Bill Text: IL HB5569 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Amends the Workers' Compensation Act and the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act. Provides that a person employed as a firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT), emergency medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I), advanced emergency medical technician (A-EMT), or paramedic may recover for post-traumatic stress disorder. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB5569 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB5569-Introduced.html


101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB5569

Introduced , by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
820 ILCS 305/6 from Ch. 48, par. 138.6
820 ILCS 310/1 from Ch. 48, par. 172.36

Amends the Workers' Compensation Act and the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act. Provides that a person employed as a firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT), emergency medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I), advanced emergency medical technician (A-EMT), or paramedic may recover for post-traumatic stress disorder. 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 5. The Workers' Compensation Act is amended by
5changing Section 6 as follows:
6 (820 ILCS 305/6) (from Ch. 48, par. 138.6)
7 Sec. 6. (a) Every employer within the provisions of this
8Act, shall, under the rules and regulations prescribed by the
9Commission, post printed notices in their respective places of
10employment in such number and at such places as may be
11determined by the Commission, containing such information
12relative to this Act as in the judgment of the Commission may
13be necessary to aid employees to safeguard their rights under
14this Act in event of injury.
15 In addition thereto, the employer shall post in a
16conspicuous place on the place of the employment a printed or
17typewritten notice stating whether he is insured or whether he
18has qualified and is operating as a self-insured employer. In
19the event the employer is insured, the notice shall state the
20name and address of his insurance carrier, the number of the
21insurance policy, its effective date and the date of
22termination. In the event of the termination of the policy for
23any reason prior to the termination date stated, the posted

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1notice shall promptly be corrected accordingly. In the event
2the employer is operating as a self-insured employer the notice
3shall state the name and address of the company, if any,
4servicing the compensation payments of the employer, and the
5name and address of the person in charge of making compensation
6payments.
7 (b) Every employer subject to this Act shall maintain
8accurate records of work-related deaths, injuries and illness
9other than minor injuries requiring only first aid treatment
10and which do not involve medical treatment, loss of
11consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to
12another job and file with the Commission, in writing, a report
13of all accidental deaths, injuries and illnesses arising out of
14and in the course of the employment resulting in the loss of
15more than 3 scheduled work days. In the case of death such
16report shall be made no later than 2 working days following the
17accidental death. In all other cases such report shall be made
18between the 15th and 25th of each month unless required to be
19made sooner by rule of the Commission. In case the injury
20results in permanent disability, a further report shall be made
21as soon as it is determined that such permanent disability has
22resulted or will result from the injury. All reports shall
23state the date of the injury, including the time of day or
24night, the nature of the employer's business, the name,
25address, age, sex, conjugal condition of the injured person,
26the specific occupation of the injured person, the direct cause

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1of the injury and the nature of the accident, the character of
2the injury, the length of disability, and in case of death the
3length of disability before death, the wages of the injured
4person, whether compensation has been paid to the injured
5person, or to his or her legal representative or his heirs or
6next of kin, the amount of compensation paid, the amount paid
7for physicians', surgeons' and hospital bills, and by whom
8paid, and the amount paid for funeral or burial expenses if
9known. The reports shall be made on forms and in the manner as
10prescribed by the Commission and shall contain such further
11information as the Commission shall deem necessary and require.
12The making of these reports releases the employer from making
13such reports to any other officer of the State and shall
14satisfy the reporting provisions as contained in the Safety
15Inspection and Education Act, the Health and Safety Act, and
16the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The reports filed with
17the Commission pursuant to this Section shall be made available
18by the Commission to the Director of Labor or his
19representatives and to all other departments of the State of
20Illinois which shall require such information for the proper
21discharge of their official duties. Failure to file with the
22Commission any of the reports required in this Section is a
23petty offense.
24 Except as provided in this paragraph, all reports filed
25hereunder shall be confidential and any person having access to
26such records filed with the Illinois Workers' Compensation

