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1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Employee Background Check Act.
 
6    Section 2. Findings. The General Assembly finds that it is
7in the public interest to give Illinois employers access to the
8broadest pool of qualified applicants possible, to create
9pathways that facilitate observance of the civil rights of
10those seeking employment, and to ensure that all qualified
11applicants are properly considered for available employment
12opportunities and are not pre-screened unnecessarily or
13unjustly.
 
14    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
15    "Candidate" means any person considered by an employer when
16identifying potential employees including, but not limited to,
17persons who ask to be considered for employment or who request
18information from an employer regarding potential employment or
19are pursuing employment with an employer in response to some
20indication that an employer may have employment opportunities
21available.
22    "Employer" means any entity or person that employs one or

 

 

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1more persons.
2    "Employment" means any occupation or vocation.
 
3    Section 10. Employer pre-screening.
4    (a) An employer may not, on the face of an employment
5application or through any other means, inquire about or into a
6candidate's criminal history directly or indirectly until
7after the employer determines the candidate to be qualified for
8the employment opportunity and interviews the candidate.
9Employers may orally ask a candidate about criminal convictions
10during an interview.
11    (b) The limitations set forth in subsection (a) of this
12Section do not apply to employers who are required to exclude
13candidates from employment because of State or federal law or
14Section 25 of the Health Care Worker Background Check Act.
 
15    Section 15. Rebuttable presumption. If an employer hires a
16candidate pursuant to this Act that is determined to have a
17criminal background, the employer shall have a rebuttable
18presumption in any legal proceeding against the employer
19regarding the employment of the candidate that the employer
20performed its due diligence and acted in good faith in hiring
21such candidate.
 
22    Section 20. Willful and knowing violations. A candidate may
23bring a civil action in circuit court to recover actual damages

 

 

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1that result from an employer's willful and knowing violation of
2this Act of not less than $100 and not more than $500.
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
41, 2014.