Public Act 93-0591
HB3486 Enrolled LRB093 06684 WGH 12062 b
AN ACT in relation to employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act.
Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds and
declares the following:
(1) Domestic and sexual violence affects many
persons without regard to age, race, educational level,
socioeconomic status, religion, or occupation.
(2) Domestic and sexual violence has a devastating
effect on individuals, families, communities and the
workplace.
(3) Domestic violence crimes account for
approximately 15% of total crime costs in the United
States each year.
(4) Violence against women has been reported to be
the leading cause of physical injury to women. Such
violence has a devastating impact on women's physical and
emotional health and financial security.
(5) According to recent government surveys, from
1993 through 1998 the average annual number of violent
victimizations committed by intimate partners was
1,082,110, 87% of which were committed against women.
(6) Female murder victims were substantially more
likely than male murder victims to have been killed by an
intimate partner. About one-third of female murder
victims, and about 4% of male murder victims, were killed
by an intimate partner.
(7) According to recent government estimates,
approximately 987,400 rapes occur annually in the United
States, 89% of the rapes are perpetrated against female
victims.
(8) Approximately 10,200,000 people have been
stalked at some time in their lives. Four out of every 5
stalking victims are women. Stalkers harass and terrorize
their victims by spying on the victims, standing outside
their places of work or homes, making unwanted phone
calls, sending or leaving unwanted letters or items, or
vandalizing property.
(9) Employees in the United States who have been
victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, or stalking too often suffer adverse
consequences in the workplace as a result of their
victimization.
(10) Victims of domestic violence, dating violence,
sexual assault, and stalking face the threat of job loss
and loss of health insurance as a result of the illegal
acts of the perpetrators of violence.
(11) The prevalence of domestic violence, dating
violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other violence
against women at work is dramatic. Approximately 11% of
all rapes occur in the workplace. About 50,500
individuals, 83% of whom are women, were raped or
sexually assaulted in the workplace each year from 1992
through 1996. Half of all female victims of violent
workplace crimes know their attackers. Nearly one out of
10 violent workplace incidents is committed by partners
or spouses.
(12) Homicide is the leading cause of death for
women on the job. Husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners
commit 15% of workplace homicides against women.
(13) Studies indicate that as much as 74% of
employed battered women surveyed were harassed at work by
their abusive partners.
(14) According to a 1998 report of the U.S. General
Accounting Office, between one-fourth and one-half of
domestic violence victims surveyed in 3 studies reported
that the victims lost a job due, at least in part, to
domestic violence.
(15) Women who have experienced domestic violence
or dating violence are more likely than other women to be
unemployed, to suffer from health problems that can
affect employability and job performance, to report lower
personal income, and to rely on welfare.
(16) Abusers frequently seek to control their
partners by actively interfering with their ability to
work, including preventing their partners from going to
work, harassing their partners at work, limiting the
access of their partners to cash or transportation, and
sabotaging the child care arrangements of their partners.
(17) More than one-half of women receiving welfare
have been victims of domestic violence as adults and
between one-fourth and one-third reported being abused in
the last year.
(18) Sexual assault, whether occurring in or out of
the workplace, can impair an employee's work performance,
require time away from work, and undermine the employee's
ability to maintain a job. Almost 50% of sexual assault
survivors lose their jobs or are forced to quit in the
aftermath of the assaults.
(19) More than one-fourth of stalking victims
report losing time from work due to the stalking and 7%
never return to work.
(20) (A) According to the National Institute of
Justice, crime costs an estimated $450,000,000,000
annually in medical expenses, lost earnings, social
service costs, pain, suffering, and reduced quality of
life for victims, which harms the Nation's productivity
and drains the Nation's resources. (B) Violent crime
accounts for $426,000,000,000 per year of this amount.
(C) Rape exacts the highest costs per victim of any
criminal offense, and accounts for $127,000,000,000 per
year of the amount described in subparagraph (A).
(21) The Bureau of National Affairs has estimated
that domestic violence costs United States employers
between $3,000,000,000 and $5,000,000,000 annually in
lost time and productivity. Other reports have estimated
that domestic violence costs United States employers
$13,000,000,000 annually.
