99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB2147

 

Introduced 5/31/2015, by Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
30 ILCS 105/5.866 new

    Creates the Healthy Workplace Act and amends the State Finance Act. Requires employers to provide specified paid sick days to employees. Sets forth the purposes for and manner in which the sick days may be used. Contains provisions regarding employer responsibilities, unlawful employer practices, and other matters. Provides that the Department of Labor shall administer the Act. Authorizes the imposition of civil penalties. Authorizes individuals to file civil actions with respect to violations. Creates the Healthy Workplace Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the the
5Healthy Workplace Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings and purpose.
7    (a) The General Assembly finds:
8        (1) Nearly every worker in the State is likely to need
9    time off to attend to his or her own illness or that of a
10    family member. More than 40% of all private sector workers
11    in Illinois (over 2,500,000 people) have no right to a paid
12    sick day. Over three-fourths of the lowest-wage workers do
13    not receive paid sick days and cannot forfeit a day's work,
14    so they often come into work sick.
15        (2) Of those workers who receive paid sick days, few
16    policies, in both the private and public sectors, allow the
17    worker to use it to care for a family member who is ill.
18        (3) Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid
19    illness and injury by detecting illnesses early on and
20    shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees
21    with time off to attend to their own health care needs
22    ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient
23    employees. It will also reduce the spread of disease within

 

 

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1    workplaces and to the public, such as customers, when
2    employees go to work sick, a practice known as
3    "presenteeism". Routine medical care results in savings by
4    detecting and treating illness and injury early and
5    decreasing the need for emergency care. These savings
6    benefit public and private payers of health insurance.
7        (4) When the school of a worker's child is closed
8    because of extreme weather, it is often at the last minute
9    and workers cannot find someone to babysit so they are
10    forced to stay at home to take care of their children.
11        (5) Nearly one-quarter of American women report
12    domestic violence and nearly one in 5 women report
13    experiencing rape at some time during their lives. Many
14    workers, men and women, need time off to care for their
15    health after these incidents or to take legal action.
16    Without paid time off, victims are in danger of losing
17    their jobs.
18        (6) Employers that provide paid sick days see better
19    productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower turnover,
20    which saves them the costs of replacing and training
21    workers.
22    (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace
23Act to provide at least a minimum time-off standard of paid
24sick days for all workers.
 
25    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

 

 

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1    "Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological,
2adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child
3of a person standing in loco parentis.
4    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
5    "Employee" means any person who performs services for an
6employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This
7includes persons working any number of hours, including a
8full-time or part-time status.
9    "Employer" means one who employs at least one employee,
10including, but not limited to, this State and its political
11subdivisions, a temporary services agency, an employment
12agency, or an employee organization.
13    "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, or the child
14or parent of an employee's spouse.
15    "Healthcare provider" means a person:
16        (1) who is: (i) licensed to practice medicine in all of
17    its branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor
18    of medicine; (ii) licensed to practice medicine in all of
19    its branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor
20    of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine; (iii) licensed to
21    practice medicine in all of its branches or as an
22    osteopathic physician in another state or jurisdiction; or
23    (iv) any other person determined by final rule under the
24    Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; and
25        (2) who is not employed by an employer to whom the
26    provider issues certifications under this Act.

 

 

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1    "Paid sick day" means a portion of or a regular workday
2when an employee is unable to report to work because of a
3reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
4    "Parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a foster or
5stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, or a person who stands in
6loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse.
7    "Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil
8union as defined by Illinois statute.
 
9    Section 15. Provision of paid sick days.
10    (a) All employees who work in Illinois who are absent from
11work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) shall be entitled
12to earn and use a maximum of 7 paid sick days during a 12-month
13period or a pro rata number of paid sick days or hours under
14the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for an
15employee shall be calculated from the date of hire or
16subsequent anniversary date.
17    (b) Paid sick days shall be provided to an employee by an
18employer to:
19        (1) care for the employee's own physical or mental
20    illness, injury, or health condition, or seek medical
21    diagnosis or care;
22        (2) care for the employee's family member who is
23    suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or
24    health condition, or seek medical diagnosis or care; or
25        (3) attend a medical appointment for himself or herself

 

 

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1    or a medical appointment of the employee's family member;
2        (4) care for a child whose school or place of care has
3    been closed by order of a public official due to a public
4    health emergency or to not go in to work because of the
5    closure of the employee's place of business by order of a
6    public health official due to a public health emergency; or
7        (5) be off from work because he or she or the
8    employee's family member is the victim of domestic violence
9    as defined in Section 103(3) of the Illinois Domestic
10    Violence Act of 1986 or sexual violence as defined under
11    Article 11 and Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of the
12    Illinois Criminal Code of 2012.
13    (c) Paid sick days shall accrue at the rate of one hour of
14paid sick time for every 30 hours worked up to the maximum of
1556 hours of paid sick days unless the employer selects a higher
16limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements
17of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1))
18shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes
19of paid sick day accrual unless their normal work week is less
20than 40 hours, in which case paid sick days accrue based on
21that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid
22sick days they need to use, provided that employers may set a
23reasonable minimum increment for the use of a paid sick day not
24to exceed 2 hours per day.
25    (d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for a
26paid sick day. However, an employee engaged in an occupation in

 

 

