Bill Text: IL SB0173 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Amends the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Provides that an employer who engages in any type of electronic monitoring of its employees shall give each employee who may be affected prior written notice of the types of electronic monitoring that may be used by the employer. Requires written notice to be given to an employee upon hiring or before an employer uses electronic monitoring equipment on the employer's premises. Requires the written notice to be acknowledged by the employee either in writing or electronically. Provides that when an employer has reasonable grounds to believe that an employee is engaged in conduct that either violates the law, violates the legal rights of the employer or the employer's other employees, or creates a hostile workplace environment, and electronic monitoring may produce evidence of this misconduct, the employer may conduct electronic monitoring without giving the required notice. Provides that the amendatory Act shall not apply to processes that are designed to manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage that are not designed or intended to monitor or intercept the electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage of a particular employee and that are performed solely for the purpose of computer system maintenance or protection.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-15 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB0173 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB0173-Introduced.html


103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB0173

Introduced 1/31/2023, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
820 ILCS 55/11 new

Amends the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Provides that an employer who engages in any type of electronic monitoring of its employees shall give each employee who may be affected prior written notice of the types of electronic monitoring that may be used by the employer. Requires written notice to be given to an employee upon hiring or before an employer uses electronic monitoring equipment on the employer's premises. Requires the written notice to be acknowledged by the employee either in writing or electronically. Provides that when an employer has reasonable grounds to believe that an employee is engaged in conduct that either violates the law, violates the legal rights of the employer or the employer's other employees, or creates a hostile workplace environment, and electronic monitoring may produce evidence of this misconduct, the employer may conduct electronic monitoring without giving the required notice. Provides that the amendatory Act shall not apply to processes that are designed to manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage that are not designed or intended to monitor or intercept the electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage of a particular employee and that are performed solely for the purpose of computer system maintenance or protection.
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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 Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act is
5amended by adding Section 11 as follows:
6 (820 ILCS 55/11 new)
7 Sec. 11. Use of electronic monitoring.
8 (a) As used in this Section:
9 "Electronic monitoring" means the collection of
10information on an employer's premises concerning employees'
11activities or communications by any means other than direct
12observation, including the use of a computer, telephone, wire,
13or radio, or an electromagnetic, photo electronic, or photo
14optical system. "Electronic monitoring" does not include the
15collection of information for security purposes in common
16areas of the employer's premises which are held out for use by
17the public or any act that is prohibited under State or federal
18law.
19 "Employee" means any individual permitted to work by an
20employer in an occupation.
21 "Employer" has the meaning set forth in subsection (c) of
22Section 3 of the Minimum Wage Law.
23 (b) Except as provided in subsection (c), an employer who

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1engages in any type of electronic monitoring of its employees
2shall give each employee who may be affected prior written
3notice of the types of electronic monitoring that may be used
4by the employer. The written notice must be given to an
5employee upon hiring or before an employer uses electronic
6monitoring equipment on the employer's premises. The written
7notice shall be acknowledged by the employee either in writing
8or electronically.
9 (c) When an employer has reasonable grounds to believe
10that an employee is engaged in conduct that either violates
11the law, violates the legal rights of the employer or the
12employer's other employees, or creates a hostile workplace
13environment, and electronic monitoring may produce evidence of
14this misconduct, the employer may conduct electronic
15monitoring without giving the notice required in subsection
16(b).
17 (d) Every employer shall post and keep posted, in one or
18more conspicuous places on the premises of the employer where
19notices to employees are customarily posted, a notice
20concerning the types of electronic monitoring that may be
21utilized by the employer. An employer with employees who do
22not regularly report to a physical workplace, and instead work
23remotely or travel for work, shall also provide the notice by
24email to its employees or on a website, regularly used by the
25employer to communicate work-related information, that all
26employees are able to regularly access, freely and without

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1interference.
2 (e) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to
3processes that are designed to manage the type or volume of
4incoming or outgoing electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or
5Internet usage that are not designed or intended to monitor or
6intercept the electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or
7Internet usage of a particular employee and that are performed
8solely for the purpose of computer system maintenance or
9protection.
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