(22) United States medical costs for domestic
violence have been estimated to be $31,000,000,000 per
year.
(23) Ninety-four percent of corporate security and
safety directors at companies nationwide rank domestic
violence as a high security concern.
(24) Forty-nine percent of senior executives
recently surveyed said domestic violence has a harmful
effect on their company's productivity, 47% said domestic
violence negatively affects attendance, and 44% said
domestic violence increases health care costs.
(25) Employees, including individuals participating
in welfare to work programs, may need to take time during
business hours to:
(A) obtain orders of protection;
(B) seek medical or legal assistance,
counseling, or other services; or
(C) look for housing in order to escape from
domestic violence.
Section 10. Definitions. In this Act, except as otherwise
expressly provided:
(1) "Commerce" includes trade, traffic, commerce,
transportation, or communication; and "industry or
activity affecting commerce" means any activity,
business, or industry in commerce or in which a labor
dispute would hinder or obstruct commerce or the free
flow of commerce, and includes "commerce" and any
"industry affecting commerce".
(2) "Course of conduct" means a course of
repeatedly maintaining a visual or physical proximity to
a person or conveying oral or written threats, including
threats conveyed through electronic communications, or
threats implied by conduct.
(3) "Department" means the Department of Labor.
(4) "Director" means the Director of Labor.
(5) "Domestic or sexual violence" means domestic
violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
(6) "Domestic violence" includes acts or threats of
violence, not including acts of self defense, as defined
in subdivision (3) of Section 103 of the Illinois
Domestic Violence Act of 1986, sexual assault, or death
to the person, or the person's family or household
member, if the conduct causes the specific person to have
such distress or fear.
(7) "Electronic communications" includes
communications via telephone, mobile phone, computer,
e-mail, video recorder, fax machine, telex, or pager.
(8) "Employ" includes to suffer or permit to work.
(9) Employee.
(A) In general. "Employee" means any person
employed by an employer.
(B) Basis. "Employee" includes a person
employed as described in subparagraph (A) on a full
or part-time basis, or as a participant in a work
assignment as a condition of receipt of federal or
State income-based public assistance.
(10) "Employer" means any of the following: (A) the
State or any agency of the State; (B) any unit of local
government or school district; or (C) any person that
employs at least 50 employees.
(11) "Employment benefits" means all benefits
provided or made available to employees by an employer,
including group life insurance, health insurance,
disability insurance, sick leave, annual leave,
educational benefits, and pensions, regardless of whether
such benefits are provided by a practice or written
policy of an employer or through an "employee benefit
plan". "Employee benefit plan" or "plan" means an
employee welfare benefit plan or an employee pension
benefit plan or a plan which is both an employee welfare
benefit plan and an employee pension benefit plan.
(12) "Family or household member" means a spouse,
parent, son, daughter, and persons jointly residing in
the same household.
(13) "Parent" means the biological parent of an
employee or an individual who stood in loco parentis to
an employee when the employee was a son or daughter. "Son
or daughter" means a biological, adopted, or foster
child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person
standing in loco parentis, who is under 18 years of age,
or is 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care
because of a mental or physical disability.
(14) "Perpetrator" means an individual who commits
or is alleged to have committed any act or threat of
domestic or sexual violence.
(15) "Person" means an individual, partnership,
association, corporation, business trust, legal
representative, or any organized group of persons.
(16) "Public agency" means the Government of the
State or political subdivision thereof; any agency of the
State, or of a political subdivision of the State; or any
governmental agency.
(17) "Public assistance" includes cash, food
stamps, medical assistance, housing assistance, and other
benefits provided on the basis of income by a public
agency or public employer.
(18) "Reduced work schedule" means a work schedule
that reduces the usual number of hours per workweek, or
hours per workday, of an employee.
(19) "Repeatedly" means on 2 or more occasions.
(20) "Sexual assault" means any conduct proscribed
by the Criminal Code of 1961 in Sections 12-13, 12-14,
12-14.1, 12-15, and 12-16.
(21) "Stalking" means any conduct proscribed by the
Criminal Code of 1961 in Sections 12-7.3 and 12-7.4.
(22) "Victim" or "survivor" means an individual who
has been subjected to domestic or sexual violence.
