Bill Text: IL HB2871 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Healthy Workplace Act. Requires an employer to provide an employee up to 7 sick days with pay during each 12-month period. Provides that an employee may use the sick days care for physical or mental illness, injury, medical condition, professional medical diagnosis or care, or a medical appointment of the employee or a family member. Contains provisions regarding: accrual; certification; notice; responsibilities of employers; unlawful practices; powers and duties of the Department of Labor; violations; penalties; civil liability; severability; and other matters.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB2871 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB2871-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB2871 Introduced 2/22/2011, by Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
Creates the Healthy Workplace Act. Requires an employer to provide an employee up to 7 sick days with pay during each 12-month period. Provides that an employee may use the sick days care for physical or mental illness, injury, medical condition, professional medical diagnosis or care, or a medical appointment of the employee or a family member. Contains provisions regarding: accrual; certification; notice; responsibilities of employers; unlawful practices; powers and duties of the Department of Labor; violations; penalties; civil liability; severability; and other matters.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Healthy Workplace Act.
Section 5. Findings and purpose.
(a) Findings. The General Assembly finds:
(1) Nearly every worker in the State is likely to need
time off to attend to his or her own illness or that of a
family member, or for routine medical care. Almost half of
all private sector workers do not earn a single paid sick
day per year, with low-income workers significantly worse
off. Nationally, over three-quarters of the poorest
families, 77 percent, lack any regular paid sick leave.
(2) Of those workers who receive paid sick days, few
policies, in both the private and public sectors, allow the
worker to use it to care for a family member who is ill.
(3) The absence of paid sick days forces workers to
make untenable choices between needed income and jobs and
caring for their own health and their family's health.
(4) When parents are available to care for their
children who become sick, the children's recovery is
faster, more serious illnesses are prevented, and the

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children's overall mental and physical health is improved.
Parents who cannot afford to miss work must send children
with a contagious illness to child care or school,
contributing to the high rate of infections in child care
centers and schools.
(5) The working population in Illinois contains a high
number of "baby boom" workers approaching retirement age
who are increasingly called upon to care for their parents
or an impaired spouse. Older workers need time off to care
for themselves as well.
(6) Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid
illness and injury by detecting illnesses early and
shortening the duration of illnesses. Providing employees
time off to attend to their own health care needs ensures
that they will be healthier and more efficient employees.
Routine medical care results in savings by detecting and
treating illness and injury early and decreasing the need
for emergency care. These savings benefit public and
private payers of health insurance, including private
businesses. It will also reduce the spread of disease
within workplaces when sick employees go to work, a
practice known as presenteeism.
(7) Public health is jeopardized as many workers who do
not have paid sick days have the most frequent contact with
the public such as workers in food services, nursing homes,
child care centers and retail establishments. The spread of

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contagious diseases such as the flu cannot be stopped
without a universally adopted paid sick days policy.
(8) Providing 7 paid sick days per year to employees
who earn those days is affordable for employers and good
for business. Requiring all employers to provide paid sick
days levels the playing field among employers. Employers
that provide paid sick days see greater retention and avoid
the problems of "presenteeism". Studies have shown that
costs from on-the-job productivity losses as a result of
presenteeism exceed the costs of absenteeism, medical and
disability benefits.
(b) Purpose. This Act is enacted to establish the Healthy
Workplace Act to provide a minimum time-off standard for paid
sick days so that workers can care for their own health and the
health of their families while prospering at work.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
(a) "Child" means a person who is a biological, adopted, or
foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person
standing in loco parentis, and who is (i) under 18 years of age
or (ii) 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care
because of a mental or physical disability.
(b) "Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor.
(c) "Employee" means any person who performs services for
an employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This
includes persons working any number of hours, including a

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full-time or part-time status.
(d) "Employer" means one who employs at least one employee,
including but not limited to, this State and its political
subdivisions, a temporary services agency, employment agency,
or employee organization.
(e) "Family member" means a child, spouse, parent, or
parent-in-law of the employee, or a person with whom the
employee has resided in the same household for 6 months or
longer.
(f) "Healthcare provider" means:
(1) a person who: (i) is licensed to practice medicine
in all of its branches in Illinois and possesses the degree
of doctor of medicine; (ii) is licensed to practice
medicine in Illinois and possesses the degree of doctor of
osteopathy or osteopathic medicine; or (iii) is licensed to
practice medicine in all of its branches or as an
osteopathic physician in another state or jurisdiction; or
(iv) any other person determined by Final Rule of The
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 CFR Part 825 Sec.
118); and
(2) is not employed by an employer to whom the provider
issues certifications under this Act.
(g) "Parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a
foster or stepparent, or a person who stands in loco parentis
to an employee or an employee's spouse. Parent may also mean a
person who is the parent of a child as defined in this section.

