Bill Amendment: IL SB1296 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly
NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List
Bill Title: HEALTHY WORKPLACE ACT
Status: 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SB1296 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SB1296-Senate_Amendment_002.html
Bill Title: HEALTHY WORKPLACE ACT
Status: 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SB1296 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SB1296-Senate_Amendment_002.html
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1 | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1296
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1296 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
5 | Healthy Workplace Act.
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6 | Section 5. Findings and purpose.
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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) Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid | ||||||
16 | illness and injury by detecting illnesses early on and |
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1 | shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees | ||||||
2 | with time off to attend to their own health care needs | ||||||
3 | ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient | ||||||
4 | employees. It will also reduce the spread of disease within | ||||||
5 | workplaces and to the public, such as customers, when | ||||||
6 | employees go to work sick, a practice known as | ||||||
7 | "presenteeism". Routine medical care results in savings by | ||||||
8 | detecting and treating illness and injury early and | ||||||
9 | decreasing the need for emergency care. These savings | ||||||
10 | benefit public and private payers of health insurance. | ||||||
11 | (3) When the school of a worker's child is closed | ||||||
12 | because of extreme weather, it is often at the last minute | ||||||
13 | and workers cannot find someone to babysit so they are | ||||||
14 | forced to stay at home to take care of their children. | ||||||
15 | (4) Nearly one-quarter of American women report | ||||||
16 | domestic violence and nearly one in 5 women report | ||||||
17 | experiencing rape at some time during their lives. Many | ||||||
18 | workers, men and women, need time off to care for their | ||||||
19 | health after these incidents or to take legal action. | ||||||
20 | Without paid time off, victims are in danger of losing | ||||||
21 | their jobs. | ||||||
22 | (5) Employers that provide paid sick days see better | ||||||
23 | productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower turnover, | ||||||
24 | which saves them the costs of replacing and training | ||||||
25 | workers.
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26 | (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace |
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1 | Act to provide at least a minimum time-off standard of paid | ||||||
2 | sick days for all workers.
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3 | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | ||||||
4 | "Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological, | ||||||
5 | adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child | ||||||
6 | of a person standing in loco parentis. | ||||||
7 | "Construction industry" means any constructing, altering, | ||||||
8 | reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing, | ||||||
9 | refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom | ||||||
10 | fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking, | ||||||
11 | painting, decorating, demolishing, or adding to or subtracting | ||||||
12 | from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street, | ||||||
13 | bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant, | ||||||
14 | waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other | ||||||
15 | structure, project, development, real property, or | ||||||
16 | improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the | ||||||
17 | performance of the work herein described involves the addition | ||||||
18 | to or fabrication into, any structure, project, development, | ||||||
19 | real property, or improvement herein described of any material | ||||||
20 | or article of merchandise. "Construction industry" also | ||||||
21 | includes moving construction related materials on the job site | ||||||
22 | or to or from the job site, snow plowing, snow removal, and | ||||||
23 | refuse collection. | ||||||
24 | "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor. | ||||||
25 | "Employee" means any person who performs services for an |
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1 | employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This | ||||||
2 | includes persons working any number of hours, including a | ||||||
3 | full-time or part-time status. | ||||||
4 | "Employer" means one who employs at least one employee, | ||||||
5 | including, but not limited to, this State and its political | ||||||
6 | subdivisions, a temporary services agency, an employment | ||||||
7 | agency, or an employee organization. "Employer" does not | ||||||
8 | include school districts organized under the School Code, park | ||||||
9 | districts organized under the Park District Code, or any City | ||||||
10 | of Chicago Sister Agency under the Chicago Minimum Wage and | ||||||
11 | Paid Sick Leave Ordinance as of the effective date of this Act. | ||||||
12 | "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, the child or | ||||||
13 | parent of an employee's spouse, a sibling, grandparent, | ||||||
14 | grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose | ||||||
15 | close association with the employee is the equivalent of a | ||||||
16 | family relationship. | ||||||
17 | "Healthcare provider" means a person: | ||||||
18 | (1) who is: (i) licensed to practice medicine in all of | ||||||
19 | its branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor | ||||||
20 | of medicine; (ii) licensed to practice medicine in all of | ||||||
21 | its branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor | ||||||
22 | of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine; (iii) licensed to | ||||||
23 | practice medicine in all of its branches or as an | ||||||
24 | osteopathic physician in another state or jurisdiction; or | ||||||
25 | (iv) any other person determined by final rule under the | ||||||
26 | Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; and |
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1 | (2) who is not employed by an employer to whom the | ||||||
2 | provider issues certifications under this Act. | ||||||
3 | "Paid sick day" means a portion of or a regular workday | ||||||
4 | when an employee is unable to report to work because of a | ||||||
5 | reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15. | ||||||
6 | "Parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a foster or | ||||||
7 | stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, or a person who stands in | ||||||
8 | loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse. | ||||||
9 | "Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil | ||||||
10 | union as defined by Illinois statute.
