Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB3297
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Full Text of HB3297  99th General Assembly

HB3297ham002 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Christian L. Mitchell

Filed: 4/14/2016

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3297

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3297 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Employee Paid Health Care Time 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 paid
12    health care time. Over three-fourths of the lowest-wage
13    workers do not receive paid health care time and cannot
14    forfeit a day's work, so they often come into work sick.
15        (2) Of those workers who receive paid health care time,
16    few policies, in both the private and public sectors, allow

 

 

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1    the worker to use it to care for a family member who is
2    ill.
3        (3) Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid
4    illness and injury by detecting illnesses early on and
5    shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees
6    with time off to attend to their own health care needs
7    ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient
8    employees. It will also reduce the spread of disease within
9    workplaces and to the public, such as customers, when
10    employees go to work sick, a practice known as
11    "presenteeism". Routine medical care results in savings by
12    detecting and treating illness and injury early and
13    decreasing the need for emergency care. These savings
14    benefit public and private payers of health insurance.
15        (4) When the school of a worker's child is closed
16    because of extreme weather, it is often at the last minute
17    and workers cannot find someone to babysit so they are
18    forced to stay at home to take care of their children.
19        (5) Nearly one-quarter of American women report
20    domestic violence and nearly one in 5 women report
21    experiencing rape at some time during their lives. Many
22    workers, men and women, need time off to care for their
23    health after these incidents or to take legal action.
24    Without paid time off, victims are in danger of losing
25    their jobs.
26        (6) Employers that provide paid health care time see

 

 

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1    better productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower
2    turnover, which saves them the costs of replacing and
3    training workers.
4    (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Employee Paid
5Health Care Time Act to provide at least a minimum time-off
6standard of paid health care time for all workers.
 
7    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
8    "Department" means the Department of Labor.
9    "Director" means the Director of Labor.
10    "Employee" means an individual permitted to work by an
11employer, including a part-time employee.
12    "Employer" means an individual, organization, governmental
13body, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability
14company, temporary service agency, employment agency, or other
15entity doing business in or operating within this State that
16employs one or more individuals.
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

 

 

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1    Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; and
2        (2) who is not employed by an employer to whom the
3    provider issues certifications under this Act.
 
4    Section 15. Paid health care time.
5    (a) A full-time or part-time employee of an employer with
650 or more employees shall accrue not less than one hour of
7paid health care time for every 22 hours worked. A full-time or
8part-time employee of an employer with fewer than 50 employees
9shall accrue not less than one hour of paid health care time
10for every 40 hours worked. In the absence of a more generous
11paid health care time plan, an employer may:
12        (1) limit the amount of paid health care time used to a
13    maximum of 56 hours in a 12-month period calculated from
14    the date of hire or subsequent anniversary date;
15        (2) limit to 40 hours the number of hours in the
16    workweek for which full-time employees not subject to the
17    overtime provisions of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act
18    (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1)) may accrue paid health care time; or
19        (3) incorporate paid health care time within a
20    complement of paid leave for its employees that provides no
21    less than the minimum required by this Section.
22    (b) Paid health care time shall be compensated at the same
23hourly rate and with the same benefits, including health care
24benefits, as the employee normally earns for hours worked.
25Service or tipped employees shall be compensated at an amount

 

 

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1that is not less than the minimum wage required for non-service
2or non-tipped employees under the Minimum Wage Law.
3    (c) An employee may use paid health care time for any of
4the following reasons:
5        (1) The employee is ill or injured.
6        (2) The employee obtains professional diagnostic,
7    preventive, routine, or therapeutic health care.
8        (3) The employee cares for a sick or injured child,
9    parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, spouse, domestic
10    partner, stepchild, adopted child, foster child,
11    grandchild, or ward of the employee who lives with the
12    employee, including helping that individual obtain
13    diagnostic, preventive, routine, or therapeutic health
14    treatment.
15        (4) The employee cares for a child whose school or
16    place of care has been closed by order of a public official
17    due to a public health emergency or to not go in to work
18    because of the closure of the employee's place of business
19    by order of a public health official due to a public health
20    emergency.
21        (5) The employee needs to be off from work because he
22    or she or the employee's family member is the victim of
23    domestic violence as defined in Section 103(3) of the
24    Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 or sexual violence
25    as defined under Article 11 and Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4,
26    and 12-7.5 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2012.