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1Commission as herein required, who shall release any
2information therein contained including the names or otherwise
3identify any persons sustaining injuries or disabilities, or
4give access to such information to any unauthorized person,
5shall be subject to discipline or discharge, and in addition
6shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. The Commission shall
7compile and distribute to interested persons aggregate
8statistics, taken from the reports filed hereunder. The
9aggregate statistics shall not give the names or otherwise
10identify persons sustaining injuries or disabilities or the
11employer of any injured person or person with a disability.
12 (c) Notice of the accident shall be given to the employer
13as soon as practicable, but not later than 45 days after the
14accident. Provided:
15 (1) In case of the legal disability of the employee or
16 any dependent of a deceased employee who may be entitled to
17 compensation under the provisions of this Act, the
18 limitations of time by this Act provided do not begin to
19 run against such person under legal disability until a
20 guardian has been appointed.
21 (2) In cases of injuries sustained by exposure to
22 radiological materials or equipment, notice shall be given
23 to the employer within 90 days subsequent to the time that
24 the employee knows or suspects that he has received an
25 excessive dose of radiation.
26 No defect or inaccuracy of such notice shall be a bar to

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1the maintenance of proceedings on arbitration or otherwise by
2the employee unless the employer proves that he is unduly
3prejudiced in such proceedings by such defect or inaccuracy.
4 Notice of the accident shall give the approximate date and
5place of the accident, if known, and may be given orally or in
6writing.
7 (d) Every employer shall notify each injured employee who
8has been granted compensation under the provisions of Section 8
9of this Act of his rights to rehabilitation services and advise
10him of the locations of available public rehabilitation centers
11and any other such services of which the employer has
12knowledge.
13 In any case, other than one where the injury was caused by
14exposure to radiological materials or equipment or asbestos
15unless the application for compensation is filed with the
16Commission within 3 years after the date of the accident, where
17no compensation has been paid, or within 2 years after the date
18of the last payment of compensation, where any has been paid,
19whichever shall be later, the right to file such application
20shall be barred.
21 In any case of injury caused by exposure to radiological
22materials or equipment or asbestos, unless application for
23compensation is filed with the Commission within 25 years after
24the last day that the employee was employed in an environment
25of hazardous radiological activity or asbestos, the right to
26file such application shall be barred.

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1 If in any case except one where the injury was caused by
2exposure to radiological materials or equipment or asbestos,
3the accidental injury results in death application for
4compensation for death may be filed with the Commission within
53 years after the date of death where no compensation has been
6paid or within 2 years after the date of the last payment of
7compensation where any has been paid, whichever shall be later,
8but not thereafter.
9 If an accidental injury caused by exposure to radiological
10material or equipment or asbestos results in death within 25
11years after the last day that the employee was so exposed
12application for compensation for death may be filed with the
13Commission within 3 years after the date of death, where no
14compensation has been paid, or within 2 years after the date of
15the last payment of compensation where any has been paid,
16whichever shall be later, but not thereafter.
17 (e) Any contract or agreement made by any employer or his
18agent or attorney with any employee or any other beneficiary of
19any claim under the provisions of this Act within 7 days after
20the injury shall be presumed to be fraudulent.
21 (f) Any condition or impairment of health of an employee
22employed as a firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT),
23emergency medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I), advanced
24emergency medical technician (A-EMT), or paramedic which
25results directly or indirectly from any bloodborne pathogen,
26lung or respiratory disease or condition, heart or vascular