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11 | Section 15. Provision of paid sick days.
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12 | (a) All employees who work in Illinois who are absent from | ||||||
13 | work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) shall be entitled | ||||||
14 | to earn and use a minimum of 5 paid sick days during a 12-month | ||||||
15 | period or a pro rata number of paid sick days or hours under | ||||||
16 | the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for an | ||||||
17 | employee shall be calculated from the date of hire or | ||||||
18 | subsequent anniversary date. | ||||||
19 | (b) Paid sick days shall be provided to an employee by an | ||||||
20 | employer to: | ||||||
21 | (1) care for the employee's own physical or mental | ||||||
22 | illness, injury, or health condition, or seek medical | ||||||
23 | diagnosis or care; | ||||||
24 | (2) care for the employee's family member who is | ||||||
25 | suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or |
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1 | health condition, or seek medical diagnosis or care; or | ||||||
2 | (3) attend a medical appointment for himself or herself | ||||||
3 | or a medical appointment of the employee's family member; | ||||||
4 | (4) care for a child whose school or place of care has | ||||||
5 | been closed by order of a public official due to a public | ||||||
6 | health emergency or to not go in to work because of the | ||||||
7 | closure of the employee's place of business by order of a | ||||||
8 | public health official due to a public health emergency; or | ||||||
9 | (5) be off from work because he or she or the | ||||||
10 | employee's family member is the victim of domestic violence | ||||||
11 | as defined in Section 103(3) of the Illinois Domestic | ||||||
12 | Violence Act of 1986 or sexual violence as defined under | ||||||
13 | Article 11 and Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of the | ||||||
14 | Illinois Criminal Code of 2012. | ||||||
15 | (c) Paid sick days shall accrue at the rate of one hour of | ||||||
16 | paid sick time for every 40 hours worked up to a minimum of 40 | ||||||
17 | hours of paid sick time unless the employer selects a higher | ||||||
18 | limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements | ||||||
19 | of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1)) | ||||||
20 | shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes | ||||||
21 | of paid sick day accrual unless their normal work week is less | ||||||
22 | than 40 hours, in which case paid sick days accrue based on | ||||||
23 | that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid | ||||||
24 | sick days they need to use, provided that employers may set a | ||||||
25 | reasonable minimum increment for the use of a paid sick day not | ||||||
26 | to exceed 4 hours per day. |
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1 | (d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for a | ||||||
2 | paid sick day. However, an employee engaged in an occupation in | ||||||
3 | which gratuities have customarily and usually constituted and | ||||||
4 | have been recognized as part of the remuneration for hire | ||||||
5 | purposes shall be paid by his or her employer at least the full | ||||||
6 | Illinois minimum wage for a paid sick day taken. Paid sick days | ||||||
7 | under this Act shall not be charged or otherwise credited to | ||||||
8 | employee vacation accounts. | ||||||
9 | (e) Paid sick days shall begin to accrue at the | ||||||
10 | commencement of employment or on the effective date of this | ||||||
11 | Act, whichever is later. An employee shall be entitled to begin | ||||||
12 | using a sick day 180 days following commencement of his or her | ||||||
13 | employment or 180 days following the effective date of this | ||||||
14 | Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be | ||||||
15 | construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing | ||||||
16 | the use of paid sick days at an earlier date than this Section | ||||||
17 | requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage | ||||||
18 | employers from adopting or retaining paid sick day policies | ||||||
19 | more generous than policies that comply with the requirements | ||||||
20 | of this Act. | ||||||
21 | (f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying | ||||||
22 | illness, injury, or health condition when paid sick days cover | ||||||
23 | more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable documentation | ||||||
24 | signed by a healthcare provider involved in following or | ||||||
25 | treating the illness, injury, or health condition, and | ||||||
26 | indicating the need for the amount of sick days taken, shall be |
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1 | deemed acceptable certification. Nothing in this Act shall be | ||||||
2 | construed to require an employee to provide as certification | ||||||
3 | any information from a healthcare provider that would be in | ||||||
4 | violation of Section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the | ||||||
5 | regulations promulgated pursuant to the federal Health | ||||||
6 | Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. If an | ||||||
7 | employer possesses health information about an employee or | ||||||
8 | employee's family member, such information shall be treated as | ||||||
9 | confidential and not disclosed except with the permission of | ||||||
