Full Text of SB3775 102nd General Assembly
SB3775sam002 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Omar Aquino Filed: 3/8/2022
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3775
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3775 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Nurse Agency Licensing Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Sections 3, 5, 7, 13, 14, and 14.1 as follows:
| 6 | | (225 ILCS 510/3) (from Ch. 111, par. 953)
| 7 | | Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act:
| 8 | | "Add-on charges" means any amount, excluding the | 9 | | administrative fee, that the nurse agency charges the health | 10 | | care facility in addition to the employee hourly pay rate, | 11 | | including, but not limited to, shift differential, weekend | 12 | | differential, hazard pay, charge nurse add-on, overtime, | 13 | | holiday pay, and travel or mileage pay. | 14 | | "Administrative fee" means any amount that the nurse | 15 | | agency charges the health care facility in addition to amounts | 16 | | paid to the employee by the nurse agency. |
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| 1 | | (a) "Certified nurse aide" means an individual certified | 2 | | as defined in
Section 3-206 of the Nursing Home Care Act, | 3 | | Section 3-206 of the ID/DD Community Care Act, or Section | 4 | | 3-206 of the MC/DD Act, as now or hereafter amended.
| 5 | | "Covenant not to compete" means an agreement between an | 6 | | employer and an employee that restricts the employee from | 7 | | performing: | 8 | | (1) any work for another employer for a specified | 9 | | period of time; | 10 | | (2) any work in a specified geographic area; or | 11 | | (3) work for another employer that is similar to the | 12 | | employee's work for the employer included as a party to | 13 | | the agreement. | 14 | | (b) "Department" means the Department of Labor.
| 15 | | (c) "Director" means the Director of Labor.
| 16 | | (d) "Health care facility" is defined as in Section 3 of | 17 | | the Illinois
Health Facilities Planning Act, as now or | 18 | | hereafter amended. "Health care facility" also includes any | 19 | | facility licensed, certified, or approved by any State agency | 20 | | and covered by the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act or | 21 | | the Illinois Public Aid Code.
| 22 | | (e) "Licensee" means any nursing agency which is properly | 23 | | licensed under
this Act.
| 24 | | (f) "Nurse" means a registered nurse , or a licensed | 25 | | practical nurse , an advanced practice registered nurse, or any | 26 | | individual licensed under as
defined in the Nurse Practice |
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| 1 | | Act.
| 2 | | (g) "Nurse agency" means any individual, firm, | 3 | | corporation,
partnership or other legal entity that employs, | 4 | | assigns or refers nurses
or certified nurse aides to a health | 5 | | care facility for a
fee. The term "nurse agency" includes | 6 | | nurses registries. The term "nurse
agency" does not include | 7 | | services provided by home
health agencies licensed and | 8 | | operated under the Home Health, Home Services, and Home | 9 | | Nursing Agency
Licensing Act or a licensed or certified
| 10 | | individual who provides his or her own services as a regular | 11 | | employee of a
health care facility, nor does it apply to a | 12 | | health care facility's
organizing nonsalaried employees to | 13 | | provide services only in that
facility.
| 14 | | (Source: P.A. 98-104, eff. 7-22-13; 99-180, eff. 7-29-15.)
| 15 | | (225 ILCS 510/5) (from Ch. 111, par. 955)
| 16 | | Sec. 5. Application for license. An application to operate | 17 | | a nurse
agency shall be made to the Department on forms | 18 | | provided by the Department.
A separate application shall be | 19 | | submitted for each additional location
from which a nurse | 20 | | agency is operated. All applications must be under
oath and | 21 | | must be accompanied by an equitable application fee which will | 22 | | be
set by the Department by rule. A separate license must be | 23 | | obtained for each
location from which a nurse agency is | 24 | | operated unless the nurse agency is
owned and managed by the | 25 | | same person or persons. Submission of false or
misleading |
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| 1 | | information is a petty offense punishable by a fine of $500.