 

 

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1    (d) Paid health care time shall begin to accrue at the
2commencement of employment or on the effective date of this
3Act, whichever is later. An employee shall be entitled to begin
4using health care time 120 days following commencement of his
5or her employment or 120 days following the effective date of
6this Act, whichever is later.
7    (e) Unless an employer and its employees agree to paid
8health care time provisions more generous to employees with
9respect to accrual rates and maximum hours:
10        (1) An employee shall determine how much paid health
11    care time he or she needs to use, however, the employer may
12    set a reasonable minimum increment for the use of paid
13    health care time not to exceed 2 hours per day.
14        (2) Paid health care time that is accrued but unused
15    shall be carried over to the next year, but an employee may
16    use no more than 56 hours of paid health care in any one
17    year, unless the employer provides a more generous
18    allotment.
19        (3) Upon separation from employment, an employee shall
20    not be entitled to payment for unused paid health care time
21    unless agreed upon by the employer.
22        (4) At the employer's discretion, an employee may
23    borrow paid health care time before the time is actually
24    accrued.
25        (5) An employee who is rehired by the same employer
26    within 12 months after a separation from employment shall

 

 

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1    retain paid health care time accrued but unused at the time
2    of separation.
3    (f) An employer with a paid health care time policy that is
4comparable to or more generous than the paid health care time
5provided under this Section that complies with the provisions
6of this Act is not required to provide additional paid health
7care time.
8    (g) An employer may not require an employee to look for or
9provide a replacement worker for the time during which the
10employee uses or is expected to use paid health care time.
11    (h) An employer may require an employee planning to take
12paid health care time to notify the employer as soon as
13practical by providing an explanation of the reason for taking
14paid health care time and for the expected duration of the
15employee's absence.
16    (i) An employer may require certification of the qualifying
17illness, injury, or health condition when paid health care time
18covers more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable
19documentation signed by a healthcare provider involved in
20following or treating the illness, injury, or health condition,
21and indicating the need for the amount of health care time
22taken, shall be deemed acceptable certification. Nothing in
23this Act shall be construed to require an employer to provide
24as certification any information from a healthcare provider
25that would be in violation of Section 1177 of the Social
26Security Act or the regulations promulgated pursuant to the

 

 

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1federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
21996. If an employer possesses health information about an
3employee or employee's family member, such information shall be
4treated as confidential and not disclosed except with the
5permission of the affected employee. For time used pursuant to
6subdivision (b)(5), any one of the following is acceptable
7documentation, and only one of the following shall be required:
8a police report, court document, or signed statement from an
9attorney, a member of the clergy, or a victim services
10advocate. It is up to the employee to determine which
11documentation to submit.
12    The employer shall not delay the commencement of leave
13taken for purposes of subsection (b) of this Section nor delay
14pay for this period on the basis that the employer has not yet
15received the certification.
16    The employee shall provide the certification no later than
1730 days after it is requested by the employer. The employer
18shall pay the cost of or reimburse the employee for any
19out-of-pocket costs related to providing this certification.
20    (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this
21Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
22any family member under any group health plan for the duration
23of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
24as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the
25leave.
26    (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit

 

 

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1an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and
2including termination, against an employee who uses paid health
3care time provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than
4those described in this Section.
5    (l) All or any portion of the applicable requirement in
6this Section shall not apply to any employee covered by a bona
7fide collective bargaining agreement to the extent that such
8requirements are expressly waived in the collective bargaining
9agreement in clear and unambiguous language.
10    (m) An employer shall post notice of the provisions of this
11Act including information pertaining to the filing of a charge.
12This notice shall be provided by the Director and put in a
13place conspicuous to employees at the employer's place of
14business.
15    (n) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
16make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
17and the amount of paid health care time taken by employees.
18    (o) An agreement by an employee to waive his or her rights
19under this Act, except as allowed under subsection (l) of
20Section 15, is void as against public policy.
 
21    Section 20. Department responsibilities.
22    (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act
23and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act
24for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the
25powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the

 

 

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

 

 

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1    Section 25. Enforcement.
2    (a) An employee who believes his or her rights under this
3Act or any rule adopted under this Act have been violated may,
4within 3 years after the date of the last event constituting
5the alleged violation for which the action is brought, file a
6complaint with the Department or file a civil action.
7    (b) Any employer that violates this Act is liable in a
8claim filed with the Department or in a civil action in circuit
9court to any affected individuals for actual and compensatory
10damages, with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive
11damages, and such equitable relief as may be appropriate, in
12addition to reasonable attorney's fees, reasonable expert
13witness fees, and other costs of the action to be paid by the
14defendant. A civil action may be brought without first filing
15an administrative complaint.
16    (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a
17preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or
18with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or
19any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money
20penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense.
 
21    Section 95. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
22severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
23    Section 97. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
24Section 5.875 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (30 ILCS 105/5.875 new)
2    Sec. 5.875. The Healthy Workplace Fund.
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.".