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1disease or condition, hypertension, tuberculosis, or cancer
2resulting in any disability (temporary, permanent, total, or
3partial) to the employee shall be rebuttably presumed to arise
4out of and in the course of the employee's firefighting, EMT,
5or paramedic employment and, further, shall be rebuttably
6presumed to be causally connected to the hazards or exposures
7of the employment. This presumption shall also apply to any
8hernia or hearing loss suffered by an employee employed as a
9firefighter, EMT, EMT-I, A-EMT, or paramedic. However, this
10presumption shall not apply to any employee who has been
11employed as a firefighter, EMT, or paramedic for less than 5
12years at the time he or she files an Application for Adjustment
13of Claim concerning this condition or impairment with the
14Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission. The rebuttable
15presumption established under this subsection, however, does
16not apply to an emergency medical technician (EMT), emergency
17medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I), advanced emergency
18medical technician (A-EMT), or paramedic employed by a private
19employer if the employee spends the preponderance of his or her
20work time for that employer engaged in medical transfers
21between medical care facilities or non-emergency medical
22transfers to or from medical care facilities. The changes made
23to this subsection by Public Act 98-291 shall be narrowly
24construed. The Finding and Decision of the Illinois Workers'
25Compensation Commission under only the rebuttable presumption
26provision of this subsection shall not be admissible or be

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1deemed res judicata in any disability claim under the Illinois
2Pension Code arising out of the same medical condition;
3however, this sentence makes no change to the law set forth in
4Krohe v. City of Bloomington, 204 Ill.2d 392.
5 (g) In this Section, "condition or impairment of health"
6includes post-traumatic stress disorder arising out of and in
7the course of employment affecting a person employed as a
8firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT), emergency
9medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I), advanced emergency
10medical technician (A-EMT), or paramedic.
11(Source: P.A. 98-291, eff. 1-1-14; 98-874, eff. 1-1-15; 98-973,
12eff. 8-15-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
13 Section 10. The Workers' Occupational Diseases Act is
14amended by changing Section 1 as follows:
15 (820 ILCS 310/1) (from Ch. 48, par. 172.36)
16 Sec. 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the
17"Workers' Occupational Diseases Act".
18 (a) The term "employer" as used in this Act shall be
19construed to be:
20 1. The State and each county, city, town, township,
21 incorporated village, school district, body politic, or
22 municipal corporation therein.
23 2. Every person, firm, public or private corporation,
24 including hospitals, public service, eleemosynary,

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1 religious or charitable corporations or associations, who
2 has any person in service or under any contract for hire,
3 express or implied, oral or written.
4 3. Where an employer operating under and subject to the
5 provisions of this Act loans an employee to another such
6 employer and such loaned employee sustains a compensable
7 occupational disease in the employment of such borrowing
8 employer and where such borrowing employer does not provide
9 or pay the benefits or payments due such employee, such
10 loaning employer shall be liable to provide or pay all
11 benefits or payments due such employee under this Act and
12 as to such employee the liability of such loaning and
13 borrowing employers shall be joint and several, provided
14 that such loaning employer shall in the absence of
15 agreement to the contrary be entitled to receive from such
16 borrowing employer full reimbursement for all sums paid or
17 incurred pursuant to this paragraph together with
18 reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses in any hearings
19 before the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission or in
20 any action to secure such reimbursement. Where any benefit
21 is provided or paid by such loaning employer, the employee
22 shall have the duty of rendering reasonable co-operation in
23 any hearings, trials or proceedings in the case, including
24 such proceedings for reimbursement.
25 Where an employee files an Application for Adjustment
26 of Claim with the Illinois Workers' Compensation

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1 Commission alleging that his or her claim is covered by the
2 provisions of the preceding paragraph, and joining both the
3 alleged loaning and borrowing employers, they and each of
4 them, upon written demand by the employee and within 7 days
5 after receipt of such demand, shall have the duty of filing
6 with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission a
7 written admission or denial of the allegation that the
8 claim is covered by the provisions of the preceding
9 paragraph and in default of such filing or if any such
10 denial be ultimately determined not to have been bona fide
11 then the provisions of Paragraph K of Section 19 of this
12 Act shall apply.
13 An employer whose business or enterprise or a
14 substantial part thereof consists of hiring, procuring or
15 furnishing employees to or for other employers operating
16 under and subject to the provisions of this Act for the
17 performance of the work of such other employers and who
18 pays such employees their salary or wage notwithstanding
19 that they are doing the work of such other employers shall
20 be deemed a loaning employer within the meaning and
21 provisions of this Section.
22 (b) The term "employee" as used in this Act, shall be
23construed to mean:
24 1. Every person in the service of the State, county,
25 city, town, township, incorporated village or school
26 district, body politic or municipal corporation therein,

