40 ILCS 5/5-154

(40 ILCS 5/5-154) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 5-154)

Sec. 5-154. Duty disability benefit; child's disability benefit.

(a) An active policeman who becomes disabled on or after the effective date as the result of injury incurred on or after such date in the performance of an act of duty, has a right to receive duty disability benefit during any period of such disability for which he does not have a right to receive salary, equal to 75% of his salary, as salary is defined in this Article, at the time the disability is allowed; or in the case of a policeman on duty disability who returns to active employment at any time for a period of at least 2 years and is again disabled from the same cause or causes, 75% of his salary, as salary is defined in this Article, at the time disability is allowed; provided, however, that:

(i) If the disability resulted from any physical defect or mental disorder or any disease which existed at the time the injury was sustained, or if the disability is less than 50% of total disability for any service of a remunerative character, the duty disability benefit shall be 50% of salary as defined in this Article.

(ii) Beginning January 1, 1996, no duty disability benefit that has been payable under this Section for at least 10 years shall be less than 50% of the current salary attached from time to time to the rank held by the policeman at the time of removal from the police department payroll, regardless of whether that removal occurred before the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995. Beginning on January 1, 2000, no duty disability benefit that has been payable under this Section for at least 7 years shall be less than 60% of the current salary attached from time to time to the rank held by the policeman at the time of removal from the police department payroll, regardless of whether that removal occurred before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly.

(iii) If the Board finds that the disability of the policeman is of such a nature as to permanently render him totally disabled for any service of a remunerative character, the duty disability benefit shall be 75% of the current salary attached from time to time to the rank held by the policeman at the time of removal from the police department payroll. In the case of a policeman receiving a duty disability benefit under this Section on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly, the increase in benefit provided by this amendatory Act, if any, shall begin to accrue as of the date that the Board makes the required finding of permanent total disability, regardless of whether removal from the payroll occurred before the effective date of this amendatory Act.

(b) The policeman shall also have a right to child's disability benefit of $100 per month for each unmarried child, the issue of the policeman, less than age 18, but the total amount of child's disability benefit shall not exceed 25% of his salary as defined in this Article. The increase in child's disability benefit provided by this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly applies beginning January 1, 2000 to all such benefits payable on or after that date, regardless of whether the disabled policeman is in active service on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act.

(c) Duty disability benefit shall be payable until the policeman becomes age 63 or would have been retired by operation of law, whichever is later, and child's disability benefit shall be paid during any such period of disability until the child attains age 18. Thereafter the policeman shall receive the annuity provided in accordance with the other provisions of this Article.

(d) A policeman who suffers a heart attack during the performance and discharge of his or her duties as a policeman shall be considered injured in the performance of an act of duty and shall be eligible for all benefits that the City provides for police officers injured in the performance of an act of duty. This subsection (d) is a restatement of existing law and applies without regard to whether the policeman is in service on or after the effective date of Public Act 89-12 or this amendatory Act of 1996.

(e) For the purposes of this Section only, any policeman who becomes disabled as a result of exposure to and contraction of COVID-19, as evidenced by either a confirmed positive laboratory test for COVID-19 or COVID-19 antibodies or a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed medical professional, shall:

(1) be rebuttably presumed to have contracted COVID-19 while in the performance of an act or acts of duty;

(2) be rebuttably presumed to have been injured while in the performance of an act or acts of duty; and

(3) be entitled to receive a duty disability benefit during any period of such disability for which the policeman does not have a right to receive salary, in an amount equal to 75% of the policeman's salary, as salary is defined in this Article, at the time the disability is allowed, in accordance with subsection (a).

The presumption shall apply to any policeman who was exposed to and contracted COVID-19 on or after March 9, 2020 and on or before June 30, 2021; except that the presumption shall not apply if the policeman was on a leave of absence from his or her employment or otherwise not required to report for duty for a period of 14 or more consecutive days immediately prior to the date of contraction of COVID-19. For the purposes of determining when a policeman contracted COVID-19 under this paragraph, the date of contraction is either the date that the policeman was diagnosed with COVID-19 or was unable to work due to symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-19, whichever occurred first.

It is the intent of the General Assembly that the change made in this subsection (e) by this amendatory Act shall apply retroactively to March 9, 2020, and any policeman who has been previously denied a duty disability benefit that would otherwise be entitled to duty disability benefit under this subsection (e) shall be entitled to retroactive benefits and duty disability benefit.

(Source: P.A. 103-2, eff. 5-10-23.)