HB2343 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  

 


 
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB2343

 

Introduced , by Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
30 ILCS 105/5.891 new

    Creates the Healthy Workplace Act and amends the State Finance Act. Requires employers to provide specified paid sick days to employees. Sets forth the purposes for and manner in which the sick days may be used. Contains provisions regarding employer responsibilities, unlawful employer practices, and other matters. Provides that the Department of Labor shall administer the Act. Authorizes the imposition of civil penalties. Authorizes individuals to file civil actions with respect to violations. Creates the Healthy Workplace Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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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
5Healthy Workplace Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings and purpose.
7    (a) The General Assembly finds:
8        (1) Nearly every worker in the State is likely to need
9    time off to attend to his or her own illness or that of a
10    family member. More than 40% of all private sector workers
11    in Illinois (over 2,500,000 people) have no right to a paid
12    sick day. Over three-fourths of the lowest-wage workers do
13    not receive paid sick days and cannot forfeit a day's work,
14    so they often come into work sick.
15        (2) Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid
16    illness and injury by detecting illnesses early on and
17    shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees
18    with time off to attend to their own health care needs
19    ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient
20    employees. It will also reduce the spread of disease within
21    workplaces and to the public, such as customers, when
22    employees go to work sick, a practice known as
23    "presenteeism". Routine medical care results in savings by

 

 

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1    detecting and treating illness and injury early and
2    decreasing the need for emergency care. These savings
3    benefit public and private payers of health insurance.
4        (3) When the school of a worker's child is closed
5    because of extreme weather, it is often at the last minute
6    and workers cannot find someone to babysit so they are
7    forced to stay at home to take care of their children.
8        (4) Nearly one-quarter of American women report
9    domestic violence and nearly one in 5 women report
10    experiencing rape at some time during their lives. Many
11    workers, men and women, need time off to care for their
12    health after these incidents or to take legal action.
13    Without paid time off, victims are in danger of losing
14    their jobs.
15        (5) Employers that provide paid sick days see better
16    productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower turnover,
17    which saves them the costs of replacing and training
18    workers.
19    (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace
20Act to provide a minimum time-off standard of paid sick days
21for all workers.
 
22    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
23    "Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological,
24adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child
25of a person standing in loco parentis.

 

 

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1    "Construction industry" means any constructing, altering,
2reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing,
3refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom
4fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking,
5painting, decorating, demolishing, or adding to or subtracting
6from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street,
7bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant,
8waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other
9structure, project, development, real property, or
10improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the
11performance of the work herein described involves the addition
12to or fabrication into, any structure, project, development,
13real property, or improvement herein described of any material
14or article of merchandise. "Construction industry" also
15includes moving construction-related materials on the job site
16or to or from the job site, snow plowing, snow removal, and
17refuse collection.
18    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
19    "Employee" means any person who performs services for an
20employer for wages, remuneration, or other compensation.
21"Employee" includes a person working any number of hours at
22full-time or part-time status. "Employee" does not include any
23employee of an employer subject to the provisions of Title II
24of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or to an
25employer or employee as defined in either the federal Railroad
26Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) or the

 

 

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1Federal Employers' Liability Act, United States Code, Title 45,
2Sections 51 through 60, or other comparable federal law.
3Nothing in this Section shall hinder or prohibit the ability of
4an exempted employee from taking non-compensated time off due
5to an illness.
6    "Employer" means any individual; partnership; association;
7corporation; limited liability company; business trust;
8employment and labor placement agency where wages are made
9directly or indirectly by the agency or business for work
10undertaken by employees under hire to a third party pursuant to
11a contract between the business or agency with the third party;
12the State of Illinois and local governments, or any political
13subdivision of the State or local government, or State or local
14government agency; for which one or more persons is gainfully
15employed, express or implied, whether lawfully or unlawfully
16employed, who employs a worker or who exercises control over a
17worker's wages, remuneration, or other compensation, hours of
18employment, place of employment, or working conditions, or
19whose agent or any other person or group of persons acting
20directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in
21relation to the employee exercises control over a worker's
22wages, remuneration, or other compensation, hours of
23employment, place of employment, or working conditions.
24"Employer" does not include school districts organized under
25the School Code, park districts organized under the Park
26District Code, or any City of Chicago Sister Agency under the

 

 

