Public Act 098-1037
 
HB4157 EnrolledLRB098 15710 HEP 50741 b

    AN ACT concerning human rights.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended by
changing Section 2-101 as follows:
 
    (775 ILCS 5/2-101)  (from Ch. 68, par. 2-101)
    Sec. 2-101. Definitions. The following definitions are
applicable strictly in the context of this Article.
    (A) Employee.
        (1) "Employee" includes:
            (a) Any individual performing services for
        remuneration within this State for an employer;
            (b) An apprentice;
            (c) An applicant for any apprenticeship.
        For purposes of subsection (D) of Section 2-102 of this
    Act, "employee" also includes an unpaid intern. An unpaid
    intern is a person who performs work for an employer under
    the following circumstances:
            (i) the employer is not committed to hiring the
        person performing the work at the conclusion of the
        intern's tenure;
            (ii) the employer and the person performing the
        work agree that the person is not entitled to wages for
        the work performed; and
            (iii) the work performed:
                (I) supplements training given in an
            educational environment that may enhance the
            employability of the intern;
                (II) provides experience for the benefit of
            the person performing the work;
                (III) does not displace regular employees;
                (IV) is performed under the close supervision
            of existing staff; and
                (V) provides no immediate advantage to the
            employer providing the training and may
            occasionally impede the operations of the
            employer.
        (2) "Employee" does not include:
            (a) Domestic servants in private homes;
            (b) Individuals employed by persons who are not
        "employers" as defined by this Act;
            (c) Elected public officials or the members of
        their immediate personal staffs;
            (d) Principal administrative officers of the State
        or of any political subdivision, municipal corporation
        or other governmental unit or agency;
            (e) A person in a vocational rehabilitation
        facility certified under federal law who has been
        designated an evaluee, trainee, or work activity
        client.
    (B) Employer.
        (1) "Employer" includes:
            (a) Any person employing 15 or more employees
        within Illinois during 20 or more calendar weeks within
        the calendar year of or preceding the alleged
        violation;
            (b) Any person employing one or more employees when
        a complainant alleges civil rights violation due to
        unlawful discrimination based upon his or her physical
        or mental disability unrelated to ability or sexual
        harassment;
            (c) The State and any political subdivision,
        municipal corporation or other governmental unit or
        agency, without regard to the number of employees;
            (d) Any party to a public contract without regard
        to the number of employees;
            (e) A joint apprenticeship or training committee
        without regard to the number of employees.
        (2) "Employer" does not include any religious
    corporation, association, educational institution,
    society, or non-profit nursing institution conducted by
    and for those who rely upon treatment by prayer through
    spiritual means in accordance with the tenets of a
    recognized church or religious denomination with respect
    to the employment of individuals of a particular religion
    to perform work connected with the carrying on by such
    corporation, association, educational institution, society
    or non-profit nursing institution of its activities.
    (C) Employment Agency. "Employment Agency" includes both
public and private employment agencies and any person, labor
organization, or labor union having a hiring hall or hiring
office regularly undertaking, with or without compensation, to
procure opportunities to work, or to procure, recruit, refer or
place employees.
    (D) Labor Organization. "Labor Organization" includes any
organization, labor union, craft union, or any voluntary
unincorporated association designed to further the cause of the
rights of union labor which is constituted for the purpose, in
whole or in part, of collective bargaining or of dealing with
employers concerning grievances, terms or conditions of
employment, or apprenticeships or applications for
apprenticeships, or of other mutual aid or protection in
connection with employment, including apprenticeships or
applications for apprenticeships.
    (E) Sexual Harassment. "Sexual harassment" means any
unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors or any
conduct of a sexual nature when (1) submission to such conduct
is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of
an individual's employment, (2) submission to or rejection of
such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for
employment decisions affecting such individual, or (3) such
conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering
with an individual's work performance or creating an
intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
    (F) Religion. "Religion" with respect to employers
includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as
well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is
unable to reasonably accommodate an employee's or prospective
employee's religious observance or practice without undue
hardship on the conduct of the employer's business.
    (G) Public Employer. "Public employer" means the State, an
agency or department thereof, unit of local government, school
district, instrumentality or political subdivision.
    (H) Public Employee. "Public employee" means an employee of
the State, agency or department thereof, unit of local
government, school district, instrumentality or political
subdivision. "Public employee" does not include public
officers or employees of the General Assembly or agencies
thereof.
    (I) Public Officer. "Public officer" means a person who is
elected to office pursuant to the Constitution or a statute or
ordinance, or who is appointed to an office which is
established, and the qualifications and duties of which are
prescribed, by the Constitution or a statute or ordinance, to
discharge a public duty for the State, agency or department
thereof, unit of local government, school district,
instrumentality or political subdivision.
    (J) Eligible Bidder. "Eligible bidder" means a person who,
prior to a bid opening, has filed with the Department a
properly completed, sworn and currently valid employer report
form, pursuant to the Department's regulations. The provisions
of this Article relating to eligible bidders apply only to bids
on contracts with the State and its departments, agencies,
boards, and commissions, and the provisions do not apply to
bids on contracts with units of local government or school
districts.
    (K) Citizenship Status. "Citizenship status" means the
status of being:
        (1) a born U.S. citizen;
        (2) a naturalized U.S. citizen;
        (3) a U.S. national; or
        (4) a person born outside the United States and not a
    U.S. citizen who is not an unauthorized alien and who is
    protected from discrimination under the provisions of
    Section 1324b of Title 8 of the United States Code, as now
    or hereafter amended.
(Source: P.A. 97-877, eff. 8-2-12.)