HB5701 EnrolledLRB098 18610 JLS 55483 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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Job
5Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that it is
7in the public interest to do more to give Illinois employers
8access to the broadest pool of qualified applicants possible,
9protect the civil rights of those seeking employment, and
10ensure that all qualified applicants are properly considered
11for employment opportunities and are not pre-screened or denied
12an employment opportunity unnecessarily or unjustly.
 
13    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
14    "Applicant" means any person pursuing employment with an
15employer or with or through an employment agency.
16    "Employer" means any person or private entity that has 15
17or more employees in the current or preceding calendar year,
18and any agent of such an entity or person.
19    "Employment agency" means any person or entity regularly
20undertaking with or without compensation to procure employees
21for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to
22work for an employer and includes an agent of such a person.

 

 

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1    "Employment" means any occupation or vocation.
 
2    Section 15. Employer pre-screening.
3    (a) An employer or employment agency may not inquire about
4or into, consider, or require disclosure of the criminal record
5or criminal history of an applicant until the applicant has
6been determined qualified for the position and notified that
7the applicant has been selected for an interview by the
8employer or employment agency or, if there is not an interview,
9until after a conditional offer of employment is made to the
10applicant by the employer or employment agency.
11    (b) The requirements set forth in subsection (a) of this
12Section do not apply for positions where:
13        (1) employers are required to exclude applicants with
14    certain criminal convictions from employment due to
15    federal or State law;
16        (2) a standard fidelity bond or an equivalent bond is
17    required and an applicant's conviction of one or more
18    specified criminal offenses would disqualify the applicant
19    from obtaining such a bond, in which case an employer may
20    include a question or otherwise inquire whether the
21    applicant has ever been convicted of any of those offenses;
22    or
23         (3) employers employ individuals licensed under the
24    Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.
25    (c) This Section does not prohibit an employer from

 

 

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1notifying applicants in writing of the specific offenses that
2will disqualify an applicant from employment in a particular
3position due to federal or State law or the employer's policy.
 
4    Section 20. Administration of Act and rulemaking
5authority.
6    (a) The Illinois Department of Labor shall investigate any
7alleged violations of this Act by an employer or employment
8agency. If the Department finds that a violation has occurred,
9the Director of Labor may impose the following civil penalties:
10        (1) For the first violation, the Director shall issue a
11    written warning to the employer or employment agency that
12    includes notice regarding penalties for subsequent
13    violations and the employer shall have 30 days to remedy
14    the violation;
15        (2) For the second violation, or if the first violation
16    is not remedied within 30 days of notice by the Department,
17    the Director may impose a civil penalty of up to $500;
18        (3) For the third violation, or if the first violation
19    is not remedied within 60 days of notice by the Department,
20    the Director may impose an additional civil penalty of up
21    to $1,500;
22        (4) For subsequent violations, or if the first
23    violation is not remedied within 90 days of notice by the
24    Department, the Director may impose an additional civil
25    penalty of up to $1,500 for every 30 days that passes

 

 

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1    thereafter without compliance.
2    (b) Penalties under this Section may be assessed by the
3Department and recovered in a civil action brought by the
4Department in any circuit court or in any administrative
5adjudicative proceeding under this Act. In any such civil
6action or administrative adjudicative proceeding under this
7Act, the Department shall be represented by the Attorney
8General.
9    (c) All moneys recovered as civil penalties under this
10Section shall be deposited into the Job Opportunities for
11Qualified Applicants Enforcement Fund, a special fund which is
12created in the State treasury. Moneys in the Fund may be used
13only to enforce employer violations of this Act.
14    (d) The Department may adopt rules necessary to administer
15this Act and may establish an administrative procedure to
16adjudicate claims and issue final and binding decisions subject
17to the Administrative Review Law.
 
18    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
19Section 5.855 as follows:
 
20    (30 ILCS 105/5.855 new)
21    Sec. 5.855. The Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants
22Enforcement Fund.
 
23    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
241, 2015.