Full Text of HB4658 96th General Assembly
HB4658enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Employee Credit Privacy Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 7 |
| "Credit history" means an individual's past borrowing and | 8 |
| repaying behavior, including paying bills on time and managing | 9 |
| debt and other financial obligations. | 10 |
| "Credit report" means any written or other communication of | 11 |
| any information by a consumer reporting agency that bears on a | 12 |
| consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, | 13 |
| or credit history. | 14 |
| "Employee" means an individual who receives compensation | 15 |
| for performing services for an employer under an express or | 16 |
| implied contract of hire. | 17 |
| "Employer" means an individual or entity that permits one | 18 |
| or more individuals to work or that accepts applications for | 19 |
| employment or is an agent of an employer. "Employer" does not, | 20 |
| however, include: | 21 |
| (1) Any bank holding company, financial holding | 22 |
| company, bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, | 23 |
| credit union, or trust company, or any subsidiary or |
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| affiliate thereof, that is authorized to do business under | 2 |
| the laws of this State or of the United States. | 3 |
| (2) Any company authorized to engage in any kind of | 4 |
| insurance or surety business pursuant to the Illinois | 5 |
| Insurance Code, including any employee, agent, or employee | 6 |
| of an agent acting on behalf of a company engaged in the | 7 |
| insurance or surety business. | 8 |
| (3) Any State law enforcement or investigative unit, | 9 |
| including, without limitation, any such unit within the | 10 |
| Office of any Executive Inspector General, the Department | 11 |
| of State Police, the Department of Corrections, the | 12 |
| Department of Juvenile Justice, or the Department of | 13 |
| Natural Resources.
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| (4) Any State or local government agency which | 15 |
| otherwise requires use of the employee's or applicant's | 16 |
| credit history or credit report. | 17 |
| (5) Any entity that is defined as a debt collector | 18 |
| under federal or State statute. | 19 |
| "Financial information" means non-public information on | 20 |
| the overall financial direction of an organization, including, | 21 |
| but not limited to, company taxes or profit and loss reports. | 22 |
| "Marketable assets" means company property that is | 23 |
| specially safeguarded from the public and to which access is | 24 |
| only entrusted to managers and select other employees. For the | 25 |
| purposes of this Act, marketable assets do not include the | 26 |
| fixtures, furnishings, or equipment of an employer. |
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| "Personal or confidential information" means sensitive | 2 |
| information that a customer or client of the employing | 3 |
| organization gives explicit authorization for the organization | 4 |
| to obtain, process, and keep; that the employer entrusts only | 5 |
| to managers and a select few employees; or that is stored in | 6 |
| secure repositories not accessible by the public or low-level | 7 |
| employees. | 8 |
| "State or national security information" means information | 9 |
| only offered to select employees because it may jeopardize the | 10 |
| security of the State or the nation if it were entrusted to the | 11 |
| general public.
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| "Trade secrets" means sensitive information regarding a | 13 |
| company's overall strategy or business plans. This does not | 14 |
| include general proprietary company information such as | 15 |
| handbooks, policies, or low-level strategies. | 16 |
| Section 10. Employment based on credit history or credit | 17 |
| report not permitted. | 18 |
| (a) Except as provided in this Section, an employer shall | 19 |
| not do any of the following: | 20 |
| (1) Fail or refuse to hire or recruit, discharge, or | 21 |
| otherwise discriminate against an individual with respect | 22 |
| to employment, compensation, or a term, condition, or | 23 |
| privilege of employment because of the individual's credit | 24 |
| history or credit report. | 25 |
| (2) Inquire about an applicant's or employee's credit |
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| history. | 2 |
| (3) Order or obtain an applicant's or employee's credit | 3 |
| report from a consumer reporting agency. | 4 |
| (b) The prohibition in subsection (a) of this Section does | 5 |
| not prevent an inquiry or employment action if a satisfactory | 6 |
| credit history is an established bona fide occupational | 7 |
| requirement of a particular position or a particular group of | 8 |
| an employer's employees. A satisfactory credit history is not a | 9 |
| bona fide occupational requirement unless at least one of the | 10 |
| following circumstances is present: | 11 |
| (1) State or federal law requires bonding or other | 12 |
| security covering an individual holding the position. | 13 |
| (2) The duties of the position include custody of or | 14 |
| unsupervised access to cash or marketable assets valued at | 15 |
| $2,500 or more. | 16 |
| (3) The duties of the position include signatory power | 17 |
| over business assets of $100 or more per transaction. | 18 |
| (4) The position is a managerial position which | 19 |
| involves setting the direction or control of the business. | 20 |
| (5) The position involves access to personal or | 21 |
| confidential information, financial information, trade | 22 |
| secrets, or State or national security information. | 23 |
| (6) The position meets criteria in administrative | 24 |
| rules, if any, that the U.S. Department of Labor or the | 25 |
| Illinois Department of Labor has promulgated to establish | 26 |
| the circumstances in which a credit history is a bona fide |
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| occupational requirement. | 2 |
| (7) The employee's or applicant's credit history is | 3 |
| otherwise required by or exempt under federal or State law.
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| Section 15. Retaliatory or discriminatory acts. A person | 5 |
| shall not retaliate or discriminate against a person because | 6 |
| the person has done or was about to do any of the following: | 7 |
| (1) File a complaint under this Act. | 8 |
| (2) Testify, assist, or participate in an | 9 |
| investigation, proceeding, or action concerning a | 10 |
| violation of this Act. | 11 |
| (3) Oppose a violation of this Act.
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| Section 20. Waiver. An employer shall not require an | 13 |
| applicant or employee to waive any right under this Act. An | 14 |
| agreement by an applicant or employee to waive any right under | 15 |
| this Act is invalid and unenforceable. | 16 |
| Section 25. Remedies. | 17 |
| (a) A person who is injured by a violation of this Act may | 18 |
| bring a civil action in circuit court to obtain injunctive | 19 |
| relief or damages, or both. | 20 |
| (b) The court shall award costs and reasonable attorney's | 21 |
| fees to a person who prevails as a plaintiff in an action | 22 |
| authorized under subsection (a) of this Section.
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| Section 30. Fair Credit Reporting Act. Nothing in this Act | 2 |
| shall prohibit employers from conducting a thorough background | 3 |
| investigation, which may include obtaining a report without | 4 |
| information on credit history or an investigative report | 5 |
| without information on credit history, or both, as permitted | 6 |
| under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This information shall be | 7 |
| used for employment purposes only. |
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