Rep. Christian L. Mitchell

Filed: 3/24/2017

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2771

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2771 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Healthy Workplace Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings and purpose.
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.
26    (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace

 

 

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1Act to provide at least a minimum time-off standard of paid
2sick days for all workers.
 
3    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
4    "Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological,
5adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child
6of a person standing in loco parentis.
7    "Construction industry" means any constructing, altering,
8reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing,
9refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom
10fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking,
11painting, decorating, demolishing, or adding to or subtracting
12from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street,
13bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant,
14waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other
15structure, project, development, real property, or
16improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the
17performance of the work herein described involves the addition
18to or fabrication into, any structure, project, development,
19real property, or improvement herein described of any material
20or article of merchandise. "Construction industry" also
21includes moving construction related materials on the job site
22or to or from the job site, snow plowing, snow removal, and
23refuse collection.
24    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
25    "Employee" means any person who performs services for an

 

 

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1employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This
2includes persons working any number of hours, including a
3full-time or part-time status.
4    "Employer" means one who employs at least one employee,
5including, but not limited to, this State and its political
6subdivisions, a temporary services agency, an employment
7agency, or an employee organization. "Employer" does not
8include school districts organized under the School Code, park
9districts organized under the Park District Code, or any City
10of Chicago Sister Agency under the Chicago Minimum Wage and
11Paid Sick Leave Ordinance as of the effective date of this Act.
12    "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, the child or
13parent of an employee's spouse, a sibling, grandparent,
14grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose
15close association with the employee is the equivalent of a
16family 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
4when an employee is unable to report to work because of a
5reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
6    "Parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a foster or
7stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, or a person who stands in
8loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse.
9    "Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil
10union as defined by Illinois statute.
 
11    Section 15. Provision of paid sick days.
12    (a) All employees who work in Illinois who are absent from
13work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) shall be entitled
14to earn and use a minimum of 5 paid sick days during a 12-month
15period or a pro rata number of paid sick days or hours under
16the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for an
17employee shall be calculated from the date of hire or
18subsequent anniversary date.
19    (b) Paid sick days shall be provided to an employee by an
20employer 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
16paid sick time for every 40 hours worked up to a minimum of 40
17hours of paid sick time unless the employer selects a higher
18limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements
19of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1))
20shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes
21of paid sick day accrual unless their normal work week is less
22than 40 hours, in which case paid sick days accrue based on
23that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid
24sick days they need to use, provided that employers may set a
25reasonable minimum increment for the use of a paid sick day not
26to exceed 4 hours per day.

 

 

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1    (d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for a
2paid sick day. However, an employee engaged in an occupation in
3which gratuities have customarily and usually constituted and
4have been recognized as part of the remuneration for hire
5purposes shall be paid by his or her employer at least the full
6Illinois minimum wage for a paid sick day taken. Paid sick days
7under this Act shall not be charged or otherwise credited to
8employee vacation accounts.
9    (e) Paid sick days shall begin to accrue at the
10commencement of employment or on the effective date of this
11Act, whichever is later. An employee shall be entitled to begin
12using a sick day 180 days following commencement of his or her
13employment or 180 days following the effective date of this
14Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be
15construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing
16the use of paid sick days at an earlier date than this Section
17requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage
18employers from adopting or retaining paid sick day policies
19more generous than policies that comply with the requirements
20of this Act.
21    (f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying
22illness, injury, or health condition when paid sick days cover
23more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable documentation
24signed by a healthcare provider involved in following or
25treating the illness, injury, or health condition, and
26indicating the need for the amount of sick days taken, shall be

 

 

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1deemed acceptable certification. Nothing in this Act shall be
2construed to require an employee to provide as certification
3any information from a healthcare provider that would be in
4violation of Section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the
5regulations promulgated pursuant to the federal Health
6Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. If an
7employer possesses health information about an employee or
8employee's family member, such information shall be treated as
9confidential and not disclosed except with the permission of
10the affected employee. For time used pursuant to subdivision
11(b)(5), any one of the following is acceptable documentation,
12and only one of the following shall be required: a police
13report, court document, or signed statement from an attorney, a
14member of the clergy, or a victim services advocate. It is up
15to the employee to determine which documentation to submit.
16    The employer shall not delay the commencement of leave
17taken for purposes of subsection (b) of this Section nor delay
18pay for this period on the basis that the employer has not yet
19received the certification.
20    (g) Paid sick days shall be provided upon the oral request
21of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick days under this
22Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer
23with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is
24to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the
25employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practicable
26after the employee is aware of the necessity of such leave. An