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1Chicago Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance as of the
2effective date of this Act.
3    "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, the child or
4parent of an employee's spouse, a sibling, grandparent,
5grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose
6close association with the employee is the equivalent of a
7family relationship.
8    "Healthcare provider" means a person who is: (i) licensed
9to practice medicine in all of its branches in Illinois and
10possesses the degree of doctor of medicine; (ii) licensed to
11practice medicine in all of its branches in Illinois and
12possesses the degree of doctor of osteopathy or osteopathic
13medicine; (iii) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
14branches or as an osteopathic physician in another state or
15jurisdiction; (iv) a chiropractic physician licensed under the
16Medical Practice Act of 1987; or (v) any other person as
17determined by the final rule under the Family and Medical Leave
18Act of 1993 in effect as of the effective date of this Act.
19    "Paid sick day" means a portion of or a regular workday
20when an employee is unable to report to work because of a
21reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
22    "Parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a foster or
23stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, or a person who stands in
24loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse.
25    "Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil
26union as defined by Illinois statute.
 

 

 

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1    Section 15. Provision of paid sick days.
2    (a) All employees who work in Illinois who are absent from
3work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) shall be entitled
4to earn and use a minimum of 5 paid sick days during a 12-month
5period or a pro rata number of paid sick days or hours under
6the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for an
7employee shall be calculated annually from the date of hire or
8the effective date of this Act, whichever is later.
9    (b) Paid sick days shall be provided to an employee by an
10employer to:
11        (1) care for the employee's own physical or mental
12    illness, injury, or health condition, or seek medical
13    diagnosis or care;
14        (2) care for the employee's family member who is
15    suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or
16    health condition, or seek medical diagnosis or care; or
17        (3) attend a medical appointment for himself or herself
18    or a medical appointment of the employee's family member;
19        (4) care for a child whose school or place of care has
20    been closed by order of a public official due to a public
21    health emergency or to not go in to work because of the
22    closure of the employee's place of business by order of a
23    public health official due to a public health emergency; or
24        (5) be off from work because he or she or the
25    employee's family member is the victim of domestic violence

 

 

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1    as defined in Section 103(3) of the Illinois Domestic
2    Violence Act of 1986 or sexual violence as defined under
3    Article 11 and Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of the
4    Criminal Code of 2012.
5    (c) Paid sick days shall accrue at the rate of one hour of
6paid sick time for every 40 hours worked up to a minimum of 40
7hours of paid sick time unless the employer selects a higher
8limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements
9of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1))
10shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes
11of paid sick day accrual unless their normal work week is less
12than 40 hours, in which case paid sick days accrue based on
13that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid
14sick days they need to use, except that employers may set a
15reasonable minimum increment for the use of a paid sick day not
16to exceed 4 hours per day.
17    (d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for a
18paid sick day. However, an employee engaged in an occupation in
19which gratuities or commissions have customarily and usually
20constituted and have been recognized as part or all of the
21remuneration for hire purposes shall be paid by his or her
22employer at least the full Illinois minimum wage for a paid
23sick day taken. Paid sick days under this Act shall not be
24charged or otherwise credited to employee vacation accounts.
25    (e) Paid sick days shall begin to accrue at the
26commencement of employment or on the effective date of this

 

 

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1Act, whichever is later. An employee shall be entitled to begin
2using paid sick days 180 days following commencement of his or
3her employment or 180 days following the effective date of this
4Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be
5construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing
6the use of paid sick days at an earlier date than this Section
7requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage
8employers from adopting or retaining paid sick day policies
9more generous than policies that comply with the requirements
10of this Act.
11    (f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying
12illness, injury, or health condition when paid sick days cover
13more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable documentation
14signed by a healthcare provider involved in following or
15treating the illness, injury, or health condition and
16indicating the need for the amount of sick days taken shall be
17deemed acceptable certification. Nothing in this Act shall be
18construed to require an employee to provide as certification
19any information from a healthcare provider that would be in
20violation of Section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the
21regulations promulgated pursuant to the federal Health
22Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. If an
23employer possesses health information about an employee or
24employee's family member, the information shall be treated as
25confidential and not disclosed except with the permission of
26the affected employee. For time used pursuant to subdivision

 

 

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1(b)(5), any one of the following is acceptable documentation,
2and only one of the following shall be required: a police
3report, court document, or signed statement from an attorney, a
4member of the clergy, or a victim services advocate. It is up
5to the employee to determine which documentation to submit.
6    The employer shall not delay the commencement of leave
7taken for purposes of subsection (b) of this Section nor delay
8pay for this period on the basis that the employer has not yet
9received the certification.
10    (g) Paid sick days shall be provided upon the oral request
11of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick days under this
12Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer
13with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is
14to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the
15employee shall provide notice as soon as is practicable after
16the employee is aware of the necessity of the leave. An
17employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick
18days under this Act, that the employee search for or find a
19replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee
20is on paid sick days leave.
21    (h) Paid sick days shall carry over annually to the extent
22not used by the employee; however, nothing in this Act shall be
23construed to require an employer to allow use of more than 40
24hours of paid sick time for an employee unless an employer
25agrees to do so.
26    (i) It shall be unlawful for an employer to interfere with,