| 2 | | The application shall contain the following information:
| 3 | | (1) name and address of the person, partnership, | 4 | | corporation or other
entity that is the applicant;
| 5 | | (2) if the applicant is a corporation or limited liability | 6 | | company , a copy of its articles of
incorporation or | 7 | | organization , a copy of its current bylaws, and the names and | 8 | | addresses of
its officers and directors and shareholders | 9 | | owning more than 5% of the
corporation's stock or membership | 10 | | units ;
| 11 | | (3) the name and location of premises from which the | 12 | | applicant will
provide services;
| 13 | | (4) the names and addresses of the person or persons under | 14 | | whose
management or supervision the nurse agency will be | 15 | | operated;
| 16 | | (5) a statement of financial solvency;
| 17 | | (6) a statement detailing the experience and | 18 | | qualifications of the
applicant to operate a nurse agency, | 19 | | however, the failure of a nurse agency
to demonstrate previous | 20 | | experience to operate an agency does not in and of
itself | 21 | | constitute grounds for the denial of a license;
| 22 | | (7) evidence of compliance or intent to comply with State | 23 | | or federal law
relating to employee compensation, including | 24 | | but not limited to, social
security taxes, State and federal | 25 | | income taxes, workers' compensation,
unemployment taxes, and | 26 | | State and federal overtime compensation laws;
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| 1 | | (8) evidence of general and professional liability | 2 | | insurance in the amounts of at
least $1,000,000 $500,000 per | 3 | | incident and $3,000,000 $1,000,000 in aggregate and workers' | 4 | | compensation coverage for all nurses or certified nursing | 5 | | aides employed, assigned, or referred by the nurse agency to a | 6 | | health care facility ; and
| 7 | | (9) any other relevant information which the Department | 8 | | determines is
necessary to properly evaluate the applicant and | 9 | | application as required by
the Department by rule ; and .
| 10 | | (10) an application fee of $2,000.
Fees collected under
| 11 | | this paragraph shall be used by the Department for the | 12 | | enforcement of this Act. | 13 | | (Source: P.A. 86-817; 86-1043; 86-1472; 87-435.)
| 14 | | (225 ILCS 510/7) (from Ch. 111, par. 957)
| 15 | | Sec. 7. Renewal of license. At least 90 days prior to | 16 | | license
expiration, the licensee shall submit an attestation | 17 | | detailing the number of contracted shifts, number of shifts | 18 | | missed, number of shifts fulfilled for the 3 quarters | 19 | | preceding the application date, and an application which meets | 20 | | the
requirements of Section 5 of this Act for renewal of the | 21 | | license. If the
application is approved pursuant to Section 6, | 22 | | the license shall be renewed
for an additional one-year | 23 | | period.
| 24 | | (Source: P.A. 86-817; 86-1043.)
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| 1 | | (225 ILCS 510/13) (from Ch. 111, par. 963)
| 2 | | Sec. 13. Application for employment.
| 3 | | (a) Every nurse agency shall cause
each applicant for | 4 | | employment, assignment, or referral, as a nurse to
complete an | 5 | | application form including the following information:
| 6 | | (1) name and address of the applicant;
| 7 | | (2) whether or not such applicant is a nurse currently | 8 | | licensed by the
Department of Professional Regulation;
| 9 | | (3) if so licensed, the number and date of such | 10 | | license; and
| 11 | | (4) references and dates and places of previous | 12 | | employment.
| 13 | | Prior to employing, assigning, or referring a nurse, the | 14 | | agency shall
contact the Department of Professional Regulation | 15 | | to determine whether the
nurse's license is valid and in good | 16 | | standing. Written verification shall
be sent by the Department | 17 | | of Financial and Professional Regulation within 20 working
| 18 | | days. At least biennially thereafter, the nurse agency shall | 19 | | contact the
Department of Financial and Professional | 20 | | Regulation to verify this information in
writing. The nurse | 21 | | agency shall review the disciplinary report published
by the | 22 | | Department of Financial and Professional Regulation on a | 23 | | monthly basis to
determine whether the nurse's license is | 24 | | valid and in good standing.
| 25 | | (b) Every nurse agency shall cause each applicant for | 26 | | employment,
assignment, or referral, as a certified nurse aide |
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| 1 | | to complete an
application form including the following | 2 | | information:
| 3 | | (1) name and address of the applicant;
| 4 | | (2) whether or not the nurse aide is registered as | 5 | | having completed a
certified course as approved by the | 6 | | Department of Public Health; and
| 7 | | (3) references and dates and places of previous | 8 | | employment.