(23) "Victim services organization" means a
nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that provides
assistance to victims of domestic or sexual violence or
to advocates for such victims, including a rape crisis
center, an organization carrying out a domestic violence
program, an organization operating a shelter or providing
counseling services, or a legal services organization or
other organization providing assistance through the legal
process.
Section 15. Purposes. The purposes of this Act are:
(1) to promote the State's interest in reducing
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking by enabling victims of domestic or sexual
violence to maintain the financial independence necessary
to leave abusive situations, achieve safety, and minimize
the physical and emotional injuries from domestic or
sexual violence, and to reduce the devastating economic
consequences of domestic or sexual violence to employers
and employees;
(2) to address the failure of existing laws to
protect the employment rights of employees who are
victims of domestic or sexual violence and employees with
a family or household member who is a victim of domestic
or sexual violence, by protecting the civil and economic
rights of those employees, and by furthering the equal
opportunity of women for economic self-sufficiency and
employment free from discrimination;
(3) to accomplish the purposes described in
paragraphs (1) and (2) by entitling employed victims of
domestic or sexual violence to take unpaid leave to seek
medical help, legal assistance, counseling, safety
planning, and other assistance without penalty from their
employers.
Section 20. Entitlement to leave due to domestic or
sexual violence.
(a) Leave requirement.
(1) Basis. An employee who is a victim of domestic
or sexual violence or has a family or household member
who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence whose
interests are not adverse to the employee as it relates
to the domestic or sexual violence may take unpaid leave
from work to address domestic or sexual violence by:
(A) seeking medical attention for, or
recovering from, physical or psychological injuries
caused by domestic or sexual violence to the
employee or the employee's family or household
member;
(B) obtaining services from a victim services
organization for the employee or the employee's
family or household member;
(C) obtaining psychological or other
counseling for the employee or the employee's family
or household member;
(D) participating in safety planning,
temporarily or permanently relocating, or taking
other actions to increase the safety of the employee
or the employee's family or household member from
future domestic or sexual violence or ensure
economic security; or
(E) seeking legal assistance or remedies to
ensure the health and safety of the employee or the
employee's family or household member, including
preparing for or participating in any civil or
criminal legal proceeding related to or derived from
domestic or sexual violence.
(2) Period. Subject to subsection (c), an employee
shall be entitled to a total of 12 workweeks of leave
during any 12-month period. This Act does not create a
right for an employee to take unpaid leave that exceeds
the unpaid leave time allowed under, or is in addition to
the unpaid leave time permitted by, the federal Family
and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
(3) Schedule. Leave described in paragraph (1) may
be taken intermittently or on a reduced work schedule.
(b) Notice. The employee shall provide the employer with
at least 48 hours' advance notice of the employee's intention
to take the leave, unless providing such notice is not
practicable. When an unscheduled absence occurs, the employer
may not take any action against the employee if the employee,
within a reasonable period after the absence, provides
certification under subsection (c).
(c) Certification.
(1) In general. The employer may require the
employee to provide certification to the employer that:
(A) the employee or the employee's family or
household member is a victim of domestic or sexual
violence; and
(B) the leave is for one of the purposes
enumerated in paragraph (a)(1).
The employee shall provide such certification to the
employer within a reasonable period after the employer
requests certification.
(2) Contents. An employee may satisfy the
certification requirement of paragraph (1) by providing
to the employer a sworn statement of the employee, and
upon obtaining such documents the employee shall provide:
(A) documentation from an employee, agent, or
volunteer of a victim services organization, an
attorney, a member of the clergy, or a medical or
other professional from whom the employee or the
employee's family or household member has sought
assistance in addressing domestic or sexual violence
and the effects of the violence;
(B) a police or court record; or
(C) other corroborating evidence.
(d) Confidentiality. All information provided to the
employer pursuant to subsection (b) or (c), including a
statement of the employee or any other documentation, record,
or corroborating evidence, and the fact that the employee has
requested or obtained leave pursuant to this Section, shall
be retained in the strictest confidence by the employer,
except to the extent that disclosure is:
(1) requested or consented to in writing by the
employee; or
(2) otherwise required by applicable federal or
State law.