10 | the affected employee. For time used pursuant to subdivision | ||||||
11 | (b)(5), any one of the following is acceptable documentation, | ||||||
12 | and only one of the following shall be required: a police | ||||||
13 | report, court document, or signed statement from an attorney, a | ||||||
14 | member of the clergy, or a victim services advocate. It is up | ||||||
15 | to the employee to determine which documentation to submit. | ||||||
16 | The employer shall not delay the commencement of leave | ||||||
17 | taken for purposes of subsection (b) of this Section nor delay | ||||||
18 | pay for this period on the basis that the employer has not yet | ||||||
19 | received the certification. | ||||||
20 | (g) Paid sick days shall be provided upon the oral request | ||||||
21 | of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick days under this | ||||||
22 | Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer | ||||||
23 | with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is | ||||||
24 | to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the | ||||||
25 | employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practicable | ||||||
26 | after the employee is aware of the necessity of such leave. An |
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1 | employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick | ||||||
2 | days under this Act, that the employee search for or find a | ||||||
3 | replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee | ||||||
4 | is on paid sick days leave. | ||||||
5 | (h) Paid sick days shall carry over annually to the extent | ||||||
6 | not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act | ||||||
7 | shall be construed to require an employer to allow use of more | ||||||
8 | than 5 paid sick days for an employee unless an employer agrees | ||||||
9 | to do so. | ||||||
10 | (i) It shall be unlawful for an employer to interfere with, | ||||||
11 | restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid | ||||||
12 | paying sick days, or discipline an employee for the exercise | ||||||
13 | of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in | ||||||
14 | connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid | ||||||
15 | sick days as a negative factor in an employment action that | ||||||
16 | involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting, | ||||||
17 | disciplining, or counting the paid sick days under a no-fault | ||||||
18 | attendance policy. | ||||||
19 | (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this | ||||||
20 | Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and | ||||||
21 | any family member under any group health plan for the duration | ||||||
22 | of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage | ||||||
23 | as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the | ||||||
24 | leave. | ||||||
25 | (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring | ||||||
26 | financial or other reimbursement to an employee from an |
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1 | employer upon the employee's termination, resignation, | ||||||
2 | retirement, or other separation from employment for accrued | ||||||
3 | paid sick days that have not been used. | ||||||
4 | (l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit | ||||||
5 | an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and | ||||||
6 | including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick | ||||||
7 | days provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than | ||||||
8 | those described in this Section. | ||||||
9 | (m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division, | ||||||
10 | entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer, | ||||||
11 | the employee is entitled to all paid sick days accrued at the | ||||||
12 | prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all | ||||||
13 | paid sick days as provided in this Section. Where there is a | ||||||
14 | separation from employment and the employee is rehired within | ||||||
15 | 12 months of separation by the same employer, previously | ||||||
16 | accrued paid sick days that had not been used shall be | ||||||
17 | reinstated. Such employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid | ||||||
18 | sick days at the commencement of employment following a | ||||||
19 | separation from employment of 12 months or less. | ||||||
20 | (n) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere | ||||||
21 | with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to | ||||||
22 | bargain collectively with their employers through | ||||||
23 | representatives of their own choosing in order to establish | ||||||
24 | wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable | ||||||
25 | minimum standards of the provisions of this Act. Nothing in | ||||||
26 | this Section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change |
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1 | the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements in | ||||||
2 | force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective | ||||||
3 | date of this Act, requirements of this Section may be waived in | ||||||
4 | a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the | ||||||
5 | waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and | ||||||
6 | unambiguous terms. In no event shall this Section apply to any | ||||||
7 | employee working in the construction industry who is covered by | ||||||
8 | a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.
