Bill Text: IL SB1972 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Healthy Workplace Act and amends the State Finance Act. Requires employers to provide specified paid sick days to employees. Sets forth the purposes for and manner in which the sick days may be used. Contains provisions regarding employer responsibilities, unlawful employer practices, and other matters. Provides that an employee who works in the State who is absent from work for specified reasons is entitled to earn and use a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick time during a 12-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid sick time under the provisions of the Act. Provides that it is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid paying sick time, or discipline an employee for the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in connection with the Act, including considering the use of paid sick time as a negative factor in an employment action that involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting, disciplining, or counting the paid sick time under a no-fault attendance policy. Provides that any employer that the Department of Labor or a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or with reckless disregard violated any provision of the Act or any rule adopted under the Act is subject to a civil money penalty to be paid to the employee not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense. Provides that the Department of Labor shall administer the Act. Authorizes individuals to file civil actions with respect to violations. Creates the Healthy Workplace Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1972 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB1972-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB1972 Introduced 2/15/2019, by Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
30 ILCS 105/5.891 new
Creates the Healthy Workplace Act and amends the State Finance Act. Requires employers to provide specified paid sick days to employees. Sets forth the purposes for and manner in which the sick days may be used. Contains provisions regarding employer responsibilities, unlawful employer practices, and other matters. Provides that an employee who works in the State who is absent from work for specified reasons is entitled to earn and use a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick time during a 12-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid sick time under the provisions of the Act. Provides that it is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid paying sick time, or discipline an employee for the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in connection with the Act, including considering the use of paid sick time as a negative factor in an employment action that involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting, disciplining, or counting the paid sick time under a no-fault attendance policy. Provides that any employer that the Department of Labor or a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or with reckless disregard violated any provision of the Act or any rule adopted under the Act is subject to a civil money penalty to be paid to the employee not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense. Provides that the Department of Labor shall administer the Act. Authorizes individuals to file civil actions with respect to violations. Creates the Healthy Workplace Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.
LRB101 08180 JLS 53246 b
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Healthy Workplace Act.
Section 5. Findings and purpose.
(a) The General Assembly finds:
(1) Nearly every worker in the State is likely to need
time off to attend to his or her own illness or that of a
family member. More than 30% of all private sector workers
in Illinois (almost 2,000,000 people) have no right to a
paid sick day. Over three-fourths of the lowest-wage
workers do not receive paid sick time and cannot forfeit a
day's work, so they often come into work sick.
(2) Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid
illness and injury by detecting illnesses early on and
shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees
with time off to attend to their own health care needs
ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient
employees. It will also reduce the spread of disease within
workplaces and to the public, such as customers, when
employees go to work sick, a practice known as
"presenteeism". Routine medical care results in savings by

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detecting and treating illness and injury early and
decreasing the need for emergency care. These savings
benefit public and private payers of health insurance.
(3) When the school of a worker's child is closed
because of extreme weather, it is often at the last minute
and workers cannot find someone to babysit, so they are
forced to stay at home to take care of their children.
(4) Nearly one-quarter of American women report
domestic violence and nearly one in 5 women report
experiencing rape at some time during their lives. Many
workers, men and women, need time off to care for their
health after these incidents or to take legal action.
Without paid time off, victims are in danger of losing
their jobs.
(5) Employed individuals who have court appointments,
sentencing hearings, probation, conditional discharge,
parole, or mandatory supervised release requirements, or
are visiting a family member in jail or prison need paid
time off work so that their families do not fall further
into economic jeopardy and so that they are not further
penalized, as these court-related events are frequently
scheduled during work hours.
(6) Employers that provide paid sick time see better
productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower turnover,
which saves them the costs of replacing and training
workers.