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1 whether by election, appointment or contract of hire,
2 express or implied, oral or written, including any official
3 of the State, or of any county, city, town, township,
4 incorporated village, school district, body politic or
5 municipal corporation therein and except any duly
6 appointed member of the fire department in any city whose
7 population exceeds 500,000 according to the last Federal or
8 State census, and except any member of a fire insurance
9 patrol maintained by a board of underwriters in this State.
10 One employed by a contractor who has contracted with the
11 State, or a county, city, town, township, incorporated
12 village, school district, body politic or municipal
13 corporation therein, through its representatives, shall
14 not be considered as an employee of the State, county,
15 city, town, township, incorporated village, school
16 district, body politic or municipal corporation which made
17 the contract.
18 2. Every person in the service of another under any
19 contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, who
20 contracts an occupational disease while working in the
21 State of Illinois, or who contracts an occupational disease
22 while working outside of the State of Illinois but where
23 the contract of hire is made within the State of Illinois,
24 and any person whose employment is principally localized
25 within the State of Illinois, regardless of the place where
26 the disease was contracted or place where the contract of

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1 hire was made, including aliens, and minors who, for the
2 purpose of this Act, except Section 3 hereof, shall be
3 considered the same and have the same power to contract,
4 receive payments and give quittances therefor, as adult
5 employees. An employee or his or her dependents under this
6 Act who shall have a cause of action by reason of an
7 occupational disease, disablement or death arising out of
8 and in the course of his or her employment may elect or
9 pursue his or her remedy in the State where the disease was
10 contracted, or in the State where the contract of hire is
11 made, or in the State where the employment is principally
12 localized.
13 (c) "Commission" means the Illinois Workers' Compensation
14Commission created by the Workers' Compensation Act, approved
15July 9, 1951, as amended.
16 (d) In this Act the term "Occupational Disease" means a
17disease arising out of and in the course of the employment or
18which has become aggravated and rendered disabling as a result
19of the exposure of the employment. Such aggravation shall arise
20out of a risk peculiar to or increased by the employment and
21not common to the general public.
22 "Occupational disease" includes post-traumatic stress
23disorder arising out of and in the course of employment
24affecting a person employed as a firefighter, emergency medical
25technician (EMT), emergency medical technician-intermediate
26(EMT-I), advanced emergency medical technician (A-EMT), or

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1paramedic.
2 A disease shall be deemed to arise out of the employment if
3there is apparent to the rational mind, upon consideration of
4all the circumstances, a causal connection between the
5conditions under which the work is performed and the
6occupational disease. The disease need not to have been
7foreseen or expected but after its contraction it must appear
8to have had its origin or aggravation in a risk connected with
9the employment and to have flowed from that source as a
10rational consequence.
11 An employee shall be conclusively deemed to have been
12exposed to the hazards of an occupational disease when, for any
13length of time however short, he or she is employed in an
14occupation or process in which the hazard of the disease
15exists; provided however, that in a claim of exposure to atomic
16radiation, the fact of such exposure must be verified by the
17records of the central registry of radiation exposure
18maintained by the Department of Public Health or by some other
19recognized governmental agency maintaining records of such
20exposures whenever and to the extent that the records are on
21file with the Department of Public Health or the agency.
22 Any injury to or disease or death of an employee arising
23from the administration of a vaccine, including without
24limitation smallpox vaccine, to prepare for, or as a response
25to, a threatened or potential bioterrorist incident to the
26employee as part of a voluntary inoculation program in

