Public Act 101-0380
 
HB0253 EnrolledLRB101 02866 AXK 47874 b


  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  


 
    Section 5. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act is 
amended  by changing Section 2 as follows:
 



    (115 ILCS 5/2)  (from Ch. 48, par. 1702)



    Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:

    (a) "Educational employer"
or "employer" means the 
governing body of a public school district, including the 
governing body of a charter school established under Article 
27A of the School Code or of a contract school or contract 
turnaround school established under paragraph 30 of Section 
34-18 of the School Code, combination
of public school 
districts, including the governing body of joint agreements
of 
any type formed by 2 or more school districts, public community 
college
district or State college or university, a 
subcontractor of instructional services of a school district 
(other than a school district organized under Article 34 of the 
School Code), combination of school districts, charter school 
established under Article 27A of the School Code, or  contract 
school or contract turnaround school established under 
paragraph 30 of Section 34-18 of the School Code, an 
Independent Authority created under Section 2-3.25f-5 of the 
School Code, and any State agency whose major
function is 
providing educational services.
"Educational employer" or 
"employer" does not include (1) a Financial Oversight
Panel 
created pursuant to Section 1A-8 of the School Code due to a

district
violating a financial plan or (2) an approved 
nonpublic special education facility that contracts with a 
school district or combination of school districts to provide 
special education services pursuant to Section 14-7.02 of the 
School Code, but does include a School Finance Authority

created
under Article 1E or 1F of the School Code and a 
Financial Oversight Panel created under Article 1B or 1H of the 
School Code. The change made by this amendatory Act of the 96th 
General Assembly to this paragraph (a) to make clear that the 
governing body of a charter school is an "educational employer" 
is declaratory of existing law. 

    (b) "Educational employee" or "employee" means any 
individual, excluding
supervisors, managerial, confidential, 
short term employees, student, and
part-time academic 
employees of community colleges employed full or part
time by 
an educational employer, but shall not include elected 
officials
and appointees of the Governor with the advice and 
consent of the Senate,
firefighters as defined by subsection 
(g-1) of Section 3 of the Illinois
Public Labor Relations Act, 
and peace officers employed by a State
university.  For the 
purposes of this Act, part-time
academic employees of community 
colleges shall be defined as those
employees who provide less 
than 3 credit hours of instruction per
academic
semester. In 
this subsection (b), the term "student" does not include

includes graduate students who are research assistants 
primarily
performing duties that involve research, or graduate 
assistants primarily
performing duties that are 
pre-professional, but excludes graduate
students who are 
teaching assistants primarily performing duties that
involve 
the delivery and support of instruction, or any and all other 
graduate
assistants.

    (c) "Employee organization" or "labor organization" means 
an organization
of any kind in which membership includes 
educational employees, and which
exists for the purpose, in 
whole or in part, of dealing with employers
concerning 
grievances, employee-employer disputes, wages, rates of pay,

hours of employment, or conditions of work, but shall not 
include any
organization which practices discrimination in 
membership because of race,
color, creed, age, gender, national 
origin or political affiliation.

    (d) "Exclusive representative" means the labor 
organization which has
been designated by the Illinois 
Educational Labor Relations Board as the
representative of the 
majority of educational employees in an appropriate
unit, or 
recognized by an educational employer prior to January 1, 1984 
as
the exclusive representative of the employees in an 
appropriate unit or,
after January 1, 1984, recognized by an 
employer upon evidence that the
employee organization has been 
designated as the exclusive representative
by a majority of the 
employees in an appropriate unit.

    (e) "Board" means the Illinois Educational Labor Relations 
Board.

    (f) "Regional Superintendent" means the regional 
superintendent of
schools provided for in Articles 3 and 3A of 
The School Code.

    (g) "Supervisor" means any individual having authority in 
the interests
of the employer to hire, transfer, suspend, lay 
off, recall, promote,
discharge, reward or discipline other 
employees within the appropriate
bargaining unit and adjust 
their grievances, or to effectively recommend
such action if 
the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or

clerical nature but requires the use of independent judgment.  
The term
"supervisor" includes only those individuals who 
devote a preponderance of
their employment time to such 
exercising authority.

    (h) "Unfair labor practice" or "unfair practice" means any 
practice
prohibited by Section 14 of this Act.

    (i) "Person" includes an individual, educational employee, 
educational
employer, legal representative, or employee 
organization.

    (j) "Wages" means salaries or other forms of compensation 
for services
rendered.

    (k) "Professional employee" means, in the case of a public 
community
college, State college or university, State agency 
whose major function is
providing educational services, the 
Illinois School for the Deaf, and the
Illinois School for the 
Visually Impaired, (1) any employee engaged in work
(i) 
predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed 
to
routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work; (ii) 
involving the
consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in 
its performance; (iii) of
such character that the output 
produced or the result accomplished cannot
be standardized in 
relation to a given period of time; and (iv) requiring

knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning 
customarily
acquired by a prolonged course of specialized 
intellectual instruction and
study in an institution of higher 
learning or a hospital, as distinguished
from a general 
academic education or from an apprenticeship or from training

in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical 
processes; or
(2) any employee, who (i) has completed the 
courses of specialized
intellectual instruction and study 
described in clause (iv) of paragraph
(1) of this subsection, 
and (ii) is performing related work under the
supervision of a 
professional person to qualify himself or herself to
become a 
professional as defined in paragraph (l).

    (l) "Professional employee" means, in the case of any 
public school
district, or combination of school districts 
pursuant to joint agreement,
any employee who has a certificate 
issued under Article 21 or Section 34-83
of the School Code, as 
now or hereafter amended.

    (m) "Unit" or "bargaining unit" means any group of 
employees for which
an exclusive representative is selected.

    (n) "Confidential employee" means an employee, who (i) in 
the regular
course of his or her duties, assists and acts in a 
confidential capacity to
persons who formulate, determine and 
effectuate management policies with
regard to labor relations 
or who (ii) in the regular course of his or her
duties has 
access to information relating to the effectuation or review of

the employer's collective bargaining policies.

    (o) "Managerial employee" means an individual who is 
engaged
predominantly in executive and management functions 
and is charged with the
responsibility of directing the 
effectuation of such management policies and
practices.

    (p) "Craft employee" means a skilled journeyman, craft 
person, and his
or her apprentice or helper.

    (q) "Short-term employee" is an employee who is employed 
for less than
2 consecutive calendar quarters during a calendar 
year and who does not
have a reasonable expectation that he or 
she will be rehired by the same
employer for the same service 
in a subsequent calendar year.  Nothing in
this subsection shall 
affect the employee status of individuals who were
covered by a 
collective bargaining agreement on the effective date of this

amendatory Act of 1991.

(Source: P.A. 97-429, eff. 8-16-11; 98-1155, eff. 1-9-15.)

 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 
1, 2020.