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9 | Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.
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10 | (a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall | ||||||
11 | make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees | ||||||
12 | and the amount of paid sick days taken by employees for a | ||||||
13 | period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department | ||||||
14 | access to such records, with appropriate notice and a mutually | ||||||
15 | agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of | ||||||
16 | this Section. | ||||||
17 | (b) An agreement by an employee to waive his or her right | ||||||
18 | under this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of | ||||||
19 | Section 15, is void as against public policy. | ||||||
20 | (c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies | ||||||
21 | with at least the minimum requirements of this Act shall not be | ||||||
22 | required to modify such a policy if such policy offers an | ||||||
23 | employee the option, at the employee's discretion, to take paid | ||||||
24 | sick days that are at least equivalent to the paid sick days | ||||||
25 | described in this Act. |
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1 | (d) Employers shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous | ||||||
2 | place on the premises of the employer where notices to | ||||||
3 | employees are customarily posted, or include in an employee | ||||||
4 | manual or policy, a notice, to be prepared by the Department, | ||||||
5 | summarizing the requirements of this Act and information | ||||||
6 | pertaining to the filing of a charge. If an employer's | ||||||
7 | workforce is comprised of a significant portion of workers who | ||||||
8 | are not literate in English, the employer is responsible for | ||||||
9 | providing the notice in a language in which the employees are | ||||||
10 | literate. An employer who willfully violates the notice and | ||||||
11 | posting requirements of this Section shall be subject to a | ||||||
12 | civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate | ||||||
13 | offense.
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14 | Section 25. Unlawful employer practices.
It is unlawful for | ||||||
15 | any employer to take any adverse action against an employee | ||||||
16 | because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to | ||||||
17 | exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which | ||||||
18 | such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3) | ||||||
19 | supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act. | ||||||
20 | Exercising rights under this Act includes filing an action | ||||||
21 | or instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding under | ||||||
22 | or related to this Act; providing or agreeing to provide any | ||||||
23 | information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding | ||||||
24 | relating to any right provided under this Act; or testifying to | ||||||
25 | or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or proceeding relating to |
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1 | any right provided under this Act.
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2 | Section 30. Department responsibilities. | ||||||
3 | (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act | ||||||
4 | and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act | ||||||
5 | for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the | ||||||
6 | powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the | ||||||
7 | Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The | ||||||
8 | Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in | ||||||
9 | connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act, | ||||||
10 | including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to | ||||||
11 | issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that | ||||||
12 | this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the | ||||||
13 | parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an | ||||||
14 | Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in | ||||||
15 | accordance with hearing procedures established by rule. | ||||||
16 | (b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties | ||||||
17 | prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that | ||||||
18 | comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to | ||||||
19 | supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to | ||||||
20 | the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may | ||||||
21 | bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of | ||||||
22 | unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be | ||||||
23 | required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department | ||||||
24 | on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the | ||||||
25 | employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty |
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1 | collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall | ||||||
2 | be deposited into the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund | ||||||
3 | created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing | ||||||
4 | this Act. | ||||||
5 | (c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the | ||||||
6 | collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.
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7 | Section 35. Enforcement.
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8 | (a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this | ||||||
9 | Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may, | ||||||
10 | within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting | ||||||
11 | the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a | ||||||
12 | complaint with the Department or file a civil action. | ||||||
13 | (b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a | ||||||
14 | claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit | ||||||
15 | court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory | ||||||
16 | damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive | ||||||
17 | damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in | ||||||
18 | addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert | ||||||
19 | witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the | ||||||
20 | defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing | ||||||
21 | an administrative complaint. | ||||||
22 | (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a | ||||||
23 | preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or | ||||||
24 | with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or | ||||||
25 | any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money |
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1 | penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense.
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2 | Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | ||||||
3 | Section 5.878 as follows:
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4 | (30 ILCS 105/5.878 new) | ||||||
5 | Sec. 5.878. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
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6 | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | ||||||
7 | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
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8 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
9 | becoming law.".
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