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| | 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB2488 Introduced , by Rep. Gregg Johnson SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
| | | Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Provides that a public employer that willfully (rather than intentionally) violates the Act, the Safety Inspection and Education Act, or the Health and Safety Act, or any standard, rule, regulation, or order under any of those Acts, or who demonstrates plain indifference to any provision of any of those Acts or any such standard, rule, regulation, or order, may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $70,000 per violation (rather than $10,000 per violation). | |
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning employment.
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| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | | Section 5. The Occupational Safety and Health Act is |
| 5 | | amended by changing Section 85 as follows:
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| 6 | | (820 ILCS 219/85) |
| 7 | | Sec. 85. Civil penalties. |
| 8 | | (a) After an inspection of a workplace under this Act, if |
| 9 | | the Director issues a citation, he or she shall, within 5 days |
| 10 | | after issuing the citation, notify the employer by certified |
| 11 | | mail, or by email to an email address previously designated by |
| 12 | | the employer for purposes of receiving notice under this Act, |
| 13 | | of any civil penalty proposed to be assessed for the violation |
| 14 | | set forth in the citation. |
| 15 | | (b) If the Director has reason to believe that an employer |
| 16 | | has failed to correct a violation for which a citation has been |
| 17 | | issued within the period permitted for its correction, the |
| 18 | | Director shall notify the employer by certified mail, or by |
| 19 | | email to an email address previously designated by the |
| 20 | | employer for purposes of receiving notice under this Act, of |
| 21 | | that failure and of the civil penalty proposed to be assessed |
| 22 | | for that failure. |
| 23 | | (c) Civil penalties authorized under this Section are as |
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| 1 | | follows: |
| 2 | | (1) A public employer that repeatedly violates this |
| 3 | | Act, the Safety Inspection and Education Act, or the |
| 4 | | Health and Safety Act, or any combination of those Acts, |
| 5 | | or any standard, rule, regulation, or order under any of |
| 6 | | those Acts, may be assessed a civil penalty of not more |
| 7 | | than $10,000 per violation. |
| 8 | | (2) A public employer that willfully intentionally |
| 9 | | violates this Act, the Safety Inspection and Education |
| 10 | | Act, or the Health and Safety Act, or any standard, rule, |
| 11 | | regulation, or order under any of those Acts, or who |
| 12 | | demonstrates plain indifference to any provision of any of |
| 13 | | those Acts or any such standard, rule, regulation, or |
| 14 | | order, may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than |
| 15 | | $70,000 $10,000 per violation. |
| 16 | | (3) A public employer that has received a citation for |
| 17 | | a serious violation of this Act, the Safety Inspection and |
| 18 | | Education Act, or the Health and Safety Act, or any |
| 19 | | standard, rule, regulation, or order under any of those |
| 20 | | Acts, may be assessed a civil penalty up to $1,000 for each |
| 21 | | such violation. |
| 22 | | (4) A public employer that has received a citation for |
| 23 | | a violation of this Act, the Safety Inspection and |
| 24 | | Education Act, or the Health and Safety Act, or any |
| 25 | | standard, rule, regulation, or order under any of those |
| 26 | | Acts, which is not a serious violation, may be assessed a |
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| 1 | | civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each such violation. |
| 2 | | (5) A public employer that violates a posting |
| 3 | | requirement is subject to the following citations and |
| 4 | | proposed penalty structure: |
| 5 | | (A) Job Safety and Health Poster: an other than |
| 6 | | serious citation and a proposed penalty of $1,000. |
| 7 | | (B) Annual Summary of Work-Related Injuries and |
| 8 | | Illnesses (OSHA Form 300A): an other than serious |
| 9 | | citation and a proposed penalty of $1,000, even if |
| 10 | | there are no recordable injuries or illnesses. |
| 11 | | (C) Citation: an other than serious citation and a |
| 12 | | proposed penalty of $1,000. |
| 13 | | (6) A public employer that fails to correct a |
| 14 | | violation for which a citation has been issued within the |
| 15 | | time period permitted may be assessed a civil penalty of |
| 16 | | up to $1,000 for each day the violation continues. |
| 17 | | (d) For purposes of this Section, a "serious violation" |
| 18 | | shall be deemed to exist in a workplace if there is a |
| 19 | | substantial probability that death or serious physical harm |
| 20 | | could result from (i) a condition which exists or (ii) one or |
| 21 | | more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes which |
| 22 | | have been adopted or are in use in the workplace, unless the |
| 23 | | employer did not know and could not, with the exercise of |
| 24 | | reasonable diligence, have known of the presence of the |
| 25 | | violation. |
| 26 | | (e) The Director may assess civil penalties as provided in |
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| 1 | | this Section, giving due consideration to the appropriateness |
| 2 | | of the penalty. A penalty may be reduced by the Director or the |
| 3 | | Director's authorized representative based on the public |
| 4 | | employer's good faith, size of business, and history of |
| 5 | | previous violations. |
| 6 | | (f) The Attorney General may bring an action in the |
| 7 | | circuit court to enforce the collection of any civil penalty |
| 8 | | assessed under this Act. |
| 9 | | (g) All civil penalties collected under this Act shall be |
| 10 | | deposited into the General Revenue Fund of the State of |
| 11 | | Illinois. |
| 12 | | (Source: P.A. 102-705, eff. 1-1-23.) |