(e) Employment and benefits.
(1) Restoration to position.
(A) In general. Any employee who takes leave
under this Section for the intended purpose of the
leave shall be entitled, on return from such leave:
(i) to be restored by the employer to the
position of employment held by the employee
when the leave commenced; or
(ii) to be restored to an equivalent
position with equivalent employment benefits,
pay, and other terms and conditions of
employment.
(B) Loss of benefits. The taking of leave
under this Section shall not result in the loss of
any employment benefit accrued prior to the date on
which the leave commenced.
(C) Limitations. Nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to entitle any restored employee
to:
(i) the accrual of any seniority or
employment benefits during any period of leave;
or
(ii) any right, benefit, or position of
employment other than any right, benefit, or
position to which the employee would have been
entitled had the employee not taken the leave.
(D) Construction. Nothing in this paragraph
shall be construed to prohibit an employer from
requiring an employee on leave under this Section to
report periodically to the employer on the status
and intention of the employee to return to work.
(2) Maintenance of health benefits.
(A) Coverage. Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), during any period that an employee
takes leave under this Section, the employer shall
maintain coverage for the employee and any family or
household member under any group health plan for the
duration of such leave at the level and under the
conditions coverage would have been provided if the
employee had continued in employment continuously
for the duration of such leave.
(B) Failure to return from leave. The employer
may recover the premium that the employer paid for
maintaining coverage for the employee and the
employee's family or household member under such
group health plan during any period of leave under
this Section if:
(i) the employee fails to return from
leave under this Section after the period of
leave to which the employee is entitled has
expired; and
(ii) the employee fails to return to work
for a reason other than:
(I) the continuation, recurrence, or
onset of domestic or sexual violence that
entitles the employee to leave pursuant to
this Section; or
(II) other circumstances beyond the
control of the employee.
(C) Certification.
(i) Issuance. An employer may require an
employee who claims that the employee is unable
to return to work because of a reason described
in subclause (I) or (II) of subparagraph
(B)(ii) to provide, within a reasonable period
after making the claim, certification to the
employer that the employee is unable to return
to work because of that reason.
(ii) Contents. An employee may satisfy
the certification requirement of clause (i) by
providing to the employer:
(I) a sworn statement of the
employee;
(II) documentation from an employee,
agent, or volunteer of a victim services
organization, an attorney, a member of the
clergy, or a medical or other professional
from whom the employee has sought
assistance in addressing domestic or
sexual violence and the effects of that
violence;
(III) a police or court record; or
(IV) other corroborating evidence.
(D) Confidentiality. All information provided
to the employer pursuant to subparagraph (C),
including a statement of the employee or any other
documentation, record, or corroborating evidence,
and the fact that the employee is not returning to
work because of a reason described in subclause (I)
or (II) of subparagraph (B)(ii) shall be retained in
the strictest confidence by the employer, except to
the extent that disclosure is:
(i) requested or consented to in writing
by the employee; or
(ii) otherwise required by applicable
federal or State law.
(f) Prohibited acts.
(1) Interference with rights.
(A) Exercise of rights. It shall be unlawful
for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or
deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise any
right provided under this Section.
(B) Employer discrimination. It shall be
unlawful for any employer to discharge or harass any
individual, or otherwise discriminate against any
individual with respect to compensation, terms,
conditions, or privileges of employment of the
individual (including retaliation in any form or
manner) because the individual:
(i) exercised any right provided under
this Section; or
(ii) opposed any practice made unlawful
by this Section.
(C) Public agency sanctions. It shall be
unlawful for any public agency to deny, reduce, or
terminate the benefits of, otherwise sanction, or
harass any individual, or otherwise discriminate
against any individual with respect to the amount,
terms, or conditions of public assistance of the
individual (including retaliation in any form or
manner) because the individual:
(i) exercised any right provided under
this Section; or
(ii) opposed any practice made unlawful
by this Section.
(2) Interference with proceedings or inquiries. It
shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or in any
other manner discriminate (as described in subparagraph
(B) or (C) of paragraph (1)) against any individual
because such individual:
(A) has filed any charge, or has instituted or
caused to be instituted any proceeding, under or
related to this Section;
(B) has given, or is about to give, any
information in connection with any inquiry or
proceeding relating to any right provided under this
Section; or
(C) has testified, or is about to testify, in
any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right
provided under this Section.