| 9 | | Prior to employing, assigning, or referring a certified | 10 | | nurse aide, the agency shall review the information provided | 11 | | on the Health Care Worker Registry to verify that the | 12 | | certification is valid . Prior to employing, assigning, or | 13 | | referring a certified nurse aide to a position at a health care | 14 | | employer or long-term facility as defined in the Health Care | 15 | | Worker Background Check Act, the nurse agency shall review the | 16 | | information provided on the Health Care Worker Registry to | 17 | | verify and that the certified nurse aide is not ineligible for | 18 | | the position to be hired by health care employers or long-term | 19 | | care facilities pursuant to Section 25 of the Health Care | 20 | | Worker Background Check Act.
| 21 | | (c) Every nurse agency shall check at least 2 recent | 22 | | references and the
dates of employment provided by the | 23 | | applicant, unless the applicant has not
had 2 previous | 24 | | employers.
| 25 | | (d) Knowingly employing, assigning, or referring to a | 26 | | health care facility a nurse or certified nurse aide with an |
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| 1 | | illegally or fraudulently obtained or issued diploma, | 2 | | registration, license, certificate, or background study | 3 | | constitutes negligent hiring by a nurse agency and is grounds | 4 | | for suspension, revocation, or refusal to issue or renew a | 5 | | license under Section 9. | 6 | | (e) (d) Nurses or certified nurses aides employed, | 7 | | assigned, or referred to
a health care facility by a nurse | 8 | | agency shall be deemed to be employees of
the nurse agency | 9 | | while working for the nurse agency or on nurse agency
| 10 | | employment, assignment or referral.
| 11 | | (Source: P.A. 99-652, eff. 1-1-17 .)
| 12 | | (225 ILCS 510/14) (from Ch. 111, par. 964)
| 13 | | Sec. 14. Minimum Standards. | 14 | | (a) The Department, by rule, shall
establish minimum | 15 | | standards for the operation of nurse agencies. Those
standards | 16 | | shall include, but are not limited to: (1) the maintenance of | 17 | | written
policies , procedures, and contracts between nurse | 18 | | agencies and health care facilities to which it assigns or | 19 | | refers nurses or certified nurse aides itemizing rates, | 20 | | including, but not limited to, specifying employee hourly pay | 21 | | rates, any and all add-on charges, and the nurse agency's | 22 | | administrative fees and procedures ; and (2) the development of | 23 | | personnel policies which
include payroll records, including | 24 | | for nurses or certified nurse aides employed, assigned, or | 25 | | referred to health care facilities, a personal interview, a |
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| 1 | | reference check, an annual
evaluation of each employee (which | 2 | | may be based in part upon information provided by
health care | 3 | | facilities utilizing nurse agency personnel) and periodic
| 4 | | health examinations.
| 5 | | (b) Each nurse agency shall have a nurse serving as a | 6 | | manager or
supervisor of all nurses and certified nurses | 7 | | aides.
| 8 | | (c) Each nurse agency shall
ensure that its employees meet | 9 | | the minimum
licensing, training, continuing education, and | 10 | | orientation standards for
which those employees
are licensed | 11 | | or certified. Each nurse agency shall also ensure that its | 12 | | employees perform any and all duties called for within the | 13 | | full scope of practice for which the individual is licensed or | 14 | | certified.
| 15 | | (d) A nurse agency shall not employ, assign, or refer for | 16 | | use in an Illinois
health care facility a nurse or certified | 17 | | nurse aide unless certified or
licensed under applicable | 18 | | provisions of State and federal law or regulations.
Each | 19 | | certified nurse aide shall comply with all pertinent
| 20 | | regulations of the Illinois Department of Public Health | 21 | | relating to the
health and other qualifications of personnel | 22 | | employed in health care facilities.
| 23 | | (e) The Department shall may adopt rules to monitor the | 24 | | usage of nurse agency services to
determine their impact. In | 25 | | the development of such rules, the Department may consult with | 26 | | the Department of Public Health to ensure the rules will |
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| 1 | | determine the quality of care and public health impacts of the | 2 | | usage of nurse agency services.