 

 

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1restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid
2paying sick days, or discipline an employee for the exercise
3of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in
4connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid
5sick days as a negative factor in an employment action that
6involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting,
7disciplining, or counting the paid sick days under a no-fault
8attendance policy.
9    (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this
10Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
11any family member under any group health plan for the duration
12of the leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
13as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the
14leave.
15    (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring
16financial or other reimbursement to an employee from an
17employer upon the employee's termination, resignation,
18retirement, or other separation from employment for accrued
19paid sick days that have not been used.
20    (l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit
21an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and
22including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick
23days provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than
24those described in this Section.
25    (m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division,
26entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer,

 

 

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1the employee is entitled to all paid sick days accrued at the
2prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all
3paid sick days as provided in this Section. If there is a
4separation from employment and the employee is rehired within
512 months of separation by the same employer, previously
6accrued paid sick days that had not been used shall be
7reinstated. An employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid
8sick days at the commencement of employment following a
9separation from employment of 12 months or less.
10    (n) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
11with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to
12bargain collectively with their employers through
13representatives of their own choosing in order to establish
14wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable
15minimum standards of the provisions of this Act. Nothing in
16this Section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change
17the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements in
18force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective
19date of this Act, requirements of this Section may be waived in
20a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the
21waiver is set forth explicitly in the agreement in clear and
22unambiguous terms. In no event shall this Section apply to any
23employee working in the construction industry who is covered by
24a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.
 
25    Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.

 

 

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1    (a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
2make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
3and the amount of paid sick days taken by employees for a
4period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department
5access to the records, with appropriate notice and a mutually
6agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of
7this Section. In addition, the records shall be preserved for
8the duration of any claim pending pursuant to Section 35 of
9this Act.
10    (b) An agreement by an employee to waive his or her right
11under this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of
12Section 15, is void as against public policy.
13    (c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies
14with the minimum requirements of this Act shall not be required
15to modify such a policy if the policy offers an employee the
16option, at the employee's discretion, to take paid sick days
17that are at least equivalent to the paid sick days described in
18this Act.
19    (d) Employers shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous
20place on the premises of the employer where notices to
21employees are customarily posted, or include in an employee
22manual or policy, a notice, to be prepared by the Department,
23summarizing the requirements of this Act and information
24pertaining to the filing of a charge. If an employer's
25workforce is comprised of a significant portion of workers who
26are not literate in English, the employer is responsible for

 

 

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1providing the notice in a language in which the employees are
2literate. An employer who willfully violates the notice and
3posting requirements of this Section shall be subject to a
4civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate
5offense.
 
6    Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It is unlawful for
7any employer to take any adverse action against an employee
8because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to
9exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices that the
10employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3)
11supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act.
12    Exercising rights under this Act includes filing an action
13or instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding under
14or related to this Act; providing or agreeing to provide any
15information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding
16relating to any right provided under this Act; or testifying to
17or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or proceeding relating to
18any right provided under this Act.
 
19    Section 30. Department responsibilities.
20    (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act
21and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act
22for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the
23powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the
24Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The

 

 

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1Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in
2connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act,
3including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to
4issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that
5this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the
6parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an
7Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in
8accordance with hearing procedures established by rule.
9    (b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties
10prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that
11comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to
12supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to
13the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may
14bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of
15unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be
16required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department
17on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the
18employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty
19collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall
20be deposited into the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund
21created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing
22this Act.
23    (c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the
24collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.
 
25    Section 35. Enforcement.

 

 

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1    (a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this
2Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may,
3within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting
4the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a
5complaint with the Department or file a civil action.
6    (b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a
7claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit
8court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory
9damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive
10damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in
11addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert
12witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the
13defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing
14an administrative complaint.
15    (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a
16preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or
17with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or
18any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money
19penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense.
 
20    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
21Section 5.891 as follows:
 
22    (30 ILCS 105/5.891 new)
23    Sec. 5.891. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
 

 

 

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1    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
2severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.