Section 205.210  Employee Rights

a)         Illinois Employees have a right to information about toxic substances at their workplaces.  The Act specifies a number of ways for this information to be provided to employees by their employers.  These are:

1)         A poster listing employee rights in an accessible location. [820 ILCS 255/7]

2)         Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).  Copies must be made available to employees, their designated representatives, and their treating health care professional within ten days of a written request except as provided in subsection (b) below. [820 ILCS 255/9]

3)         Annual training to routinely exposed employees.  Transferred employees must be trained prior to beginning their new work assignment which involves routine exposure to a toxic substance. [820 ILCS 255/16]

4)         The labeling of containers of toxic substances with the chemical name(s) and appropriate hazard warnings as determined in Section 205.230. Fixed containers within a workplace need not be labeled, but the required information must be available in the employee's work area. [820 ILCS 255/8]

b)         Employees may refuse to work with a toxic substance if their employer has not supplied a Material Safety Data Sheet after the employee requested it in writing, and if the employer has not made a good faith effort within a time limit as specified in Sections 9(d) and 14(a) of the Act to get the Material Safety Data Sheet from the supplier or manufacturerF2. [820 ILCS 255/14]

c)         Employees may not be discharged or otherwise disciplined or discriminated against in any manner by an employer for exercising their rights under the Act. [820 ILCS 255/14]

d)         If an employee(s) believes that he/she has been denied his/her rights under the Act, the employee (or his/her representative) may file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor within 180 days of such denialF2. [820 ILCS 255/14]

(Source:  Amended at 21 Ill. Reg. 10932, effective July 25, 1997)