Full Text of SB2665 93rd General Assembly
SB2665eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning employment.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Illinois Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification Act .
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| Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
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| (a) "Covered establishment" means any business enterprise | 8 |
| that employs, or has employed within the
preceding 12 months, | 9 |
| 75 or more persons.
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| (b) "Employer" means any person who
directly or indirectly | 11 |
| owns and operates a covered establishment. A
parent corporation | 12 |
| is an employer as to any covered establishment
directly owned | 13 |
| and operated by its corporate subsidiary.
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| (c) "Layoff" means a separation from a position for lack of | 15 |
| funds
or lack of work.
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| (d) "Mass layoff" means a layoff during any 30-day period | 17 |
| of 50 or
more employees at a covered establishment.
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| (e) "Relocation" means the removal of all or substantially | 19 |
| all of
the industrial or commercial operations in a covered | 20 |
| establishment to
a different location 100 miles or more away.
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| (f) "Termination" means the cessation or substantial | 22 |
| cessation of
industrial or commercial operations in a covered | 23 |
| establishment.
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| (g) "Employee" means a person employed by an employer for | 25 |
| at least
6 months of the 12 months preceding the date on which | 26 |
| notice is
required, except that this Act does not apply to | 27 |
| employees who are employed in
seasonal employment where the | 28 |
| employees were hired with the
understanding that their | 29 |
| employment was seasonal and temporary.
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| Section 10. Notice. | 31 |
| (a) An employer may not order a mass layoff, relocation, or
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| termination at a covered establishment unless, 60 days before | 2 |
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order takes effect, the employer gives written notice of | 3 |
| the order to
the following:
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| (1) The employees of the covered establishment | 5 |
| affected by the
order.
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| (2) The Department of Commerce and Economic | 7 |
| Opportunity and the chief elected official of each | 8 |
| municipal and
county government within which the | 9 |
| termination, relocation, or mass
layoff occurs.
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| (b) An employer required to give notice of any mass layoff,
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| relocation, or termination under this Act shall include in its
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| notice the elements required by the federal Worker Adjustment | 13 |
| and
Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2101 et seq.).
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| (c) Notwithstanding the requirements of subdivision (a), | 15 |
| an
employer is not required to provide notice if a mass layoff,
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| relocation, or termination is necessitated by a physical | 17 |
| calamity or
act of war.
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| Section 15. Violation; liability. | 19 |
| (a) An employer who fails to give notice as required by
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| paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 10 before ordering | 21 |
| a
mass layoff, relocation, or termination is liable to each | 22 |
| employee
entitled to notice who lost his or her employment for:
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| (1) Back pay at the average regular rate of | 24 |
| compensation received
by the employee during the last three | 25 |
| years of his or her employment,
or the employee's final | 26 |
| rate of compensation, whichever is higher.
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| (2) The value of the cost of any benefits to which the | 28 |
| employee
would have been entitled had his or her employment | 29 |
| not been lost,
including the cost of any medical expenses | 30 |
| incurred by the employee
that would have been covered under | 31 |
| an employee benefit plan.
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| (b) Liability under this Section is calculated for the | 33 |
| period of
the employer's violation, up to a maximum of 60 days, | 34 |
| or one-half the
number of days that the employee was employed | 35 |
| by the employer,
whichever period is smaller.
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| (c) The amount of an employer's liability under subdivision | 2 |
| (a) is
reduced by the following:
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| (1) Any wages, except vacation moneys accrued prior to | 4 |
| the period
of the employer's violation, paid by the | 5 |
| employer to the employee
during the period of the | 6 |
| employer's violation.
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| (2) Any voluntary and unconditional payments made by | 8 |
| the employer
to the employee that were not required to | 9 |
| satisfy any legal
obligation.
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| (3) Any payments by the employer to a third party or | 11 |
| trustee, such
as premiums for health benefits or payments | 12 |
| to a defined
contribution pension plan, on behalf of and | 13 |
| attributable to the
employee for the period of the | 14 |
| violation.
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| Section 20. Exceptions.
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| (a) An employer is not required to comply with the notice
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| requirement contained in subdivision (a) of Section 10 if the
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| Department of Labor determines that all of the following | 19 |
| conditions exist:
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| (1) As of the time that notice would have been | 21 |
| required, the
employer was actively seeking capital or | 22 |
| business.
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| (2) The capital or business sought, if obtained, would | 24 |
| have
enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the | 25 |
| relocation or
termination.
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| (3) The employer reasonably and in good faith believed | 27 |
| that giving
the notice required by subdivision (a) of | 28 |
| Section 10 would have
precluded the employer from obtaining | 29 |
| the needed capital or business.
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| (b) The Department of Labor may not determine that the | 31 |
| employer was
actively seeking capital or business under | 32 |
| subdivision (a) unless the
employer provides the Department | 33 |
| with both of the following:
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| (1) A written record consisting of all documents | 35 |
| relevant to the
determination of whether the employer was |
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| actively seeking capital or
business, as specified by the | 2 |
| Department of Labor.
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| (2) An affidavit verifying the contents of the | 4 |
| documents contained
in the record.
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| (c) The affidavit provided to the Department of Labor | 6 |
| pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) shall contain a | 7 |
| declaration signed under
penalty of perjury stating that the | 8 |
| affidavit and the contents of the
documents contained in the | 9 |
| record submitted pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (b) | 10 |
| are true and correct.
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| (d) This Section does not apply to notice of a mass layoff | 12 |
| as
defined by subdivision (d) of Section 5.
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| Section 25. Civil penalty. An employer who fails to give | 14 |
| notice as required by
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of | 15 |
| Section 10 is subject to a
civil penalty of not more than $500 | 16 |
| for each
day of the employer's violation. The employer is not | 17 |
| subject to a
civil penalty under this Section, however, if the | 18 |
| employer pays to
all applicable employees the amounts for which | 19 |
| the employer is liable
under Section 15 within 3 weeks from the | 20 |
| date the employer
orders the mass layoff, relocation, or | 21 |
| termination.
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| Section 30. Civil action. A person, including a local | 23 |
| government or an employee
representative, seeking to establish | 24 |
| liability against an employer
may bring a civil action on | 25 |
| behalf of the person, other persons
similarly situated, or | 26 |
| both, in any court of competent jurisdiction.
The court may | 27 |
| award reasonable attorney's fees as part of costs to
any | 28 |
| plaintiff who prevails in a civil action brought under this
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| Act.
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| Section 35. Reduction of penalty. If the court determines | 31 |
| that an employer conducted a
reasonable investigation in good | 32 |
| faith, and had reasonable grounds to
believe that its conduct | 33 |
| was not a violation of this Act, the
court may reduce the |
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| amount of any penalty imposed against the
employer under this | 2 |
| Act.
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| Section 40. Powers of Director of Labor. In any | 4 |
| investigation or proceeding under this Act, the
Director of | 5 |
| Labor has, in addition to all other powers granted by
law, the | 6 |
| authority to examine the books and records of an employer.
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| Section 90. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by | 8 |
| adding Section 500.1 as follows: | 9 |
| (820 ILCS 405/500.1 new)
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| Sec. 500.1. Illinois Worker Adjustment and
Retraining | 11 |
| Notification Act; federal Worker
Adjustment and Retraining | 12 |
| Notification Act. Benefits payable under this Act may
not be | 13 |
| denied or reduced because of the receipt of payments related
to | 14 |
| an employer's violation of the Illinois Worker Adjustment and
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| Retraining Notification Act or the federal Worker
Adjustment | 16 |
| and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2101 et
seq.). | 17 |
| Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | 18 |
| severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 20 |
| becoming law.
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