Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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50 ILCS 748/5

(50 ILCS 748/5)
Sec. 5.

Volunteer emergency worker; when termination of employment prohibited.

(a) No public or private employer may terminate an employee who is a
volunteer
emergency worker because the employee, when acting as a volunteer emergency worker, is
absent from or late to his or her employment in order to respond to an
emergency prior to the time the employee is to report to his or her place of
employment.

(a-5) A public or private employer shall not discipline an employee who is a volunteer emergency worker if the employee, in the scope of acting as a volunteer emergency worker, responds to an emergency phone call or text message during work hours that requests the person's volunteer emergency services. This subsection (a-5) does not apply to a person employed by a public or private vehicle service provider and who is in the course of performing services as Emergency Medical Services personnel as defined in Section 3.5 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. This subsection (a-5) shall not diminish or supersede an employer's written workplace policy, a collective bargaining agreement, administrative guidelines, or other applicable written rules administered by the employer. Existing written policies governing the use of cell phones shall prevail and control.

(b) An employer may charge, against the employee's regular pay, any time
that
an
employee who is a
volunteer emergency worker loses from employment because of the employee's
response to an emergency in the course of performing his or her duties as a
volunteer emergency worker.

(c) In the case of an employee who is a
volunteer emergency worker and who loses time
from his or her employment in order to respond to an emergency in the course of
performing his or her duties as a volunteer emergency worker, the
employer has the right to request the employee to provide the
employer with a written statement from the supervisor or acting supervisor of
the
volunteer fire department or governmental entity that the volunteer emergency worker serves stating that the employee responded to an emergency
and stating the time and date of the emergency.

(d) An employee who is a
volunteer emergency worker and who may be absent from or late to his or her
employment in
order to respond to an emergency in the course of performing his or her duties
as a volunteer emergency worker must make a reasonable effort to notify his
or
her employer that he or she may be absent or late.

(Source: P.A. 100-324, eff. 1-1-18.)