Section 25. Existing leave usable for addressing domestic
or sexual violence. An employee who is entitled to take paid
or unpaid leave (including family, medical, sick, annual,
personal, or similar leave) from employment, pursuant to
federal, State, or local law, a collective bargaining
agreement, or an employment benefits program or plan, may
elect to substitute any period of such leave for an
equivalent period of leave provided under Section 20.
Section 30. Victims' employment sustainability;
prohibited discriminatory acts.
(a) An employer shall not fail to hire, refuse to hire,
discharge, or harass any individual, otherwise discriminate
against any individual with respect to the compensation,
terms, conditions, or privileges of employment of the
individual, or retaliate against an individual in any form or
manner, and a public agency shall not deny, reduce, or
terminate the benefits of, otherwise sanction, or harass any
individual, otherwise discriminate against any individual
with respect to the amount, terms, or conditions of public
assistance of the individual, or retaliate against an
individual in any form or manner, because:
(1) the individual involved:
(A) is or is perceived to be a victim of
domestic or sexual violence;
(B) attended, participated in, prepared for,
or requested leave to attend, participate in, or
prepare for a criminal or civil court proceeding
relating to an incident of domestic or sexual
violence of which the individual or a family or
household member of the individual was a victim; or
(C) requested an adjustment to a job
structure, workplace facility, or work requirement,
including a transfer, reassignment, or modified
schedule, leave, a changed telephone number or
seating assignment, installation of a lock, or
implementation of a safety procedure in response to
actual or threatened domestic or sexual violence,
regardless of whether the request was granted; or
(2) the workplace is disrupted or threatened by the
action of a person whom the individual states has
committed or threatened to commit domestic or sexual
violence against the individual or the individual's
family or household member.
(b) In this Section:
(1) "Discriminate", used with respect to the terms,
conditions, or privileges of employment or with respect
to the terms or conditions of public assistance, includes
not making a reasonable accommodation to the known
limitations resulting from circumstances relating to
being a victim of domestic or sexual violence or a family
or household member being a victim of domestic or sexual
violence of an otherwise qualified individual:
(A) who is:
(i) an applicant or employee of the
employer (including a public agency); or
(ii) an applicant for or recipient of
public assistance from a public agency; and
(B) who is:
(i) a victim of domestic or sexual
violence; or
(ii) with a family or household member
who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence
whose interests are not adverse to the
individual in subparagraph (A) as it relates to
the domestic or sexual violence;
unless the employer or public agency can demonstrate that
the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the
operation of the employer or public agency.
(2) "Qualified individual" means:
(A) in the case of an applicant or employee
described in paragraph (1)(A)(i), an individual who,
but for being a victim of domestic or sexual
violence or with a family or household member who is
a victim of domestic or sexual violence, can perform
the essential functions of the employment position
that such individual holds or desires; or
(B) in the case of an applicant or recipient
described in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), an individual
who, but for being a victim of domestic or sexual
violence or with a family or household member who is
a victim of domestic or sexual violence, can satisfy
the essential requirements of the program providing
the public assistance that the individual receives
or desires.
(3) "Reasonable accommodation" may include an
adjustment to a job structure, workplace facility, or
work requirement, including a transfer, reassignment, or
modified schedule, leave, a changed telephone number or
seating assignment, installation of a lock, or
implementation of a safety procedure, in response to
actual or threatened domestic or sexual violence.
(4) Undue hardship.
(A) In general. "Undue hardship" means an
action requiring significant difficulty or expense,
when considered in light of the factors set forth in
subparagraph (B).
(B) Factors to be considered. In determining
whether a reasonable accommodation would impose an
undue hardship on the operation of an employer or
public agency, factors to be considered include:
(i) the nature and cost of the reasonable
accommodation needed under this Section;
(ii) the overall financial resources of
the facility involved in the provision of the
reasonable accommodation, the number of persons
employed at such facility, the effect on
expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise
of such accommodation on the operation of the
facility;
(iii) the overall financial resources of
the employer or public agency, the overall size
of the business of an employer or public agency
with respect to the number of employees of the
employer or public agency, and the number,
type, and location of the facilities of an
employer or public agency; and
(iv) the type of operation of the
employer or public agency, including the
composition, structure, and functions of the
workforce of the employer or public agency, the
geographic separateness of the facility from
the employer or public agency, and the
administrative or fiscal relationship of the
facility to the employer or public agency.
