SB1670 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 06952 SPS 16989 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB1670

Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Christopher Belt

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

820 ILCS 154/5
820 ILCS 154/10

Amends the Family Bereavement Leave Act. Provides that all employees shall be entitled to use a maximum of one week (5 work days) of unpaid bereavement leave to grieve the death of a covered companion animal. Provides that, in the event of the death of more than one covered companion animal in a 12-month period, an employee is entitled to up to a total of 2 weeks (10 work days) of bereavement leave during the 12-month period. Defines "companion animal". Makes conforming changes.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning employment.

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

Section 5. The Family Bereavement Leave Act is amended by changing Sections 5 and 10 as follows:

(820 ILCS 154/5)

Sec. 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Assisted reproduction" means a method of achieving a pregnancy through an artificial insemination or an embryo transfer and includes gamete and embryo donation. "Assisted reproduction" does not include any pregnancy achieved through sexual intercourse.

"Child" means an employee's son or daughter who is a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis.

"Covered companion animal" means an animal, owned by the employee, that is commonly considered to be, or is considered by the owner to be, a pet. "Covered companion animal" includes, but is not limited to, canines, felines, equines, and specialty pets as defined in subsection (u) of Section 3 of the Illinois Commercial Feed Act of 1961.

"Covered family member" means an employee's child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent.

"Department" means the Department of Labor.

"Domestic partner", used with respect to an unmarried employee, includes:

(1) the person recognized as the domestic partner of the employee under any domestic partnership or civil union law of a state or political subdivision of a state; or

(2) an unmarried adult person who is in a committed, personal relationship with the employee, who is not a domestic partner as described in paragraph (1) to or in such a relationship with any other person, and who is designated to the employee's employer by such employee as that employee's domestic partner.

"Department" means the Department of Labor.

"Employee" means eligible employee, as defined by Section 101(2) of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).

"Employer" means employer, as defined by Section 101(4) of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).

(Source: P.A. 102-1050, eff. 1-1-23.)

(820 ILCS 154/10)

Sec. 10. Bereavement leave.

(a) All employees shall be entitled to use a maximum of 2 weeks (10 work days) of unpaid bereavement leave to:

(1) attend the funeral or alternative to a funeral of a covered family member;

(2) make arrangements necessitated by the death of the covered family member;

(3) grieve the death of the covered family member; or

(4) be absent from work due to (i) a miscarriage; (ii) an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure; (iii) a failed adoption match or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party; (iv) a failed surrogacy agreement; (v) a diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility; or (vi) a stillbirth.

(a-5) All employees shall be entitled to use a maximum of one week (5 work days) of unpaid bereavement leave to grieve the death of a covered companion animal.

(b) Bereavement leave under subsections subsection (a) and (a-5) of this Section must be completed within 60 days after the date on which the employee receives notice of the death of the covered family member or covered companion animal or the date on which an event listed under paragraph (4) of subsection (a) occurs.

(c) An employee shall provide the employer with at least 48 hours' advance notice of the employee's intention to take bereavement leave, unless providing such notice is not reasonable and practicable.

(d) An employer may, but is not required to, require reasonable documentation. Documentation may include a death certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death, burial, or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial society, crematorium, religious institution, veterinarian, or government agency. For leave resulting from an event listed under paragraph (4) of subsection (a), reasonable documentation shall include a form, to be provided by the Department, to be filled out by a health care practitioner who has treated the employee or the employee's spouse or domestic partner, or surrogate, for an event listed under paragraph (4) of subsection (a), or documentation from the adoption or surrogacy organization that the employee worked with related to an event listed under paragraph (4) of subsection (a), certifying that the employee or his or her spouse or domestic partner has experienced an event listed under paragraph (4) of subsection (a). The employer may not require that the employee identify which category of event the leave pertains to as a condition of exercising rights under this Act.

(e) In the event of the death of more than one covered family member in a 12-month period, an employee is entitled to up to a total of 6 weeks (30 work days) of bereavement leave during the 12-month period. In the event of the death of more than one covered companion animal in a 12-month period, an employee is entitled to up to a total of 2 weeks (10 work days) of bereavement leave during the 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.).

(Source: P.A. 102-1050, eff. 1-1-23.)