Full Text of HB1370 94th General Assembly
HB1370 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 HB1370
Introduced 02/09/05, by Rep. Larry McKeon - Charles E. Jefferson - Brandon W. Phelps - Cynthia Soto SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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820 ILCS 130/6 |
from Ch. 48, par. 39s-6 |
820 ILCS 130/11 |
from Ch. 48, par. 39s-11 |
820 ILCS 130/11a |
from Ch. 48, par. 39s-11a |
820 ILCS 130/11b |
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Amends the Prevailing Wage Act. Provides that specified violations of the Act are Class A (rather than Class B) misdemeanors. Provides that a contractor or subcontractor who pays a worker less than the stipulated rates for work performed under a contract is liable to the Department of Labor for 50% (rather than 20%) of the underpayment and is liable to the worker for punitive damages in the amount of 5% (rather than 2%) of the amount of the penalty to the State for each month following the date of payment during which the underpayment remains unpaid. Provides that the list of contractors or subcontractors found to have disregarded their obligations to employees under the Act shall include contractors or subcontractors who, on 2 separate occasions within 5 years (rather than on 2 separate occasions, without regard to a time period), have been determined to have violated the Act. Provides that no contract may be awarded to a contractor or subcontractor appearing on the list, or to an entity in which the contractor or subcontractor has an interest, until 5 (rather than 2) years have elapsed from the date of publication of the list. Provides that a party violating provisions protecting whistle blowers is liable to the Department of Labor for a penalty of $5,000 for each violation.
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A BILL FOR
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HB1370 |
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LRB094 09246 WGH 39480 b |
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| AN ACT concerning employment.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Prevailing Wage Act is amended by changing | 5 |
| Sections 6, 11, 11a, and 11b as follows:
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| (820 ILCS 130/6) (from Ch. 48, par. 39s-6)
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| Sec. 6. Any officer, agent or representative of any public | 8 |
| body who
wilfully violates, or omits to comply with, any of the | 9 |
| provisions of
this Act, and any contractor or subcontractor, or | 10 |
| agent or
representative thereof, doing public work as | 11 |
| aforesaid, who neglects to
keep, or cause to be kept, an | 12 |
| accurate record of the names, occupation
and actual wages paid | 13 |
| to each laborer, worker and mechanic employed by
him, in | 14 |
| connection with the public work or who refuses to allow access
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| to same at any reasonable hour to any person authorized to | 16 |
| inspect same
under this Act, is guilty of a Class A
B | 17 |
| misdemeanor.
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| The Department of Labor shall inquire diligently as to any | 19 |
| violation
of this Act, shall institute actions for penalties | 20 |
| herein prescribed,
and shall enforce generally the provisions | 21 |
| of this Act. The Attorney
General shall prosecute such cases | 22 |
| upon complaint by the Department or
any interested person.
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| (Source: P.A. 81-992.)
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| (820 ILCS 130/11) (from Ch. 48, par. 39s-11)
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| Sec. 11. No public works project shall be instituted unless | 26 |
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provisions of this Act have been complied with. The | 27 |
| provisions of this
Act shall not be applicable to Federal | 28 |
| construction projects which
require a prevailing wage | 29 |
| determination by the United States Secretary
of Labor. The | 30 |
| Illinois Department of Labor represented by the Attorney
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| General is empowered to sue for injunctive relief against the |
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HB1370 |
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LRB094 09246 WGH 39480 b |
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| awarding of
any contract or the continuation of work under any | 2 |
| contract for public works
at a time when the prevailing wage | 3 |
| prerequisites have not been met. Any
contract for public works | 4 |
| awarded at a time when the prevailing wage prerequisites
had | 5 |
| not been met shall be void as against public policy and the | 6 |
| contractor
is prohibited from recovering any damages
for the | 7 |
| voiding of the contract or pursuant to the terms of the | 8 |
| contract.
The contractor is limited to a claim for amounts | 9 |
| actually paid for labor
and materials supplied to the public | 10 |
| body. Where objections to a determination
of the prevailing | 11 |
| rate of
wages or a court action relative thereto is pending, | 12 |
| the public body
shall not continue work on the project unless | 13 |
| sufficient funds are
available to pay increased wages if such | 14 |
| are finally determined or
unless the Department of Labor | 15 |
| certifies such determination of the
prevailing rate of wages as | 16 |
| correct.
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| Any laborer, worker or mechanic employed by the contractor | 18 |
| or by any sub-contractor
under him who is paid for his services | 19 |
| in a sum less than the stipulated
rates for work done under | 20 |
| such contract, shall
have a right of action for whatever | 21 |
| difference there may be between the
amount so paid, and the | 22 |
| rates provided by the contract together with
costs and such | 23 |
| reasonable attorney's fees as
shall be allowed by the court. | 24 |
| Such contractor or subcontractor shall also
be liable to the
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| Department of Labor for 50%
20% of
such underpayments and shall | 26 |
| be additionally liable to the laborer, worker
or mechanic for | 27 |
| punitive damages in the amount of 5%
2% of the amount of any
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| such penalty to the
State for underpayments for each month | 29 |
| following the date of payment during
which such underpayments
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| remain unpaid. The Department shall also have a right of action | 31 |
| on behalf
of any individual who has a right of action under | 32 |
| this Section. An action brought
to recover same shall be deemed | 33 |
| to be a suit for wages, and any and all
judgments entered | 34 |
| therein shall have the same force and effect as other
judgments | 35 |
| for wages.