| 3 | | (f) Nurse agencies are prohibited from recruiting | 4 | | potential employees on the premises of a health care facility | 5 | | or requiring, as a condition of
employment, assignment, or | 6 | | referral, that their employees
recruit new employees for the | 7 | | nurse agency from
among the permanent employees of the health | 8 | | care facility to which the
nurse agency employees have been | 9 | | employed,
assigned, or referred,
and the health care facility | 10 | | to which such employees are employed, assigned,
or referred is | 11 | | prohibited from requiring, as a condition of employment,
that | 12 | | their employees recruit new employees from these nurse agency
| 13 | | employees. Violation of this provision is a business offense.
| 14 | | (g) Nurse agencies are prohibited from entering into | 15 | | covenants not to compete with nurses and certified nurse | 16 | | aides. A covenant not to compete entered into after the | 17 | | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General | 18 | | Assembly between a nurse agency and a nurse or certified nurse | 19 | | aide is illegal and void. The nursing agency shall not, in any | 20 | | contract with any employee or health care facility, require | 21 | | the payment of liquidated damages, conversion fees, employment | 22 | | fees, buy-out fees, placement fees, or other compensation if | 23 | | the employee is hired as a permanent employee of a health care | 24 | | facility. | 25 | | (h) A nurse agency's administrative fee shall not exceed | 26 | | 50% of the hourly wage and any add-ons paid to the employee. |
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| 1 | | (i) No less than 100% of the employee hourly pay rate and | 2 | | any add-on charges shall be passed on to the employee. | 3 | | (Source: P.A. 86-817.)
| 4 | | (225 ILCS 510/14.1)
| 5 | | Sec. 14.1. Investigations; orders; civil penalties.
| 6 | | (a) The Department may at any time, and shall upon | 7 | | receiving a complaint
from any interested person, investigate | 8 | | any person licensed or applying for a
license under this Act. | 9 | | The Department shall investigate any person who
operates or | 10 | | advertises a nurse agency without being licensed under this | 11 | | Act. The Department shall establish a system of reporting | 12 | | complaints against a health care staffing agency. Complaints | 13 | | may be made by any member of the public. Complaints against a | 14 | | nurse agency shall be investigated by the Department of Labor. | 15 | | The investigations shall take into consideration the | 16 | | responsibility of health care facilities under Section 12 for | 17 | | supervising nurse agency employees assigned or referred to the | 18 | | facilities.
| 19 | | The Director or his or her authorized representative may | 20 | | examine the premises
of any nurse agency, may compel by | 21 | | subpoena,
for examination or inspection, the attendance and | 22 | | testimony of witnesses and
the production of books, payrolls, | 23 | | records, papers and other evidence in any
investigation or | 24 | | hearing, and may administer oaths or affirmations to
| 25 | | witnesses.
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| 1 | | (b) After appropriate notice and hearing, and if supported | 2 | | by the evidence,
the Department may issue and cause to be | 3 | | served on any person an order to cease
and desist from | 4 | | violation of this Act and to take any further action that is
| 5 | | reasonable to eliminate the effect of the violation.
| 6 | | Whenever it appears that any person has violated a valid | 7 | | order of the
Department issued under this Act, the Director | 8 | | may commence an action and
obtain from the court an order | 9 | | directing the person to obey the order of the
Department or be | 10 | | subject to punishment for contempt of court.
| 11 | | The Department may petition the court for an order | 12 | | enjoining any
violation of this Act.
| 13 | | (c) Any licensee or applicant who violates any provision | 14 | | of this Act or the
rules adopted under this Act shall be | 15 | | subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 per occurrence $1,000 | 16 | | per
day for each violation . Civil penalties may be assessed by | 17 | | the Department in
an administrative action and may, if | 18 | | necessary, be recovered in a civil action
brought by the | 19 | | Director through the Attorney General of the State of Illinois
| 20 | | or the State's attorney of any county in which the violation | 21 | | occurred. The
court may order that the civil penalties | 22 | | assessed for violation
of this Act, together with any costs or | 23 | | attorney's fees arising out of the
action to collect the | 24 | | penalties, be paid to the Department. The fact that the
| 25 | | violation has ceased does not excuse any person from liability | 26 | | for civil
penalties arising from the violation.
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| 1 | | (Source: P.A. 88-230.)".
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