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(b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace
Act to provide at least a minimum time-off standard of paid
sick time for all workers.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological,
adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, a child of
a person standing in loco parentis, or any other individual
whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of
a child.
"Construction industry" means any constructing, altering,
reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing,
refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom
fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking,
painting, decorating, demolishing, or adding to or subtracting
from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street,
bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant,
waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other
structure, project, development, real property, or
improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the
performance of the work herein described involves the addition
to or fabrication into, any structure, project, development,
real property, or improvement herein described of any material
or article of merchandise.
"Construction industry" also includes moving construction
related materials on the job site or to or from the job site,

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snow plowing, snow removal, and refuse collection.
"Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
"Employ" means to suffer or permit to work.
"Employee" means any person who performs services for an
employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This
includes persons working any number of hours, including a
full-time or part-time status.
"Employee" does not include any person who the employer
establishes:
(A) has been and will continue to be free from
control and direction over the performance of their
work, both under a contract of service and in fact;
(B) is engaged in an independently established
trade, occupation, profession or business; or
(C) is deemed a legitimate sole proprietor or
partnership.
A sole proprietor or partnership shall be deemed to be
legitimate if the employer establishes that:
(1) the sole proprietor or partnership is performing
the service free from the direction or control over the
means and manner of providing the service, subject only to
the right of the employer for whom the service is provided
to specify the desired result;
(2) the sole proprietor or partnership is not subject
to cancellation or destruction upon severance of the
relationship with the employer;

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(3) the sole proprietor or partnership has a
substantial investment of capital in the sole
proprietorship or partnership beyond the ordinary tools
and equipment and a personal vehicle;
(4) the sole proprietor or partnership owns the capital
goods and gains the profits and bears the losses of the
sole proprietorship or partnership;
(5) the sole proprietor or partnership makes its
services available to the general public on a continuing
basis;
(6) the sole proprietor or partnership includes
services rendered on a Federal Income Tax Schedule as an
independent business or profession;
(7) the sole proprietor or partnership performs
services for the contractor under the sole proprietor's or
partnership's name;
(8) when the services being provided require a license
or permit, the sole proprietor or partnership obtains and
pays for the license or permit in the sole proprietorship's
or partnership's name;
(9) the sole proprietor or partnership furnishes the
tools and equipment necessary to provide the service;
(10) if necessary, the sole proprietor or partnership
hires its own employees without approval of the employer,
pays the employees without reimbursement from the employer
and reports the employees' income to the Internal Revenue

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Service;
(11) the employer does not represent the sole
proprietorship or partnership as an employee of the
employer to the public; and
(12) the sole proprietor or partnership has the right
to perform similar services for others on whatever basis
and whenever it chooses.
Nothing in this Act shall hinder or prohibit the ability of
any employee, including those as defined in the federal
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 351 et seq.)
from taking uncompensated time off due to any reason for leave
allowable for paid sick time under Section 15 of this Act.
"Employer" means any individual; person; partnership;
association; corporation; limited liability company; business
trust; employment or labor placement agency or business where
wages are made directly or indirectly by the agency or business
for work undertaken by the employee under hire to a third party
pursuant to a contact between the agency or business with the
third party; the State of Illinois and local governments; or
any political subdivision of the State or local government, or
State or local government agency; for which one or more persons
is gainfully employed, express or implied, whether lawfully or
unlawfully employed, who employs a worker or who employs a
worker not excluded as an employee pursuant to the definition
of "employee". "Employer" does not include school districts
organized under the School Code, park districts organized under

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the Park District Code, or any City of Chicago Sister Agency
under the Chicago Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance as
of the effective date of this Act.
"Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, child or
parent of an employee's spouse, sibling, grandparent,
grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose
close association with the employee is the equivalent of a
family relationship.
"Health care provider" means a person:
(1) who is:
(A) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor
of medicine;
(B) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor
of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine;
(C) licensed to practice medicine in all of its
branches or as an osteopathic physician in another
state or jurisdiction;
(D) a chiropractic physician licensed under the
Medical Practice Act of 1987; or
(E) any other person determined by final rule as of
the date this Act becomes law under the Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993; and
(2) who is not employed by an employer to whom the
provider issues certifications under this Act.

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"Paid sick time" means a portion of or an entire scheduled
or regular workday when an employee is unable to report to work
because of a reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
"Parent" means a biological, adoptive, or foster parent, a
stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, a person who stands in
loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse, or any
other individual whose close association with the employee is
the equivalent of a parent.
"Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil
union as defined by law.
"Victim services organization" means a nonprofit,
nongovernmental organization that provides assistance to
victims of domestic or sexual violence, including rape crisis
centers, organizations carrying out a domestic violence
program, organizations operating a shelter or providing
counseling services, and a legal services organization or other
organization providing assistance through the legal process.
Section 15. Provision of paid sick time.
(a) An employee who works in Illinois who is absent from
work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) is entitled to
earn and use a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick time during a
12-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid sick time
under the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for
an employee shall be calculated annually from the date of hire
or the effective date of this Act, whichever is later.

