Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson
Filed: 4/10/2019
 
 


 




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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 471




2 AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 471 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 30% of all private sector workers 
11 in Illinois (almost 2,000,000 people) have no right to a 
12 paid sick day. Over three-fourths of the lowest-wage 
13 workers do not receive paid sick time and cannot forfeit a 
14 day's work, 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) Employed individuals who have court appointments, 
23 sentencing hearings, probation, conditional discharge, 
24 parole, or mandatory supervised release requirements, or 
25 are visiting a family member in jail or prison need paid 
26 time off work so that their families do not fall further 
 
 
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1 into economic jeopardy and so that they are not further 
2 penalized, as these court-related events are frequently 
3 scheduled during work hours.
4  (6) Employers that provide paid sick time see better 
5 productivity, reduced flu contagion, and lower turnover, 
6 which saves them the costs of replacing and training 
7 workers.
8 (b) This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy Workplace 
9Act to provide at least a minimum time-off standard of paid 
10sick time for all workers.

11 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
12 "Child" means a son or daughter who is a biological, 
13adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, a child of 
14a person standing in loco parentis, or any other individual 
15whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of 
16a child.
17 "Construction industry" means any constructing, altering, 
18reconstructing, repairing, rehabilitating, refinishing, 
19refurbishing, remodeling, remediating, renovating, custom 
20fabricating, maintenance, landscaping, improving, wrecking, 
21painting, decorating, demolishing, or adding to or subtracting 
22from any building, structure, highway, roadway, street, 
23bridge, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant, 
24waterworks, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other 
25structure, project, development, real property, or 
 
 
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1improvement, or to do any part thereof, whether or not the 
2performance of the work herein described involves the addition 
3to or fabrication into, any structure, project, development, 
4real property, or improvement herein described of any material 
5or article of merchandise.
6 "Construction industry" also includes moving construction 
7related materials on the job site or to or from the job site, 
8snow plowing, snow removal, and refuse collection.
9 "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
10 "Employ" means to suffer or permit to work.
11 "Employee" means any person who performs services for an 
12employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This 
13includes persons working any number of hours, including a 
14full-time or part-time status.
15 "Employee" does not include any person who the employer 
16establishes:
17   (A) has been and will continue to be free from 
18 control and direction over the performance of their 
19 work, both under a contract of service and in fact;
20   (B) is engaged in an independently established 
21 trade, occupation, profession or business; or 
22   (C) is deemed a legitimate sole proprietor or 
23 partnership.
24 A sole proprietor or partnership shall be deemed to be 
25legitimate if the employer establishes that:
26  (1) the sole proprietor or partnership is performing 
 
 
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1 the service free from the direction or control over the 
2 means and manner of providing the service, subject only to 
3 the right of the employer for whom the service is provided 
4 to specify the desired result;
5  (2) the sole proprietor or partnership is not subject 
6 to cancellation or destruction upon severance of the 
7 relationship with the employer;
8  (3) the sole proprietor or partnership has a 
9 substantial investment of capital in the sole 
10 proprietorship or partnership beyond the ordinary tools 
11 and equipment and a personal vehicle;
12  (4) the sole proprietor or partnership owns the capital 
13 goods and gains the profits and bears the losses of the 
14 sole proprietorship or partnership;
15  (5) the sole proprietor or partnership makes its 
16 services available to the general public on a continuing 
17 basis;
18  (6) the sole proprietor or partnership includes 
19 services rendered on a Federal Income Tax Schedule as an 
20 independent business or profession;
21  (7) the sole proprietor or partnership performs 
22 services for the contractor under the sole proprietor's or 
23 partnership's name;
24  (8) when the services being provided require a license 
25 or permit, the sole proprietor or partnership obtains and 
26 pays for the license or permit in the sole proprietorship's 
 
 
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1 or partnership's name;
2  (9) the sole proprietor or partnership furnishes the 
3 tools and equipment necessary to provide the service;
4  (10) if necessary, the sole proprietor or partnership 
5 hires its own employees without approval of the employer, 
6 pays the employees without reimbursement from the employer 
7 and reports the employees' income to the Internal Revenue 
8 Service;
9  (11) the employer does not represent the sole 
10 proprietorship or partnership as an employee of the 
11 employer to the public; and 
12  (12) the sole proprietor or partnership has the right 
13 to perform similar services for others on whatever basis 
14 and whenever it chooses.
15 "Employee" does not include any employee of an employer 
16subject to the Railway Labor Act.
17 Nothing in this Act shall hinder or prohibit the ability of 
18an exempted employee from taking uncompensated time off due to 
19any reason for leave allowable for paid sick time under Section 
2015.
21 "Employer" means any individual; person; partnership; 
22association; corporation; limited liability company; business 
23trust; employment or labor placement agency or business where 
24wages are made directly or indirectly by the agency or business 
25for work undertaken by the employee under hire to a third party 
26pursuant to a contact between the agency or business with the 
 
