SR1158 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1158 LRB101 21442 MST 72094 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, There have been growing concerns that an increasing number of workers in the State of Illinois are being misclassified by their employers, but limited data currently exists to support or abate these concerns; and

WHEREAS, Employee misclassification creates a host of issues that deny workers in Illinois basic labor standards, including, but not limited to, wage and hour protections, discrimination protections, health and safety standards, workers' compensation, retirement security, and unemployment insurance; and

WHEREAS, The misclassification of workers also enables unscrupulous employers and hiring entities to gain an unfair advantage over other employers that obey the law and permits such employers to shift the cost of providing benefits, such as a safe workplace, retirement security, and unemployment insurance, to governmental bodies and, ultimately, the taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, The harms caused by misclassification are only exacerbated in times of economic downturn, such as the current state of the global economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; and

WHEREAS, The spread of COVID-19 has resulted in unprecedented job loss and an increase in unemployment insurance claims in the State; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Employment Security previously adopted the practice of verifying employment classification when processing claims for unemployment insurance benefits; and

WHEREAS, Through this process, the Department of Employment Security has the capability of identifying employee misclassification, however, only where workers voluntarily seek regular unemployment benefits from the Department; and

WHEREAS, Federal unemployment insurance programs, such as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, have recently expanded eligibility to workers who were previously ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits, including individuals who are self-employed, independent contractors, and sole proprietors; and

WHEREAS, Workers who are self-employed, independent contractors, and sole proprietors, and their hiring entities have not traditionally been required to contribute to federal or state unemployment insurance programs; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Employment Security is presently receiving and processing claims for unemployment benefits under both the State and federal programs, gaining access to information and data from a larger sample of the workforce in the State, including those thought to be non-employees; and

WHEREAS, Absent the Pandemic Unemployment Insurance program providing assistance to workers who are self-employed, independent contractors, or sole proprietors, it is difficult to collect data about this type of employment and earnings; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Department of Employment Security is urged to collect data, where practicable, regarding incidents of employer misclassification, including, but not limited to, job titles, employment industry, wages, hours, and dollar amount of unemployment benefits paid from the state unemployment fund; "Employer misclassification" in this paragraph shall mean a case in which a worker is classified by his or her employer as an independent contractor and paid 1099 wages but is later deemed by IDES to qualify as an employee, based upon the legal standard applicable to State of Illinois unemployment law; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Department of Employment Security is urged to collect data, where practicable, regarding applicants who are found by the Department to qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance as self-employed, independent contractors, and sole proprietors, including, but not limited to, job titles, employment industry, hours, and wages or earnings; and be it further

RESOLVED, That such data, to the greatest extent permitted under the law, should be presented in a meaningful and workable electronic format that excludes private and personally identifying information of Unemployment Insurance applicants to be shared with the members of the Senate of the One Hundred First General Assembly of the State of Illinois on or before the last day of the 101st General Assembly; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to Governor JB Pritzker and Thomas Chan, Acting Director of the Department of Employment Security.