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1which gratuities have customarily and usually constituted and
2have been recognized as part of the remuneration for hire
3purposes shall be paid by his or her employer at least the full
4Illinois minimum wage for a paid sick day taken.
5    (e) Paid sick days shall begin to accrue at the
6commencement of employment or on the effective date of this
7Act, whichever is later. An employee shall be entitled to begin
8using a sick day 120 days following commencement of his or her
9employment or 120 days following the effective date of this
10Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be
11construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing
12the use of paid sick days at an earlier date than this Section
13requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage
14employers from adopting or retaining paid sick day policies
15more generous than policies that comply with the requirements
16of this Act.
17    (f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying
18illness, injury, or health condition when paid sick days cover
19more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable documentation
20signed by a healthcare provider involved in following or
21treating the illness, injury, or health condition, and
22indicating the need for the amount of sick days taken, shall be
23deemed acceptable certification. Nothing in this Act shall be
24construed to require an employer to provide as certification
25any information from a healthcare provider that would be in
26violation of Section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the

 

 

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1regulations promulgated pursuant to the federal Health
2Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. If an
3employer possesses health information about an employee or
4employee's family member, such information shall be treated as
5confidential and not disclosed except with the permission of
6the affected employee. For time used pursuant to subdivision
7(b)(5), any one of the following is acceptable documentation,
8and only one of the following shall be required: a police
9report, court document, or signed statement from an attorney, a
10member of the clergy, or a victim services advocate. It is up
11to the employee to determine which documentation to submit.
12    The employer shall not delay the commencement of leave
13taken for purposes of subsection (b) of this Section nor delay
14pay for this period on the basis that the employer has not yet
15received the certification.
16    (g) Paid sick days shall be provided upon the oral request
17of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick days under this
18Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer
19with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is
20to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the
21employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practicable
22after the employee is aware of the necessity of such leave. An
23employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick
24days under this Act, that the employee search for or find a
25replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee
26is on paid sick days leave.

 

 

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1    (h) Paid sick days shall carry over annually to the extent
2not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act
3shall be construed to require an employer to allow use of more
4than 7 paid sick days for an employee unless an employer agrees
5to do so.
6    (i) It shall be unlawful for an employer to interfere with,
7restrain, deny, or discipline an employee for the exercise of,
8or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in
9connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid
10sick days as a negative factor in an employment action that
11involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting,
12disciplining, or counting the paid sick days under a no-fault
13attendance policy.
14    (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this
15Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
16any family member under any group health plan for the duration
17of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
18as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the
19leave.
20    (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring
21financial or other reimbursement to an employee from an
22employer upon the employee's termination, resignation,
23retirement, or other separation from employment for accrued
24paid sick days that have not been used.
25    (l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit
26an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and

 

 

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1including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick
2days provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than
3those described in this Section.
4    (m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division,
5entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer,
6the employee is entitled to all paid sick days accrued at the
7prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all
8paid sick days as provided in this Section. Where there is a
9separation from employment and the employee is rehired within
1012 months of separation by the same employer, previously
11accrued paid sick days that had not been used shall be
12reinstated. Such employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid
13sick days at the commencement of employment following a
14separation from employment of 12 months or less.
15    (n) All or any portion of the applicable requirement in
16this Section shall not apply to any employee covered by a bona
17fide collective bargaining agreement to the extent that such
18requirements are expressly waived in the collective bargaining
19agreement in clear and unambiguous language.
 
20    Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.
21    (a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
22make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
23and the amount of paid sick days taken by employees for a
24period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department
25access to such records, with appropriate notice and a mutually

 

 

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1agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of
2this Section.
3    (b) An agreement by an employee to waive his or her right
4under this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of
5Section 15, is void as against public policy.
6    (c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies
7with at least the minimum requirements of this Act shall not be
8required to modify such a policy if such policy offers an
9employee the option, at the employee's discretion, to take paid
10sick days that are at least equivalent to the paid sick days
11described in this Act.
12    (d) Employers shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous
13place on the premises of the employer where notices to
14employees are customarily posted, or include in an employee
15manual or policy, a notice, to be prepared by the Department,
16summarizing the requirements of this Act and information
17pertaining to the filing of a charge. If an employer's
18workforce is comprised of a significant portion of workers who
19are not literate in English, the employer is responsible for
20providing the notice in a language in which the employees are
21literate. An employer who willfully violates the notice and
22posting requirements of this Section shall be subject to a
23civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate
24offense.
 
25    Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It is unlawful for

 

 

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1any employer to take any adverse action against an employee
2because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to
3exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which
4such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3)
5supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act.
6    Exercising rights under this Act includes filing an action
7or instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding under
8or related to this Act; providing or agreeing to provide any
9information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding
10relating to any right provided under this Act; or testifying to
11or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or proceeding relating to
12any right provided under this Act.
 
13    Section 30. Department responsibilities.
14    (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act
15and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act
16for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the
17powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the
18Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The
19Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in
20connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act,
21including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to
22issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that
23this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the
24parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an
25Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in

 

 

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1accordance with hearing procedures established by rule.
2    (b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties
3prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that
4comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to
5supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to
6the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may
7bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of
8unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be
9required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department
10on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the
11employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty
12collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall
13be deposited in the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund
14created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing
15this Act.
16    (c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the
17collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.
 
18    Section 35. Enforcement.
19    (a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this
20Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may,
21within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting
22the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a
23complaint with the Department or file a civil action.
24    (b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a
25claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit

 

 

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1court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory
2damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive
3damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in
4addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert
5witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the
6defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing
7an administrative complaint.
8    (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a
9preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or
10with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or
11any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money
12penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense.
 
13    Section 95. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
14severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
15    Section 97. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
16Section 5.866 as follows:
 
17    (30 ILCS 105/5.866 new)
18    Sec. 5.866. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
 
19    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
20becoming law.