(820 ILCS 65/15)

Sec. 15. Exceptions.

(a) In the case of a plant closing, an employer is not required to comply with the notice requirement in subsection (a) of Section 10 if:

(1) the Department of Labor determines:

(A) at the time that notice would have been required, the employer was actively seeking capital or business; and

(B) the capital or business sought, if obtained, would have enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the relocation or termination; and

(C) the employer reasonably and in good faith believed that giving the notice required by subsection (a) of Section 10 would have precluded the employer from obtaining the needed capital or business; or

(2) the Department of Labor determines that the need for a notice was not reasonably foreseeable at the time the notice would have been required.

(b) To determine whether the employer was actively seeking capital or business, or that the need for notice was not reasonably foreseeable under subsection (a), the employer shall provide to the Department of Labor:

(1) a written record consisting of those documents relevant to the determination of whether the employer was actively seeking capital or business, or that the need for notice was not reasonably foreseeable; and

(2) an affidavit verifying the contents of the documents contained in the record.

(c) An employer is not required to comply with the notice requirement in subsection (a) of Section 10 if:

(1) the plant closing is of a temporary facility or the plant closing or layoff is the result of the completion of a particular project or undertaking, and the affected employees were hired with the understanding that their employment was limited to the duration of the facility or the project or undertaking; or

(2) the closing or layoff constitutes a strike or constitutes a lockout not intended to evade the requirements of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall require an employer to serve written notice when permanently replacing a person who is deemed to be an economic striker under the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to validate or invalidate any judicial or administrative ruling relating to the hiring of permanent replacements for economic strikers under the National Labor Relations Act.

(d) An employer relying on this Section shall provide as much notice as is practicable and at that time shall provide a brief statement of the basis for reducing the notification period.

(Source: P.A. 93-915, eff. 1-1-05.)