Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB4594
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Full Text of HB4594  99th General Assembly

HB4594 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  

 


 
99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
HB4594

 

Introduced , by Rep. Jay Hoffman

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
820 ILCS 65/5
820 ILCS 65/10

    Amends the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Redefines "employer" to mean any business or enterprise that employs 65 or more (rather than 75 or more) employees, excluding part-time employees; or 65 or more (rather than 75 or more) employees who in the aggregate work at least 2,600 (rather than 4,000) hours per week (exclusive of hours of overtime). Provides that an employer may not order a mass layoff, relocation, or employment loss unless, 90 (rather than 60) days before the order takes effect, the employer gives written notice of the order to certain persons. Effective immediately.


LRB099 20067 JLS 44486 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4594LRB099 20067 JLS 44486 b

1    AN ACT concerning business.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining
5Notification Act is amended by changing Sections 5 and 10 as
6follows:
 
7    (820 ILCS 65/5)
8    Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
9    (a) "Affected employees" means employees who may
10reasonably be expected to experience an employment loss as a
11consequence of a proposed plant closing or mass layoff by their
12employer.
13    (b) "Employment loss" means:
14        (1) an employment termination, other than a discharge
15    for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement;
16        (2) a layoff exceeding 6 months; or
17        (3) a reduction in hours of work of more than 50%
18    during each month of any 6-month period.
19    "Employment loss" does not include instances when the plant
20closing or layoff is the result of the relocation or
21consolidation of part or all of the employer's business and,
22before the closing or layoff, the employer offers to transfer
23the employee to a different site of employment within a

 

 

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1reasonable commuting distance with no more than a 6-month break
2in employment, or the employer offers to transfer the employee
3to any other site of employment, regardless of distance, with
4no more than a 6-month break in employment, and the employee
5accepts within 30 days of the offer or of the closing or
6layoff, whichever is later.
7    (c) "Employer" means any business enterprise that employs:
8        (1) 65 75 or more employees, excluding part-time
9    employees; or
10        (2) 65 75 or more employees who in the aggregate work
11    at least 2,600 4,000 hours per week (exclusive of hours of
12    overtime).
13    (d) "Mass layoff" means a reduction in force which:
14        (1) is not the result of a plant closing; and
15        (2) results in an employment loss at the single site of
16    employment during any 30-day period for:
17            (A) at least 33% of the employees (excluding any
18        part-time employees) and at least 25 employees
19        (excluding any part-time employees); or
20            (B) at least 250 employees (excluding any
21        part-time employees).
22    (e) "Part-time employee" means an employee who is employed
23for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or who has been
24employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 months preceding the date
25on which notice is required.
26    (f) "Plant closing" means the permanent or temporary

 

 

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1shutdown of a single site of employment, or one or more
2facilities or operating units within a single site of
3employment, if the shutdown results in an employment loss at
4the single site of employment during any 30-day period for 50
5or more employees excluding any part-time employees.
6    (g) "Representative" means an exclusive representative of
7employees within the meaning of Section 9(a) or 8(f) of the
8National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a), 158(f)) or
9Section 2 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 152).
10(Source: P.A. 93-915, eff. 1-1-05.)
 
11    (820 ILCS 65/10)
12    Sec. 10. Notice.
13    (a) An employer may not order a mass layoff, relocation, or
14employment loss unless, 90 60 days before the order takes
15effect, the employer gives written notice of the order to the
16following:
17        (1) affected employees and representatives of affected
18    employees; and
19        (2) the Department of Commerce and Economic
20    Opportunity and the chief elected official of each
21    municipal and county government within which the
22    employment loss, relocation, or mass layoff occurs.
23    (b) An employer required to give notice of any mass layoff,
24relocation, or employment loss under this Act shall include in
25its notice the elements required by the federal Worker

 

 

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1Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et
2seq.).
3    (c) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (a), an
4employer is not required to provide notice if a mass layoff,
5relocation, or employment loss is necessitated by a physical
6calamity or an act of terrorism or war.
7    (d) The mailing of notice to an employee's last known
8address or inclusion of notice in the employee's paycheck shall
9be considered acceptable methods for fulfillment of the
10employer's obligation to give notice to each affected employee
11under this Act.
12    (e) In the case of a sale of part or all of an employer's
13business, the seller shall be responsible for providing notice
14for any plant closing or mass layoff in accordance with this
15Section, up to and including the effective date of the sale.
16After the effective date of the sale of part or all of an
17employer's business, the purchaser shall be responsible for
18providing notice for any plant closing or mass layoff in
19accordance with this Section. Notwithstanding any other
20provision of this Act, any person who is an employee of the
21seller (other than a part-time employee) as of the effective
22date of the sale shall be considered an employee of the
23purchaser immediately after the effective date of the sale.
24    (f) An employer which is receiving State or local economic
25development incentives for doing or continuing to do business
26in this State may be required to provide additional notice

 

 

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1pursuant to Section 15 of the Business Economic Support Act.
2    (g) The rights and remedies provided to employees by this
3Act are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other
4contractual or statutory rights and remedies of the employees,
5and are not intended to alter or affect such rights and
6remedies, except that the period of notification required by
7this Act shall run concurrently with any period of notification
8required by contract or by any other law.
9    (h) It is the sense of the General Assembly that an
10employer who is not required to comply with the notice
11requirements of this Section should, to the extent possible,
12provide notice to its employees about a proposal to close a
13plant or permanently reduce its workforce.
14(Source: P.A. 93-915, eff. 1-1-05.)
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16becoming law.