At the request of any laborer, workman or mechanic
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| employed by the contractor or by any subcontractor under him |
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HB1370 |
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| who is paid
less than the prevailing wage rate required by this | 2 |
| Act, the Department
of Labor may take an assignment of such | 3 |
| wage claim in trust for the assigning
laborer, workman or | 4 |
| mechanic and may bring any legal action necessary to
collect | 5 |
| such claim, and the contractor or subcontractor shall be | 6 |
| required
to pay the costs incurred in collecting such claim.
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| (Source: P.A. 86-799.)
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| (820 ILCS 130/11a) (from Ch. 48, par. 39s-11a)
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| Sec. 11a. The Director of the Department of Labor shall | 10 |
| publish in the
Illinois Register no less often than once each | 11 |
| calendar quarter a list of
contractors or subcontractors found | 12 |
| to have disregarded their obligations
to employees under this | 13 |
| Act. The Department of Labor shall determine the
contractors or | 14 |
| subcontractors who, on 2 separate occasions within 5 years , | 15 |
| have been
determined to have violated the provisions of this | 16 |
| Act. Upon such
determination the Department shall notify the | 17 |
| violating
contractor or subcontractor. Such contractor or | 18 |
| subcontractor shall then
have 10 working days to request a | 19 |
| hearing by the Department on the alleged
violations. Failure to | 20 |
| respond within the 10 working day period shall
result in | 21 |
| automatic and immediate placement and publication on the list.
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| If the contractor or subcontractor requests a hearing within | 23 |
| the 10 working
day period, the Director shall set a hearing on | 24 |
| the alleged violations.
Such hearing shall take place no later | 25 |
| than 45 calendar days after the
receipt by the Department of | 26 |
| Labor of the request for a hearing.
The Department of Labor is | 27 |
| empowered to promulgate, adopt, amend and rescind
rules and | 28 |
| regulations to govern the hearing procedure. No contract shall
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| be awarded to a contractor or subcontractor appearing on the | 30 |
| list, or to
any firm, corporation, partnership or association | 31 |
| in which such contractor
or subcontractor has an interest until | 32 |
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2 years have elapsed from the date
of publication of the list | 33 |
| containing the name of such contractor or
subcontractor.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-38, eff. 6-1-04 .)
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| (820 ILCS 130/11b)
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| Sec. 11b. Discharge or discipline of "whistle blowers" | 3 |
| prohibited.
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| (a) No person shall discharge, discipline, or in any other | 5 |
| way discriminate
against, or cause to be discharged, | 6 |
| disciplined, or discriminated against, any
employee or
any
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| authorized representative of employees by reason of the fact | 8 |
| that the employee
or representative has filed, instituted, or | 9 |
| caused to be filed or instituted
any proceeding under this Act, | 10 |
| or has testified or is about to testify
in any proceeding | 11 |
| resulting from the administration or enforcement of
this Act, | 12 |
| or offers any evidence of any violation of this Act.
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| (b) Any employee or a representative of employees who | 14 |
| believes that he has
been discharged, disciplined, or otherwise | 15 |
| discriminated against by any person
in violation
of subsection | 16 |
| (a) of this Section may, within 30 days after the alleged
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| violation occurs, apply to the Director of Labor for a
review | 18 |
| of the discharge, discipline, or alleged discrimination. A copy | 19 |
| of the
application
shall be sent to the person who allegedly | 20 |
| committed the violation, who
shall be the respondent. Upon | 21 |
| receipt of
an application, the Director
shall cause such | 22 |
| investigation to be made as he or she deems appropriate.
The | 23 |
| investigation shall provide an opportunity for a public hearing | 24 |
| at
the request of any party to the review to enable the parties | 25 |
| to present
information relating to the alleged violation. The | 26 |
| parties shall be given
written notice of the time and place of | 27 |
| the hearing at least 5 days before
the hearing. Upon receiving | 28 |
| the report of the investigation, the Director
shall make | 29 |
| findings of fact. If the Director finds that a violation did | 30 |
| occur,
he or she shall issue a decision incorporating his or | 31 |
| her
findings and
requiring the party committing the violation | 32 |
| to take such affirmative action
to abate the violation as the | 33 |
| Director deems appropriate, including, but
not limited to, the | 34 |
| rehiring or reinstatement of the employee or representative
of | 35 |
| employees to his or her former position and compensating him or | 36 |
| her for the
time he or she was unemployed. The party committing |
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LRB094 09246 WGH 39480 b |
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| the violation shall also be liable to the Department of Labor | 2 |
| for a penalty of $5,000 for each violation of this Section. If | 3 |
| the Director finds that there was no
violation, he
or she
shall | 4 |
| issue an order denying the application. An order issued by the
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| Director under this Section shall be subject to
judicial review | 6 |
| under the Administrative Review Law.
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| (c) The Director shall adopt rules implementing this | 8 |
| Section in
accordance
with the Illinois Administrative | 9 |
| Procedure Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 88-359.)
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