Section 35. Enforcement.
(a) Department of Labor.
(1) The Director or his or her authorized
representative shall administer and enforce the
provisions of this Act. Any employee or a representative
of employees who believes his or her rights under this
Act have been violated may, within 3 years after the
alleged violation occurs, file a complaint with the
Department requesting a review of the alleged violation.
A copy of the complaint shall be sent to the person who
allegedly committed the violation, who shall be the
respondent. Upon receipt of a complaint, the Director
shall cause such investigation to be made as he or she
deems appropriate. The investigation shall provide an
opportunity for a public hearing at the request of any
party to the review to enable the parties to present
information relating to the alleged allegation. The
parties shall be given written notice of the time and
place of the hearing at least 7 days before the hearing.
Upon receiving the report of the investigation, the
Director shall make findings of fact. If the Director
finds that a violation did occur, he or she shall issue a
decision incorporating his or her findings and requiring
the party committing the violation to take such
affirmative action to abate the violation as the Director
deems appropriate, including:
(A) damages equal to the amount of wages,
salary, employment benefits, public assistance, or
other compensation denied or lost to such individual
by reason of the violation, and the interest on that
amount calculated at the prevailing rate;
(B) such equitable relief as may be
appropriate, including but not limited to hiring,
reinstatement, promotion, and reasonable
accommodations; and
(C) reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable
expert witness fees, and other costs of the action
to be paid by the respondent to a prevailing
employee.
If the Director finds that there was no violation,
he or she shall issue an order denying the complaint. An
order issued by the Director under this Section shall be
final and subject to judicial review under the
Administrative Review Law.
(2) The Director shall adopt rules necessary to
administer and enforce this Act in accordance with the
Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The Director shall
have the powers and the parties shall have the rights
provided in the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for
contested cases, including, but not limited to,
provisions for depositions, subpoena power and
procedures, and discovery and protective order
procedures.
(3) Intervention. The Attorney General of Illinois
may intervene on behalf of the Department if the
Department certifies that the case is of general public
importance. Upon such intervention the court may award
such relief as is authorized to be granted to an employee
who has filed a complaint or whose representative has
filed a complaint under this Section.
(b) Refusal to pay damages. Any employer who has been
ordered by the Director of Labor or the court to pay damages
under this Section and who fails to do so within 30 days
after the order is entered is liable to pay a penalty of 1%
per calendar day to the employee for each day of delay in
paying the damages to the employee.
Section 40. Notification. Every employer covered by this
Act shall post and keep posted, in conspicuous places on the
premises of the employer where notices to employees are
customarily posted, a notice, to be prepared or approved by
the Director of Labor, summarizing the requirements of this
Act and information pertaining to the filing of a charge. The
Director shall furnish copies of summaries and rules to
employers upon request without charge.
Section 45. Effect on other laws and employment
benefits.
(a) More protective laws, agreements, programs, and
plans. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede
any provision of any federal, State, or local law, collective
bargaining agreement, or employment benefits program or plan
that provides:
(1) greater leave benefits for victims of domestic
or sexual violence than the rights established under this
Act; or
(2) leave benefits for a larger population of
victims of domestic or sexual violence (as defined in
such law, agreement, program, or plan) than the victims
of domestic or sexual violence covered under this Act.
(b) Less protective laws, agreements, programs, and
plans. The rights established for employees who are victims
of domestic or sexual violence and employees with a family or
household member who is a victim of domestic or sexual
violence under this Act shall not be diminished by any
federal, State or local law, collective bargaining agreement,
or employment benefits program or plan.
Section 905. Severability. If any provision of this Act
or the application of such provision to any person or
circumstance is held to be in violation of the Unites States
Constitution or Illinois Constitution, the remainder of the
provisions of this Act and the application of those
provisions to any person or circumstance shall not be
affected.
Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.