 
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1third party; the State of Illinois and local governments; or 
2any political subdivision of the State or local government, or 
3State or local government agency; for which one or more persons 
4is gainfully employed, express or implied, whether lawfully or 
5unlawfully employed, who employs a worker or who employs a 
6worker not excluded as an employee pursuant to the definition 
7of "employee" or, notwithstanding any other law, who is the 
8employer or joint employer for collective bargaining purposes 
9of a bargaining unit of employees. "Employer" does not include 
10school districts organized under the School Code, park 
11districts organized under the Park District Code, or any City 
12of Chicago Sister Agency under the Chicago Minimum Wage and 
13Paid Sick Leave Ordinance as of the effective date of this Act.
14 "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, child or 
15parent of an employee's spouse, sibling, grandparent, 
16grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose 
17close association with the employee is the equivalent of a 
18family relationship.
19 "Health care provider" means a person:
20  (1) who is:
21   (A) licensed to practice medicine in all of its 
22 branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor 
23 of medicine;
24   (B) licensed to practice medicine in all of its 
25 branches in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor 
26 of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine;
 
 
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1   (C) licensed to practice medicine in all of its 
2 branches or as an osteopathic physician in another 
3 state or jurisdiction;
4   (D) a chiropractic physician licensed under the 
5 Medical Practice Act of 1987; or 
6   (E) any other person determined by final rule as of 
7 the date this Act becomes law under the Family and 
8 Medical Leave Act of 1993; and 
9  (2) who is not employed by an employer to whom the 
10 provider issues certifications under this Act.
11 "Paid sick time" means a portion of or an entire scheduled 
12or regular workday when an employee is unable to report to work 
13because of a reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
14 "Parent" means a biological, adoptive, or foster parent, a 
15stepparent, a parent of a legal ward, a person who stands in 
16loco parentis to an employee or an employee's spouse, or any 
17other individual whose close association with the employee is 
18the equivalent of a parent.
19 "Spouse" means a party to a marriage or a party to a civil 
20union as defined by law.
21 "Victim services organization" means a nonprofit, 
22nongovernmental organization that provides assistance to 
23victims of domestic or sexual violence, including rape crisis 
24centers, organizations carrying out a domestic violence 
25program, organizations operating a shelter or providing 
26counseling services, and a legal services organization or other 
 
 
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1organization providing assistance through the legal process.

2 Section 15. Provision of paid sick time. 
3 (a) An employee who works in Illinois who is absent from 
4work for a reason set forth in subsection (b) is entitled to 
5earn and use a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick time during a 
612-month period or a pro rata number of hours of paid sick time 
7under the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month period for 
8an employee shall be calculated annually from the date of hire 
9or the effective date of this Act, whichever is later.
10 (b) Paid sick time shall be provided to an employee by an 
11employer to:
12  (1) care for the employee's own physical or mental 
13 illness, injury, or health condition, or seek medical 
14 diagnosis or care, or attend a medical appointment; 
15  (2) care for the employee's family member who is 
16 suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or 
17 health condition, or seek medical diagnosis or care, or 
18 attend a medical appointment;
19  (3) care for a child whose school or place of care has 
20 been closed by order of a public official due to a public 
21 health emergency or to not go in to work because of the 
22 closure of the employee's place of business by order of a 
23 public official due to a public health emergency;
24  (4) be absent from work because the employee or the 
25 employee's family member is the victim of:
 
 
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1   (A) domestic violence as defined in Section 103(3) 
2 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986; or 
3   (B) sexual violence, which means:
4    (i) any conduct proscribed by Article 11 of the 
5 Criminal Code of 2012 except Sections 11-35 and 
6 11-45;
7    (ii) Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 of 
8 the Criminal Code of 2012, or
9    (iii) a similar provision of the Criminal Code 
10 of 1961; or 
11  (5) be absent from work to visit the employee's family 
12 member who is in jail or prison, for the employee to attend 
13 his or her own or his or her family member's appointment 
14 regarding court sentencing, probation, conditional 
15 discharge, parole, or mandatory supervised release 
16 requirements, or any other civil or criminal court hearing 
17 or trial.
18 (c) Paid sick time shall accrue at the rate of one hour of 
19paid sick time for every 40 hours worked up to a minimum of 40 
20hours of paid sick time unless the employer selects a higher 
21limit. Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements 
22of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1)) 
23shall be deemed to work 40 hours in each work week for purposes 
24of paid sick time accrual unless their normal work week is less 
25than 40 hours, in which case paid sick time accrues based on 
26that normal work week. Employees shall determine how much paid 
 
