective employee has ever filed a claim for
12benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act or Workers'
13Occupational Diseases Act or received benefits under these
14Acts.
15    (b)(1) It shall be unlawful for any employer to request or
16require any employee or prospective employee to provide any
17user name, password, or other means related account information
18in order to gain access to the employee's or prospective
19employee's account or profile on a social networking website or
20to demand access in any manner to an employee's or prospective
21employee's personal online account or profile on a social
22networking website.
23    (2) An employer may request or require an employee to

 

 

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1disclose any user name, password, or other means for accessing:
2        (A) any electronic communications device supplied or
3    paid for in whole or in part by the employer; or
4        (B) any accounts or services provided by the employer
5    or by virtue of the employee's employment relationship with
6    the employer or that the employee uses for business
7    purposes.
8    (3) An employer may not:
9        (A) discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize or
10    threaten to discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize
11    an employee solely for an employee's refusal to disclose
12    any information specified in paragraph (1) of this
13    subsection (b);
14        (B) fail or refuse to hire any prospective employee as
15    a result of the prospective employee's refusal to disclose
16    any information specified in paragraph (1) of this
17    subsection (b); or
18        (C) be held liable for failure to request or require
19    that an employee or prospective employee disclose any
20    information specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection
21    (b).
22    (4) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent an employer
23from conducting an investigation:
24        (A) for the purpose of ensuring compliance with
25    applicable laws, regulatory requirements, or prohibitions
26    against work-related employee misconduct based on the

 

 

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1    employer's receipt of specific information about activity
2    on a personal online account by an employee or other
3    source; or
4        (B) of an employee's actions based on the receipt of
5    specific information about the unauthorized transfer of an
6    employer's proprietary information, confidential
7    information, or financial data to a personal online account
8    by an employee or other source.
9    Conducting an investigation as specified in subparagraphs
10(A) and (B) of this paragraph (4) includes requiring the
11employee's cooperation to share the content that has been
12reported in order to make a factual determination.
13    (5) (2) Nothing in this subsection shall limit an
14employer's right to:
15        (A) promulgate and maintain lawful workplace policies
16    governing the use of the employer's electronic equipment,
17    including policies regarding Internet use, social
18    networking site use, and electronic mail use; and
19        (B) monitor usage of the employer's electronic
20    equipment and the employer's electronic mail without
21    requesting or requiring any employee or prospective
22    employee to provide any user name, password, or other means
23    related account information in order to gain access to the
24    employee's or prospective employee's personal online
25    account or profile on a social networking website.
26    (6) (3) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit an

 

 

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1employer from obtaining about a prospective employee or an
2employee information that is in the public domain or that is
3otherwise obtained in compliance with this amendatory Act of
4the 97th General Assembly.
5    (7) (4) For the purposes of this subsection: ,
6        (A) "Prospective employee" means an applicant for
7    employment.
8        (B) "Electronic communications device" means any
9    device that uses electronic signals to create, transmit,
10    and receive information, including, without limitation, a
11    computer, telephone, or personal digital assistant.
12        (C) "Employer" means a person engaged in a business,
13    industry, profession, trade, or other enterprise in this
14    State, or any unit of State or local government. "Employer"
15    includes any agent, representative, or designee of the
16    employer.
17        (D) "Personal online account" means an account created
18    via bounded system established by an internet-based
19    service that requires a user to input or store access
20    information via an electronic device to view, create,
21    utilize, or edit the user's account information, profile,
22    display, communications, or stored data. "social
23    networking website" means an Internet-based service that
24    allows individuals to:
25        (A) construct a public or semi-public profile within a
26    bounded system, created by the service;

 

 

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1        (B) create a list of other users with whom they share a
2    connection within the system; and
3        (C) view and navigate their list of connections and
4    those made by others within the system.
5    "Social networking website" shall not include electronic
6mail.
7(Source: P.A. 97-875, eff. 1-1-13.)
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9becoming law.