Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-0349
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Public Act 094-0349


 

Public Act 0349 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 094-0349
 
SB0201 Enrolled LRB094 06514 DRJ 36602 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by adding
Section 10.9 as follows:
 
    (210 ILCS 85/10.9 new)
    Sec. 10.9. Nurse mandated overtime prohibited.
    (a) Definitions. As used in this Section:
    "Mandated overtime" means work that is required by the
hospital in excess of an agreed-to, predetermined work shift.
Time spent by nurses required to be available as a condition of
employment in specialized units, such as surgical nursing
services, shall not be counted or considered in calculating the
amount of time worked for the purpose of applying the
prohibition against mandated overtime under subsection (b).
    "Nurse" means any advanced practice nurse, registered
professional nurse, or licensed practical nurse, as defined in
the Nursing and Advanced Practice Nursing Act, who receives an
hourly wage and has direct responsibility to oversee or carry
out nursing care. For the purposes of this Section, "advanced
practice nurse" does not include a certified registered nurse
anesthetist who is primarily engaged in performing the duties
of a nurse anesthetist.
    "Unforeseen emergent circumstance" means (i) any declared
national, State, or municipal disaster or other catastrophic
event, or any implementation of a hospital's disaster plan,
that will substantially affect or increase the need for health
care services or (ii) any circumstance in which patient care
needs require specialized nursing skills through the
completion of a procedure. An "unforeseen emergent
circumstance" does not include situations in which the hospital
fails to have enough nursing staff to meet the usual and
reasonably predictable nursing needs of its patients.
    (b) Mandated overtime prohibited. No nurse may be required
to work mandated overtime except in the case of an unforeseen
emergent circumstance when such overtime is required only as a
last resort. Such mandated overtime shall not exceed 4 hours
beyond an agreed-to, predetermined work shift.
    (c) Off-duty period. When a nurse is mandated to work up to
12 consecutive hours, the nurse must be allowed at least 8
consecutive hours of off-duty time immediately following the
completion of a shift.
    (d) Retaliation prohibited. No hospital may discipline,
discharge, or take any other adverse employment action against
a nurse solely because the nurse refused to work mandated
overtime as prohibited under subsection (b).
    (e) Violations. Any employee of a hospital that is subject
to this Act may file a complaint with the Department of Public
Health regarding an alleged violation of this Section. The
complaint must be filed within 45 days following the occurrence
of the incident giving rise to the alleged violation. The
Department must forward notification of the alleged violation
to the hospital in question within 3 business days after the
complaint is filed. Upon receiving a complaint of a violation
of this Section, the Department may take any action authorized
under Section 7 or 9 of this Act.
    (f) Proof of violation. Any violation of this Section must
be proved by clear and convincing evidence that a nurse was
required to work overtime against his or her will. The hospital
may defeat the claim of a violation by presenting clear and
convincing evidence that an unforeseen emergent circumstance,
which required overtime work, existed at the time the employee
was required or compelled to work.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 7/28/2005