 
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1sick time they need to use, provided that employers may set a 
2reasonable minimum increment for the use of paid sick time not 
3to exceed 4 hours per day. 
4 (d) Employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for 
5paid sick time. However, employees engaged in an occupation in 
6which gratuities or commissions have customarily and usually 
7constituted and have been recognized as part of the 
8remuneration for hire purposes shall be paid by their employer 
9at least the full minimum wage in the jurisdiction in which 
10they are employed when paid sick time is taken. Paid sick time 
11under this Act shall not be charged or otherwise credited to 
12employee vacation accounts. 
13 (e) Paid sick time shall begin to accrue at the 
14commencement of employment or on the effective date of this 
15Act, whichever is later. Employees shall be entitled to begin 
16using paid sick time 180 days following commencement of their 
17employment or 180 days following the effective date of this 
18Act, whichever is later. Nothing in this Section shall be 
19construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing 
20the use of paid sick time at an earlier date than this Section 
21requires. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage 
22employers from adopting or retaining paid sick time policies 
23more generous than policies that comply with the requirements 
24of this Act.
25 (f) An employer may require certification of the qualifying 
26illness, injury, or health condition, or for time used pursuant 
 
 
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1to item (1) or (2) of subsection (b), when paid sick time used 
2covers more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable 
3documentation signed by a health care provider of the 
4employee's choice involved in following or treating the 
5illness, injury, or health condition, and indicating the need 
6for the amount of sick time taken, shall be deemed acceptable 
7certification. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
8require an employee to provide as certification any information 
9from a health care provider that would be a disclosure in 
10violation of Section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the 
11regulations promulgated pursuant to the federal Health 
12Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. If an 
13employer possesses health information or any information 
14related to domestic or sexual violence about an employee or 
15employee's family member, the information shall be treated as 
16confidential and not disclosed except with the permission of 
17the affected employee. For paid sick time used pursuant to item 
18(4) of subsection (b), any one of the following is acceptable 
19documentation, and only one of the following shall be required: 
20a police report, court document, any reasonable documentation 
21signed by a health care provider, or signed statement from an 
22attorney, a member of the clergy, a victim services 
23organization or advocate, or the employee. It is up to the 
24employee to determine which documentation to submit. If a 
25document has been submitted, the employer shall not request or 
26require any other document if the reason for the sick time is 
 
 
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1related to the same incident of violence or the same 
2perpetrator of the violence. The employer shall not delay the 
3commencement of leave taken for purposes of subsection (b) nor 
4delay pay for this period on the basis that the employer has 
5not yet received the certification. 
6 (g) Paid sick time shall be provided upon the oral request 
7of an employee. If the necessity for paid sick time under this 
8Act is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer 
9with not less than 7 days' notice before the date the leave is 
10to begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the 
11employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practical 
12after the employee is aware of the necessity of the leave. An 
13employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick 
14time under this Act, that the employee search for or find a 
15replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee 
16is on paid sick time leave. 
17 (h) Paid sick time shall carry over annually to the extent 
18not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act 
19shall be construed to require an employer to allow use of more 
20than 40 hours of paid sick time for an employee unless the 
21employer agrees to do so.
22 (i) It is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, 
23restrain, deny, change work days or hours scheduled to avoid 
24paying sick time, or discipline an employee for the exercise 
25of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under or in 
26connection with this Act, including considering the use of paid 
 
 
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1sick time as a negative factor in an employment action that 
2involves hiring, terminating, evaluating, promoting, 
3disciplining, or counting the paid sick time under a no-fault 
4attendance policy.
5 (j) During any period an employee takes leave under this 
6Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and 
7any family member under any group health plan for the duration 
8of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage 
9as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the 
10leave.
11 (k) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as requiring 
12financial or other payment to an employee from an employer upon 
13the employee's termination, resignation, retirement, or other 
14separation from employment for accrued paid sick time that has 
15not been used.
16 (l) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit 
17an employer from taking disciplinary action, up to and 
18including termination, against an employee who uses paid sick 
19time provided pursuant to this Act for purposes other than 
20those described in this Section.
21 (m) If an employee is transferred to a separate division, 
22entity, or location, but remains employed by the same employer, 
23the employee is entitled to all paid sick time accrued at the 
24prior division, entity, or location and is entitled to use all 
25paid sick time as provided in this Section. If there is a 
26separation from employment and the employee is rehired within 
 
 
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112 months of separation by the same employer, previously 
2accrued paid sick time that had not been used shall be 
3reinstated. The employee shall be entitled to use accrued paid 
4sick time at the commencement of employment following a 
5separation from employment of 12 months or less.
6 (n) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere 
7with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to 
8bargain collectively with their employers through 
9representatives of their own choosing in order to establish 
10wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable 
11minimum standards of the provisions of this Act. Nothing in 
12this Section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change 
13the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements in 
14force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective 
15date of this Act, requirements of this Section may be waived in 
16a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the 
17waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and 
18unambiguous terms. In no event shall this Section apply to any 
19employee working in the construction industry who is covered by 
20a bona fide collective bargaining agreement.

