HB1047 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 04224 JLS 34249 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB1047

Introduced , by Rep. Jim Durkin

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

820 ILCS 55/10

from Ch. 48, par. 2860

Amends provisions of the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act prohibiting certain inquiries by an employer. Deletes language in those provisions regarding an employee's social networking website account information. Provides that: an employer may not request or require an employee or prospective employee to provide a user name, password, or other means to gain access to the employee's or prospective employee's personal online account; an employer may request or require an employee to disclose any user name, password, or other means for accessing an electronic communications device supplied or paid for in whole or in part by the employer or accounts or services provided by the employer or by virtue of the employee's employment relationship with the employer or that the employee uses for business purposes; an employer may not discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize or threaten to discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize an employee solely for an employee's refusal to disclose specified information, fail or refuse to hire any prospective employee as a result of the prospective employee's refusal to disclose specified information, or be held liable for failure to request or require that an employee or prospective employee disclose specified information; those provisions do not prevent an employer from conducting certain investigations; the provisions do not limit an employer's right to have specified workplace policies and monitor usage of the employer's electronic equipment and electronic mail under specified circumstances; and those provisions do not prohibit an employer from obtaining information about a prospective employee or an employee that is in the public domain or that is otherwise obtained in compliance with the provisions. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning employment.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act is amended by changing Section 10 as follows:

(820 ILCS 55/10) (from Ch. 48, par. 2860)

Sec. 10. Prohibited inquiries.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any employer to inquire, in a written application or in any other manner, of any prospective employee or of the prospective employee's previous employers, whether that prospective employee has ever filed a claim for benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act or Workers' Occupational Diseases Act or received benefits under these Acts.

(b)(1) It shall be unlawful for any employer to request or require any employee or prospective employee to provide any user name, password, or other means related account information in order to gain access to the employee's or prospective employee's account or profile on a social networking website or to demand access in any manner to an employee's or prospective employee's personal online account or profile on a social networking website.

(2) An employer may request or require an employee to disclose any user name, password, or other means for accessing:

(A) any electronic communications device supplied or paid for in whole or in part by the employer; or

(B) any accounts or services provided by the employer or by virtue of the employee's employment relationship with the employer or that the employee uses for business purposes.

(3) An employer may not:

(A) discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize or threaten to discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize an employee solely for an employee's refusal to disclose any information specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection (b);

(B) fail or refuse to hire any prospective employee as a result of the prospective employee's refusal to disclose any information specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection (b); or

(C) be held liable for failure to request or require that an employee or prospective employee disclose any information specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection (b).

(4) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent an employer from conducting an investigation:

(A) for the purpose of ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulatory requirements, or prohibitions against work-related employee misconduct based on the employer's receipt of specific information about activity on a personal online account by an employee or other source; or

(B) of an employee's actions based on the receipt of specific information about the unauthorized transfer of an employer's proprietary information, confidential information, or financial data to a personal online account by an employee or other source.

Conducting an investigation as specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph (4) includes requiring the employee's cooperation to share the content that has been reported in order to make a factual determination.

(5) (2) Nothing in this subsection shall limit an employer's right to:

(A) promulgate and maintain lawful workplace policies governing the use of the employer's electronic equipment, including policies regarding Internet use, social networking site use, and electronic mail use; and

(B) monitor usage of the employer's electronic equipment and the employer's electronic mail without requesting or requiring any employee or prospective employee to provide any user name, password, or other means related account information in order to gain access to the employee's or prospective employee's personal online account or profile on a social networking website.

(6) (3) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit an employer from obtaining about a prospective employee or an employee information that is in the public domain or that is otherwise obtained in compliance with this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly.

(7) (4) For the purposes of this subsection: ,

(A) "Prospective employee" means an applicant for employment.

(B) "Electronic communications device" means any device that uses electronic signals to create, transmit, and receive information, including, without limitation, a computer, telephone, or personal digital assistant.

(C) "Employer" means a person engaged in a business, industry, profession, trade, or other enterprise in this State, or any unit of State or local government. "Employer" includes any agent, representative, or designee of the employer.

(D) "Personal online account" means an account created via bounded system established by an internet-based service that requires a user to input or store access information via an electronic device to view, create, utilize, or edit the user's account information, profile, display, communications, or stored data. "social networking website" means an Internet-based service that allows individuals to:

(A) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, created by the service;

(B) create a list of other users with whom they share a connection within the system; and

(C) view and navigate their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

"Social networking website" shall not include electronic mail.

(Source: P.A. 97-875, eff. 1-1-13.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.