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1connection with the person's employment or in connection with
2any governmental program or recommendation for the inoculation
3of workers in the employee's occupation, geographical area, or
4other category that includes the employee is deemed to arise
5out of and in the course of the employment for all purposes
6under this Act. This paragraph added by Public Act 93-829 is
7declarative of existing law and is not a new enactment.
8 The employer liable for the compensation in this Act
9provided shall be the employer in whose employment the employee
10was last exposed to the hazard of the occupational disease
11claimed upon regardless of the length of time of such last
12exposure, except, in cases of silicosis or asbestosis, the only
13employer liable shall be the last employer in whose employment
14the employee was last exposed during a period of 60 days or
15more after the effective date of this Act, to the hazard of
16such occupational disease, and, in such cases, an exposure
17during a period of less than 60 days, after the effective date
18of this Act, shall not be deemed a last exposure. If a miner
19who is suffering or suffered from pneumoconiosis was employed
20for 10 years or more in one or more coal mines there shall,
21effective July 1, 1973 be a rebuttable presumption that his or
22her pneumoconiosis arose out of such employment.
23 If a deceased miner was employed for 10 years or more in
24one or more coal mines and died from a respirable disease there
25shall, effective July 1, 1973, be a rebuttable presumption that
26his or her death was due to pneumoconiosis.

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1 Any condition or impairment of health of an employee
2employed as a firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT),
3emergency medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I), advanced
4emergency medical technician (A-EMT), or paramedic which
5results directly or indirectly from any bloodborne pathogen,
6lung or respiratory disease or condition, heart or vascular
7disease or condition, hypertension, tuberculosis, or cancer
8resulting in any disability (temporary, permanent, total, or
9partial) to the employee shall be rebuttably presumed to arise
10out of and in the course of the employee's firefighting, EMT,
11EMT-I, A-EMT, or paramedic employment and, further, shall be
12rebuttably presumed to be causally connected to the hazards or
13exposures of the employment. This presumption shall also apply
14to any hernia or hearing loss suffered by an employee employed
15as a firefighter, EMT, EMT-I, A-EMT, or paramedic. However,
16this presumption shall not apply to any employee who has been
17employed as a firefighter, EMT, EMT-I, A-EMT, or paramedic for
18less than 5 years at the time he or she files an Application
19for Adjustment of Claim concerning this condition or impairment
20with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission. The
21rebuttable presumption established under this subsection,
22however, does not apply to an emergency medical technician
23(EMT), emergency medical technician-intermediate (EMT-I),
24advanced emergency medical technician (A-EMT), or paramedic
25employed by a private employer if the employee spends the
26preponderance of his or her work time for that employer engaged

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1in medical transfers between medical care facilities or
2non-emergency medical transfers to or from medical care
3facilities. The changes made to this subsection by this
4amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly shall be narrowly
5construed. The Finding and Decision of the Illinois Workers'
6Compensation Commission under only the rebuttable presumption
7provision of this paragraph shall not be admissible or be
8deemed res judicata in any disability claim under the Illinois
9Pension Code arising out of the same medical condition;
10however, this sentence makes no change to the law set forth in
11Krohe v. City of Bloomington, 204 Ill.2d 392.
12 The insurance carrier liable shall be the carrier whose
13policy was in effect covering the employer liable on the last
14day of the exposure rendering such employer liable in
15accordance with the provisions of this Act.
16 (e) "Disablement" means an impairment or partial
17impairment, temporary or permanent, in the function of the body
18or any of the members of the body, or the event of becoming
19disabled from earning full wages at the work in which the
20employee was engaged when last exposed to the hazards of the
21occupational disease by the employer from whom he or she claims
22compensation, or equal wages in other suitable employment; and
23"disability" means the state of being so incapacitated.
24 (f) No compensation shall be payable for or on account of
25any occupational disease unless disablement, as herein
26defined, occurs within two years after the last day of the last

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1exposure to the hazards of the disease, except in cases of
2occupational disease caused by berylliosis or by the inhalation
3of silica dust or asbestos dust and, in such cases, within 3
4years after the last day of the last exposure to the hazards of
5such disease and except in the case of occupational disease
6caused by exposure to radiological materials or equipment, and
7in such case, within 25 years after the last day of last
8exposure to the hazards of such disease.
9(Source: P.A. 98-291, eff. 1-1-14; 98-973, eff. 8-15-14.)
10 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect
11immediate.
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