 

 

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1employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick
2days under this Act, that the employee search for or find a
3replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee
4is on paid sick days leave.
5    (h) Paid sick days shall carry over annually to the extent
6not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act
7shall be construed to require an employer to allow use of more
8than 5 paid sick days for an employee unless an employer agrees
9to do so.
10    (i) It shall be unlawful for an employer to interfere with,
11restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid
12paying sick days, or discipline an employee for the exercise
13of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in
14connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid
15sick days as a negative factor in an employment action that
16involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting,
17disciplining, or counting the paid sick days under a no-fault
18attendance policy.
19    (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this
20Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
21any family member under any group health plan for the duration
22of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
23as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the
24leave.
25    (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring
26financial or other reimbursement to an employee from an

 

 

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1employer upon the employee's termination, resignation,
2retirement, or other separation from employment for accrued
3paid sick days that have not been used.
4    (l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit
5an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and
6including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick
7days provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than
8those described in this Section.
9    (m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division,
10entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer,
11the employee is entitled to all paid sick days accrued at the
12prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all
13paid sick days as provided in this Section. Where there is a
14separation from employment and the employee is rehired within
1512 months of separation by the same employer, previously
16accrued paid sick days that had not been used shall be
17reinstated. Such employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid
18sick days at the commencement of employment following a
19separation from employment of 12 months or less.
20    (n) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
21with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to
22bargain collectively with their employers through
23representatives of their own choosing in order to establish
24wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable
25minimum standards of the provisions of this Act. Nothing in
26this Section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change

 

 

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1the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements in
2force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective
3date of this Act, requirements of this Section may be waived in
4a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the
5waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and
6unambiguous terms. In no event shall this Section apply to any
7employee working in the construction industry who is covered by
8a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.
 
9    Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.
10    (a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
11make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
12and the amount of paid sick days taken by employees for a
13period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department
14access to such records, with appropriate notice and a mutually
15agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of
16this Section.
17    (b) An agreement by an employee to waive his or her right
18under this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of
19Section 15, is void as against public policy.
20    (c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies
21with at least the minimum requirements of this Act shall not be
22required to modify such a policy if such policy offers an
23employee the option, at the employee's discretion, to take paid
24sick days that are at least equivalent to the paid sick days
25described in this Act.

 

 

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1    (d) Employers shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous
2place on the premises of the employer where notices to
3employees are customarily posted, or include in an employee
4manual or policy, a notice, to be prepared by the Department,
5summarizing the requirements of this Act and information
6pertaining to the filing of a charge. If an employer's
7workforce is comprised of a significant portion of workers who
8are not literate in English, the employer is responsible for
9providing the notice in a language in which the employees are
10literate. An employer who willfully violates the notice and
11posting requirements of this Section shall be subject to a
12civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate
13offense.
 
14    Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It is unlawful for
15any employer to take any adverse action against an employee
16because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to
17exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which
18such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3)
19supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act.
20    Exercising rights under this Act includes filing an action
21or instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding under
22or related to this Act; providing or agreeing to provide any
23information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding
24relating to any right provided under this Act; or testifying to
25or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or proceeding relating to

 

 

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1any right provided under this Act.
 
2    Section 30. Department responsibilities.
3    (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act
4and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act
5for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the
6powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the
7Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The
8Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in
9connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act,
10including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to
11issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that
12this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the
13parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an
14Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in
15accordance with hearing procedures established by rule.
16    (b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties
17prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that
18comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to
19supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to
20the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may
21bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of
22unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be
23required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department
24on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the
25employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty

 

 

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1collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall
2be deposited into the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund
3created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing
4this Act.
5    (c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the
6collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.
 
7    Section 35. Enforcement.
8    (a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this
9Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may,
10within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting
11the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a
12complaint with the Department or file a civil action.
13    (b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a
14claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit
15court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory
16damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive
17damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in
18addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert
19witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the
20defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing
21an administrative complaint.
22    (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a
23preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or
24with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or
25any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money

 

 

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1penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense.
 
2    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
3Section 5.878 as follows:
 
4    (30 ILCS 105/5.878 new)
5    Sec. 5.878. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
 
6    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
7severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9becoming law.".