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(b) Paid sick time shall be provided to an employee by an
employer to:
(1) care for the employee's own physical or mental
illness, injury, or health condition, or seek medical
diagnosis or care, or attend a medical appointment,
provided the employee is not an employee as defined in the
federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 351
et seq.);
(2) care for the employee's family member who is
suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or
health condition, or seek medical diagnosis or care, or
attend a medical appointment;
(3) care for a child whose school or place of care has
been closed by order of a public official due to a public
health emergency or to not go in to work because of the
closure of the employee's place of business by order of a
public official due to a public health emergency;
(4) be absent from work because the employee or the
employee's family member is the victim of:
(A) domestic violence as defined in Section 103(3)
of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986; or
(B) sexual violence, which means:
(i) any conduct proscribed by Article 11 of the
Criminal Code of 2012 except Sections 11-35 and
11-45;
(ii) Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of

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the Criminal Code of 2012, or
(iii) a similar provision of the Criminal Code
of 1961; or
(5) be absent from work to visit the employee's family
member who is in jail or prison, for the employee to attend
his or her own or his or her family member's appointment
regarding court sentencing, probation, conditional
discharge, parole, or mandatory supervised release
requirements, or any other court hearing or trial.
(c) Paid sick time shall accrue at the rate of one hour of
paid sick time for every 40 hours worked up to a minimum of 40
hours of paid sick time unless the employer selects a higher
limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements
of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1))
shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes
of paid sick time accrual unless their normal work week is less
than 40 hours, in which case paid sick time accrues based on
that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid
sick time they need to use, provided that employers may set a
reasonable minimum increment for the use of paid sick time not
to exceed 4 hours per day.
(d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for
paid sick time. However, employees engaged in an occupation in
which gratuities or commissions have customarily and usually
constituted and have been recognized as part of the
remuneration for hire purposes shall be paid by their employer

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at least the full minimum wage in the jurisdiction in which
they are employed when paid sick time is taken. Paid sick time
under this Act shall not be charged or otherwise credited to
employee vacation accounts.
(e) Paid sick time shall begin to accrue at the
commencement of employment or on the effective date of this
Act, whichever is later. Employees shall be entitled to begin
using paid sick time 180 days following commencement of their
employment or 180 days following the effective date of this
Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be
construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing
the use of paid sick time at an earlier date than this Section
requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage
employers from adopting or retaining paid sick time policies
more generous than policies that comply with the requirements
of this Act.
(f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying
illness, injury, or health condition, or for time used pursuant
to item (4) of subsection (b), when paid sick time used covers
more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable documentation
signed by a health care provider of the employee's choice
involved in following or treating the illness, injury, or
health condition, and indicating the need for the amount of
sick time taken, shall be deemed acceptable certification.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require an employee
to provide as certification any information from a health care

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provider that would be a disclosure in violation of Section
1177 of the Social Security Act or the regulations promulgated
pursuant to the federal Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996. If an employer possesses health
information or any information related to domestic or sexual
violence about an employee or employee's family member, the
information shall be treated as confidential and not disclosed
except with the permission of the affected employee. For paid
sick time used pursuant to item (4) of subsection (b), any one
of the following is acceptable documentation, and only one of
the following shall be required: a police report, court
document, any reasonable documentation signed by a health care
provider, or signed statement from an attorney, a member of the
clergy, a victim services organization or advocate, or the
employee. It is up to the employee to determine which
documentation to submit. If a document has been submitted, the
employer shall not request or require any other document if the
reason for the sick time is related to the same incident of
violence or the same perpetrator of the violence. The employer
shall not delay the commencement of leave taken for purposes of
subsection (b) nor delay pay for this period on the basis that
the employer has not yet received the certification.
(g) Paid sick time shall be provided upon the oral request
of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick time under this
Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer
with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is

