(40 ILCS 5/15-107) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-107)

Sec. 15-107. Employee.

(a) "Employee" means any member of the educational, administrative, secretarial, clerical, mechanical, labor or other staff of an employer whose employment is permanent and continuous or who is employed in a position in which services are expected to be rendered on a continuous basis for at least 4 months or one academic term, whichever is less, who (A) receives payment for personal services on a warrant issued pursuant to a payroll voucher certified by an employer and drawn by the State Comptroller upon the State Treasurer or by an employer upon trust, federal or other funds, or (B) is on a leave of absence without pay. Employment which is irregular, intermittent or temporary shall not be considered continuous for purposes of this paragraph.

However, a person is not an "employee" if he or she:

(1) is a student enrolled in and regularly attending classes in a college or university which is an employer, and is employed on a temporary basis at less than full time;

(2) is currently receiving a retirement annuity or a disability retirement annuity under Section 15-153.2 from this System;

(3) is on a military leave of absence;

(4) is eligible to participate in the Federal Civil Service Retirement System and is currently making contributions to that system based upon earnings paid by an employer;

(5) is on leave of absence without pay for more than 60 days immediately following termination of disability benefits under this Article;

(6) is hired after June 30, 1979 as a public service employment program participant under the Federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act and receives earnings in whole or in part from funds provided under that Act; or

(7) is employed on or after July 1, 1991 to perform services that are excluded by subdivision (a)(7)(f) or (a)(19) of Section 210 of the federal Social Security Act from the definition of employment given in that Section (42 U.S.C. 410).

(b) Any employer may, by filing a written notice with the board, exclude from the definition of "employee" all persons employed pursuant to a federally funded contract entered into after July 1, 1982 with a federal military department in a program providing training in military courses to federal military personnel on a military site owned by the United States Government, if this exclusion is not prohibited by the federally funded contract or federal laws or rules governing the administration of the contract.

(c) Any person appointed by the Governor under the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is an employee, if he or she is a participant in this system on the effective date of the appointment.

(d) A participant on lay-off status under civil service rules is considered an employee for not more than 120 days from the date of the lay-off.

(e) A participant is considered an employee during (1) the first 60 days of disability leave, (2) the period, not to exceed one year, in which his or her eligibility for disability benefits is being considered by the board or reviewed by the courts, and (3) the period he or she receives disability benefits under the provisions of Section 15-152, workers' compensation or occupational disease benefits, or disability income under an insurance contract financed wholly or partially by the employer.

(f) Absences without pay, other than formal leaves of absence, of less than 30 calendar days, are not considered as an interruption of a person's status as an employee. If such absences during any period of 12 months exceed 30 work days, the employee status of the person is considered as interrupted as of the 31st work day.

(g) A staff member whose employment contract requires services during an academic term is to be considered an employee during the summer and other vacation periods, unless he or she declines an employment contract for the succeeding academic term or his or her employment status is otherwise terminated, and he or she receives no earnings during these periods.

(h) An individual who was a participating employee employed in the fire department of the University of Illinois's Champaign-Urbana campus immediately prior to the elimination of that fire department and who immediately after the elimination of that fire department became employed by the fire department of the City of Urbana or the City of Champaign shall continue to be considered as an employee for purposes of this Article for so long as the individual remains employed as a firefighter by the City of Urbana or the City of Champaign. The individual shall cease to be considered an employee under this subsection (h) upon the first termination of the individual's employment as a firefighter by the City of Urbana or the City of Champaign.

(i) An individual who is employed on a full-time basis as an officer or employee of a statewide teacher organization that serves System participants or an officer of a national teacher organization that serves System participants may participate in the System and shall be deemed an employee, provided that (1) the individual has previously earned creditable service under this Article, (2) the individual files with the System an irrevocable election to become a participant before January 5, 2012 (the effective date of Public Act 97-651), (3) the individual does not receive credit for that employment under any other Article of this Code, and (4) the individual first became a full-time employee of the teacher organization and becomes a participant before January 5, 2012 (the effective date of Public Act 97-651). An employee under this subsection (i) is responsible for paying to the System both (A) employee contributions based on the actual compensation received for service with the teacher organization and (B) employer contributions equal to the normal costs (as defined in Section 15-155) resulting from that service; all or any part of these contributions may be paid on the employee's behalf or picked up for tax purposes (if authorized under federal law) by the teacher organization.

A person who is an employee as defined in this subsection (i) may establish service credit for similar employment prior to becoming an employee under this subsection by paying to the System for that employment the contributions specified in this subsection, plus interest at the effective rate from the date of service to the date of payment. However, credit shall not be granted under this subsection for any such prior employment for which the applicant received credit under any other provision of this Code, or during which the applicant was on a leave of absence under Section 15-113.2.

(j) A person employed by the State Board of Higher Education in a position with the Illinois Century Network as of June 30, 2004 shall be considered to be an employee for so long as he or she remains continuously employed after that date by the Department of Central Management Services in a position with the Illinois Century Network, the Bureau of Communication and Computer Services, or, if applicable, any successor bureau or the Department of Innovation and Technology and meets the requirements of subsection (a).

(k) The Board shall promulgate rules with respect to determining whether any person is an employee within the meaning of this Section. In the case of doubt as to whether any person is an employee within the meaning of this Section or any rule adopted by the Board, the decision of the Board shall be final.

(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-321, eff. 8-9-19.)