Public Act 0396 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0318 Enrolled LRB100 05103 MJP 15113 b

Public Act 100-0396

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Genetic Information Privacy Act is amended by changing Section 25 as follows:

(410 ILCS 513/25)

Sec. 25. Use of genetic testing information by employers.

(a) An employer, employment agency, labor organization, and licensing agency shall treat genetic testing and genetic information in such a manner that is consistent with the requirements of federal law, including but not limited to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

(b) An employer may release genetic testing information only in accordance with this Act.

(c) An employer, employment agency, labor organization, and licensing agency shall not directly or indirectly do any of the following:

(1) solicit, request, require or purchase genetic testing or genetic information of a person or a family member of the person, or administer a genetic test to a person or a family member of the person as a condition of employment, preemployment application, labor organization membership, or licensure;

(2) affect the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, preemployment application, labor organization membership, or licensure, or terminate the employment, labor organization membership, or licensure of any person because of genetic testing or genetic information with respect to the employee or family member, or information about a request for or the receipt of genetic testing by such employee or family member of such employee;

(3) limit, segregate, or classify employees in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive any employee of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the status of the employee as an employee because of genetic testing or genetic information with respect to the employee or a family member, or information about a request for or the receipt of genetic testing or genetic information by such employee or family member of such employee; and

(4) retaliate through discharge or in any other manner against any person alleging a violation of this Act or participating in any manner in a proceeding under this Act.

(d) An agreement between a person and an employer, prospective employer, employment agency, labor organization, or licensing agency, or its employees, agents, or members offering the person employment, labor organization membership, licensure, or any pay or benefit in return for taking a genetic test is prohibited.

(e) An employer shall not use genetic information or genetic testing in furtherance of a workplace wellness program benefiting employees unless (1) health or genetic services are offered by the employer, (2) the employee provides written authorization in accordance with Section 30 of this Act, (3) only the employee or family member if the family member is receiving genetic services and the licensed health care professional or licensed genetic counselor involved in providing such services receive individually identifiable information concerning the results of such services, and (4) any individually identifiable information is only available for purposes of such services and shall not be disclosed to the employer except in aggregate terms that do not disclose the identity of specific employees. An employer shall not penalize an employee who does not disclose his or her genetic information or does not choose to participate in a program requiring disclosure of the employee's genetic information.

(f) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit genetic testing of an employee who requests a genetic test and who provides written authorization, in accordance with Section 30 of this Act, from taking a genetic test for the purpose of initiating a workers' compensation claim under the Workers' Compensation Act.

(g) A purchase of commercially and publicly available documents, including newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and books but not including medical databases or court records or inadvertently requesting family medical history by an employer, employment agency, labor organization, and licensing agency does not violate this Act.

(h) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit an employer that conducts DNA analysis for law enforcement purposes as a forensic laboratory and that includes such analysis in the Combined DNA Index System pursuant to the federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 from requesting or requiring genetic testing or genetic information of such employer's employees, but only to the extent that such genetic testing or genetic information is used for analysis of DNA identification markers for quality control to detect sample contamination.

(i) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit an employer from requesting or requiring genetic information to be used for genetic monitoring of the biological effects of toxic substances in the workplace, but only if (1) the employer provides written notice of the genetic monitoring to the employee; (2) the employee provides written authorization under Section 30 of this Act or the genetic monitoring is required by federal or State law; (3) the employee is informed of individual monitoring results; (4) the monitoring is in compliance with any federal genetic monitoring regulations or State genetic monitoring regulations under the authority of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; and (5) the employer, excluding any health care provider, health care professional, or health facility that is involved in the genetic monitoring program, receives the results of the monitoring only in aggregate terms that do not disclose the identity of specific employees.

(j) Despite lawful acquisition of genetic testing or genetic information under subsections (e) through (i) of this Section, an employer, employment agency, labor organization, and licensing agency still may not use or disclose the genetic test or genetic information in violation of this Act.

(k) Except as provided in subsections (e), (f), (h), and (i) of this Section, a person shall not knowingly sell to or interpret for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or licensing agency, or its employees, agents, or members, a genetic test of an employee, labor organization member, or license holder, or of a prospective employee, member, or license holder.

(Source: P.A. 98-1046, eff. 1-1-15.)