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to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the
employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practical
after the employee is aware of the necessity of the leave. An
employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick
time under this Act, that the employee search for or find a
replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee
is on paid sick time leave.
(h) Paid sick time shall carry over annually to the extent
not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act
shall be construed to require an employer to allow use of more
than 40 hours of paid sick time for an employee unless the
employer agrees to do so.
(i) It is unlawful for an employer to interfere with,
restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid
paying sick time, or discipline an employee for the exercise
of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in
connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid
sick time as a negative factor in an employment action that
involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting,
disciplining, or counting the paid sick time under a no-fault
attendance policy.
(j) During any period an employee takes leave under this
Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
any family member under any group health plan for the duration
of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the

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leave.
(k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring
financial or other payment to an employee from an employer upon
the employee's termination, resignation, retirement, or other
separation from employment for accrued paid sick time that has
not been used.
(l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit
an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and
including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick
time provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than
those described in this Section.
(m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division,
entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer,
the employee is entitled to all paid sick time accrued at the
prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all
paid sick time as provided in this Section. If there is a
separation from employment and the employee is rehired within
12 months of separation by the same employer, previously
accrued paid sick time that had not been used shall be
reinstated. The employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid
sick time at the commencement of employment following a
separation from employment of 12 months or less.
(n) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to
bargain collectively with their employers through
representatives of their own choosing in order to establish

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wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable
minimum standards of the provisions of this Act. Nothing in
this Section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change
the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements in
force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective
date of this Act, requirements of this Section may be waived in
a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the
waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and
unambiguous terms. In no event shall this Section apply to any
employee working in the construction industry who is covered by
a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.
Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.
(a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
and the amount of paid sick time taken by employees for a
period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department
access to such records, with appropriate notice and a mutually
agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of
this Section. In addition, the records shall be preserved for
the duration of any claim pending pursuant to Section 35 of
this Act.
(b) An agreement by employees to waive their rights under
this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of Section 15,
is void as against public policy.
(c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies

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with the requirements of this Act are not required to modify
the a policy if such policy offers an employee the option, at
the employee's discretion, to take paid sick time that is at
least equivalent to the paid sick time described in this Act.
(d) An employer shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous
place on the premises of the employer where notices to
employees are customarily posted, and include in an employee
manual or policy if the employer has one, a notice, to be
prepared by the Department, summarizing the requirements of
this Act and information pertaining to the filing of a charge.
If an employer's workforce is comprised of a significant
portion of workers who are not literate in English, the
employer is responsible for providing the notice in a language
in which the employees are literate. An employer who willfully
violates the notice and posting requirements of this Section
shall be subject to a civil penalty to be paid to the employee
in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate offense.
Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It is unlawful for
any employer to take any adverse action against an employee
because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to
exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which
such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3)
supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act. Such
unlawful employer practices include, but are not limited to,
any reference to the employee's or any of the employee's family

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members' citizenship or immigration status, or any threat to
contact or actual contact with any local, State, or federal
government entities regarding the employee's or any of the
employee's family members' citizenship or immigration status,
or sexual harassment. Exercising rights under this Act includes
filing an action or instituting or causing to be instituted any
proceeding under or related to this Act; providing or agreeing
to provide any information in connection with any inquiry or
proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act; or
testifying to or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or
proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act.
Section 30. Department responsibilities.
(a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act
and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act
for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the
powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the
Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The
Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in
connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act,
including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to
issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that
this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the
parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an
Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in
accordance with hearing procedures established by rule.

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Administrative decisions shall be reviewed under the
Administrative Review Law.
(b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties
prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that
comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to
supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to
the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may
bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of
unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be
required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department
on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the
employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty
collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall
be deposited into the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund
created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing
this Act.
(c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the
collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.
Section 35. Enforcement.
(a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this
Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may,
within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting
the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a
complaint with the Department or file a civil action.
(b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a

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claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit
court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory
damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive
damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in
addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert
witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the
defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing a
complaint with the Department. Administrative decisions are
reviewable under the Administrative Review Law.
(c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a
preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or
with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or
any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money
penalty to be paid to the employee not to exceed $2,500 for
each separate offense.
Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.891 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.891 new)
Sec. 5.891. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.