21 Section 20. Related employer responsibilities. 
22 (a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall 
23make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees 
24and the amount of paid sick time taken by employees for a 
25period of not less than 3 years and shall allow the Department 
 
 
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1access to such records, with appropriate notice and a mutually 
2agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of 
3this Section. In addition, the records shall be preserved for 
4the duration of any claim pending pursuant to Section 35.
5 (b) An agreement by employees to waive their rights under 
6this Act, except as allowed under subsection (n) of Section 15, 
7is void as against public policy.
8 (c) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies 
9with the requirements of this Act are not required to modify 
10the policy if such policy offers an employee the option, at the 
11employee's discretion, to take paid sick time that is at least 
12equivalent to the paid sick time described in this Act.
13 (d) An employer shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous 
14place on the premises of the employer where notices to 
15employees are customarily posted, and include in an employee 
16manual or policy if the employer has one, a notice, to be 
17prepared by the Department, summarizing the requirements of 
18this Act and information pertaining to the filing of a charge. 
19If an employer's workforce is comprised of a significant 
20portion of workers who are not literate in English, the 
21employer is responsible for providing the notice in a language 
22in which the employees are literate. An employer who willfully 
23violates the notice and posting requirements of this Section 
24shall be subject to a civil penalty to be paid to the employee 
25in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate offense.

 
 
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1 Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It is unlawful for 
2any employer to take any adverse action against an employee 
3because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts to 
4exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which 
5such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3) 
6supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act. Such 
7unlawful employer practices include, but are not limited to, 
8any reference to the employee's or any of the employee's family 
9members' citizenship or immigration status, or any threat to 
10contact or actual contact with any local, State, or federal 
11government entities regarding the employee's or any of the 
12employee's family members' citizenship or immigration status, 
13or sexual harassment. Exercising rights under this Act includes 
14filing an action or instituting or causing to be instituted any 
15proceeding under or related to this Act; providing or agreeing 
16to provide any information in connection with any inquiry or 
17proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act; or 
18testifying to or agreeing to testify in any inquiry or 
19proceeding relating to any right provided under this Act.

20 Section 30. Department responsibilities. 
21 (a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act 
22and adopt rules under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act 
23for the purpose of this Act. The Department shall have the 
24powers and the parties shall have the rights provided in the 
25Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested cases. The 
 
 
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1Department shall have the power to conduct investigations in 
2connection with the administration and enforcement of this Act, 
3including the power to conduct depositions and discovery and to 
4issue subpoenas. If the Department finds cause to believe that 
5this Act has been violated, the Department shall notify the 
6parties in writing and the matter shall be referred to an 
7Administrative Law Judge to schedule a formal hearing in 
8accordance with hearing procedures established by rule. 
9Administrative decisions shall be reviewed under the 
10Administrative Review Law.
11 (b) The Department is authorized to impose civil penalties 
12prescribed in Section 35 in administrative proceedings that 
13comply with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and to 
14supervise the payment of the unpaid wages and damages owing to 
15the employee or employees under this Act. The Department may 
16bring any legal action necessary to recover the amount of 
17unpaid wages, damages, and penalties, and the employer shall be 
18required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered by the Department 
19on behalf of an employee under this Act shall be paid to the 
20employee or employees affected. However, 20% of any penalty 
21collected from the employer for a violation of this Act shall 
22be deposited into the Healthy Workplace Fund, a special fund 
23created in the State treasury that is dedicated to enforcing 
24this Act.
25 (c) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce the 
26collection of any civil penalty imposed under this Act.

 
 
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1 Section 35. 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 a 
15complaint with the Department. Administrative decisions are 
16reviewable under the Administrative Review Law.
17 (c) Any employer that the Department or a court finds by a 
18preponderance of the evidence to have knowingly, repeatedly, or 
19with reckless disregard violated any provision of this Act or 
20any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money 
21penalty to be paid to the employee not to exceed $2,500 for 
22each separate offense.

23 Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding 
24Section 5.891 as follows:

 
 
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1 (30 ILCS 105/5.891 new)
2 Sec. 5.891. The Healthy Workplace Fund.

3 Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are 
4severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.


5 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
6becoming law.".