Sen. Donne E. Trotter
Filed: 4/19/2005
 
 

 




 

 		












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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 201




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    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 201 by replacing 
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everything after the enacting clause with the following:

 
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    "Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended  by adding 
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Section 10.9 as follows:
 
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    (210 ILCS 85/10.9  new)
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    Sec. 10.9. Nurse mandated overtime prohibited.
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    (a) Definitions. As used in this Section:
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    "Mandated overtime" means work that is required by the 
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hospital in excess
of an agreed-to, predetermined work shift. 
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Time spent by nurses required to be available as a condition of 
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employment in specialized units, such as surgical nursing 
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services, shall not be counted or considered in calculating the 
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amount of time worked for the purpose of applying the 
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prohibition against mandated overtime under subsection (b).
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    "Nurse" means any advanced practice nurse, registered

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professional nurse, or licensed practical nurse, as defined in

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the Nursing and Advanced Practice Nursing Act, who receives an 
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hourly wage and has direct responsibility to oversee or carry

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out nursing care. For the purposes of this Section, "advanced 
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practice nurse" does not include a certified registered nurse 
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anesthetist who is primarily engaged in performing the duties 
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of a nurse anesthetist.
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    "Unforeseen emergent circumstance" means (i) any declared

 


 






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national, State, or municipal disaster or other catastrophic 
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event, or any implementation of a hospital's disaster plan, 
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that will substantially affect or increase the need for health

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care services or (ii) any circumstance in which patient care 
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needs require specialized nursing skills through the 
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completion of a procedure. An "unforeseen emergent 
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circumstance" does not include situations in which the hospital 
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fails to have enough nursing staff to meet the usual and 
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reasonably predictable nursing needs of its patients.
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    (b) Mandated overtime prohibited. No nurse may be required

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to work mandated overtime except in the case of an unforeseen 
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emergent circumstance when such overtime is required only as a

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last resort. Such mandated overtime shall not exceed 4 hours 
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beyond an agreed-to, predetermined work shift.
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    (c) Off-duty period. When a nurse is mandated to work up to 
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12 consecutive hours, the nurse must be allowed at least 8 
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consecutive hours of off-duty time immediately following the 
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completion of a shift.
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    (d) Retaliation prohibited. No hospital may discipline, 
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discharge, or take any other adverse employment action against 
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a nurse solely because the nurse refused to work mandated 
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overtime as prohibited under subsection (b).
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    (e) Violations. Any employee of a hospital that is subject

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to this Act may file a complaint with the Department of Public 
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Health regarding an alleged violation of this Section. The 
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complaint must be filed within 45 days following the occurrence 
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of the incident giving rise to the alleged violation. The 
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Department must forward notification of the alleged violation 
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to the hospital in question within 3 business days after the 
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complaint is filed. Upon receiving a complaint of a violation 
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of this Section, the Department may take any action authorized 
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under Section 7 or 9 of this Act.
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    (f) Proof of violation. Any violation of this Section must

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be proved by clear and convincing evidence that a nurse was 
 


 






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required to work overtime against his or her will. The hospital 
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may defeat the claim of a violation by presenting clear and 
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convincing evidence that an unforeseen emergent circumstance, 
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which required overtime work, existed at the time the employee 
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was required or compelled to work.
 

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    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
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becoming law.".