Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for SB2665

Creates the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Provides that an employer may not order a mass layoff, relocation, or termination of an industrial or commercial facility without first giving 60 days' notice (subject to specified exceptions) to the Department of Labor and the chief elected official of each municipal and county government within which the termination, relocation, or mass layoff occurs. Provides for the imposition of civil penalties for violations and gives remedies to employees. Provides for the reduction of an employer's liability under specified circumstances. Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act to provide that payments to a person by an employer who is liable to that person under the new Act are not considered wages for purposes of unemployment insurance eligibility. Effective immediately.

Redefines "covered establishment" to include a "business enterprise" (rather than an "industrial or commercial facility or part thereof") meeting specified criteria. Requires notice of a mass layoff, relocation, or termination at a covered establishment to be given to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (rather than the Department of Labor and the Department of Employment Security). In the Unemployment Insurance Act, deletes language excluding, from the term "wages", payments to a person by an employer who has failed to provide the advance notice of facility closure required by the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act or the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (but retains language providing that benefits payable under the Unemployment Insurance Act may not be denied or reduced because of the receipt of payments related to an employer's violation of the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act or the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act).

Deletes everything. Creates the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Provides that an employer may not order a mass layoff, relocation, or employment loss (an "employment loss" is an: employment termination, other than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement; a layoff exceeding 6 months; or a reduction in hours of work of more than 50 percent during each month of any 6-month period, with specified exceptions) affecting at least a specified minimum number of employees without first giving 60 days' notice (subject to specified exceptions) to the affected employees and their representatives, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the chief elected official of each municipal and county government within which the employment loss, relocation, or mass layoff occurs. Provides for the imposition of civil penalties for violations and gives remedies to employees. Provides for the reduction of an employer's liability under specified circumstances. Requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, with the cooperation of the Department of Employment Security, to annually issue a written notice to each employer that reported to the Department of Employment Security that the employer paid wages to 75 or more individuals with respect to any quarter in the immediately proceeding calendar year, and specifies contents of the notice. Amends the Department of Employment Security Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois by repealing provisions requiring the Department of Employment Security to issue a written advisory notice to specified employers concerning the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act to provide that payments to a person by an employer who is liable to that person under the new Act are not considered wages for purposes of unemployment insurance eligibility. Effective January 1, 2005 and applies to plant closings or relocations occurring on or after that date.

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