Bill Text: IL HB1353 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Volunteer Emergency Worker Job Protection Act. Provides that employment protections for volunteer emergency workers apply to volunteer emergency workers participating in required training, including a prohibition on termination and penalizing (rather than only termination). Provides that the employer may not require the employee to take vacation time or other compensatory time in order to respond to an emergency or participate in training. Provides that the Act does not apply to any employer that is a municipality with a population of 15,000 or more (currently 7,500 or more). Makes conforming changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-14 - Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Brandun Schweizer [HB1353 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB1353-Introduced.html

---

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB1353 Introduced , by Rep. Brandun Schweizer SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
50 ILCS 748/5
50 ILCS 748/10
50 ILCS 748/20
Amends the Volunteer Emergency Worker Job Protection Act. Provides that employment protections for volunteer emergency workers apply to volunteer emergency workers participating in required training, including a prohibition on termination and penalizing (rather than only termination). Provides that the employer may not require the employee to take vacation time or other compensatory time in order to respond to an emergency or participate in training. Provides that the Act does not apply to any employer that is a municipality with a population of 15,000 or more (currently 7,500 or more). Makes conforming changes.
LRB104 05894 RTM 15925 b
A BILL FOR
HB1353 LRB104 05894 RTM 15925 b
AN ACT concerning government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Volunteer Emergency Worker Job Protection
Act is amended by changing Sections 5, 10, and 20 as follows:
(50 ILCS 748/5)
Sec. 5. Volunteer emergency worker; when termination of
employment prohibited.
(a) No public or private employer may terminate or
penalize an employee who is a volunteer emergency worker
because the employee, when acting as a volunteer emergency
worker, is absent from or late to his or her employment in
order to respond to an emergency prior to the time the employee
is to report to his or her place of employment or is
participating in training that the employee is required to
participate in as a volunteer emergency worker.
(a-5) A public or private employer shall not discipline an
employee who is a volunteer emergency worker if the employee,
in the scope of acting as a volunteer emergency worker,
responds to an emergency phone call or text message during
work hours that requests the person's volunteer emergency
services. This subsection (a-5) does not apply to a person
employed by a public or private vehicle service provider and

HB1353 - 2 - LRB104 05894 RTM 15925 b
who is in the course of performing services as Emergency
Medical Services personnel as defined in Section 3.5 of the
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. This subsection
(a-5) shall not diminish or supersede an employer's written
workplace policy, a collective bargaining agreement,
administrative guidelines, or other applicable written rules
administered by the employer. Existing written policies
governing the use of cell phones shall prevail and control.
(b) An employer may charge, against the employee's regular
pay, any time that an employee who is a volunteer emergency
worker loses from employment because of the employee's
response to an emergency in the course of performing his or her
duties as a volunteer emergency worker or participation in
training that the employee is required to participate in as a
volunteer emergency worker. The employer may not require the
employee to take vacation time or other compensatory time in
order to respond to an emergency or participate in training.
(c) In the case of an employee who is a volunteer emergency
worker and who loses time from his or her employment in order
to respond to an emergency in the course of performing his or
her duties as a volunteer emergency worker or participate in
training that the employee is required to participate in as a
volunteer emergency worker, the employer has the right to
request the employee to provide the employer with a written
statement from the supervisor or acting supervisor of the
volunteer fire department or governmental entity that the

HB1353 - 3 - LRB104 05894 RTM 15925 b
volunteer emergency worker serves stating that the employee
responded to an emergency and stating the time and date of the
emergency.
(d) An employee who is a volunteer emergency worker and
who may be absent from or late to his or her employment in
order to respond to an emergency in the course of performing
his or her duties as a volunteer emergency worker or
participate in training that the employee is required to
participate in as a volunteer emergency worker must make a
reasonable effort to notify his or her employer that he or she
may be absent or late.
(Source: P.A. 100-324, eff. 1-1-18.)
(50 ILCS 748/10)
Sec. 10. Employer's violation; civil action. An employee
who is terminated, penalized, or disciplined in violation of
this Act may bring a civil action against his or her employer
who violated this Act. The employee may seek reinstatement to
his or her former position, payment of back wages,
reinstatement of fringe benefits, and, where seniority rights
are granted, reinstatement of seniority rights. The employee
must commence such an action within one year after the date of
the employer's violation.
(Source: P.A. 93-1027, eff. 8-25-04.)
(50 ILCS 748/20)

HB1353 - 4 - LRB104 05894 RTM 15925 b