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(h) "Sick day" means a portion of, or a regular workday
when an employee is unable to report to work because of a
reason described in subsection (b) of Section 15.
(i) "Spouse" refers to either member of a married pair as
"marriage" is defined by the marriage laws of Illinois.
Section 15. Provision of paid sick days.
(a) All employees who work in Illinois who are absent from
work for the reasons set forth in subsection (b) shall be
entitled to earn a maximum of 7 sick days with pay during a
12-month period, or a pro rata number of paid sick days or
hours under the provisions of subsection (c). The 12-month
period for an employee shall be calculated from the
date-of-hire or subsequent anniversary date.
(b) Paid sick days shall be provided to an employee by an
employer to:
(1) care for the employee's own physical or mental
illness, or injury or medical condition, or professional
medical diagnosis, or care; or
(2) care for the employee's family member who is
suffering from a physical or mental illness, or injury, or
medical condition, or professional medical diagnosis or
care; or
(3) attend a medical appointment for himself or herself
or for that of the employee's family member.
(c) Paid sick days shall accrue at the rate of one hour of

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paid sick time for every 30 hours worked up to the maximum of 7
paid sick days. Employees who are exempt from overtime
requirements of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 USC
Sec. 213 (a)(1)) will be assumed to work 40 hours in each work
week for purposes of paid sick day accrual unless their normal
work week is less than 40 hours, in which case paid sick days
accrue based upon that normal work week. Paid sick days may be
used as accrued, or be loaned by the employer, at its
discretion, to the employee in advance of such accrual; in such
case an employer shall not require an employee to reimburse it
for any unearned sick days. For periods of paid sick days that
are less than a normal workday, the leave shall be permitted to
be used in hourly increments. It is up to the employee to
determine how much accrued leave to take under this Act.
(d) An employer may require certification of the qualifying
illness, injury or health condition when paid sick days cover
more than 3 consecutive workdays. Any reasonable documentation
signed by a health care provider involved in following or
treating the illness, injury or health condition, and
indicating the need for the amount of sick days taken, shall be
deemed acceptable certification. The certification shall be
issued at such time and in such manner that the Department may
by regulation require. The employer shall not delay the
commencement of leave taken for purposes of subsection (b) or
pay for this period on the basis that the employer has not yet
received the certification. Nothing in this Act shall be

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construed to require an employee to provide as certification
any information from a healthcare provider that would be in
violation of Section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the
regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 264(c) of the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 42 U.S.C.
1320d-2 note. If an employer possesses health information about
an employee or employee's family member, such information shall
be treated as confidential and not disclosed except with the
permission of the affected employee.
(e) Paid sick days shall be provided upon the oral request
of an employee. If the necessity for sick days under this Act
is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer with
not less than 7 days notice before the date the leave is to
begin. If the necessity for leave is not foreseeable, the
employee shall provide such notice as soon as is practicable
after the employee is aware of the necessity of such leave. An
employer may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick
days under this Act, that the employee search for or find a
replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee
is on paid sick days leave.
(f) Paid sick days shall carry over annually to the extent
not used by the employee, provided that nothing in this Act
shall be construed to require an employer to allow accumulation
of more than 7 paid sick days for an employee unless an
employer agrees to do so.
(g) It shall be unlawful for an employer to interfere with,

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restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise,
any right provided under, or in connection with this Act,
including but not limited to using the taking of paid sick days
as a negative factor in an employment action such as hiring,
termination, evaluation, promotion or a disciplinary action,
or counting the paid sick days under a no-fault attendance
policy.
(h) During any period an employee takes leave under this
Act, the employer shall maintain coverage for the employee and
any family member under any group health plan for the duration
of such leave at at least the level and conditions of coverage
as would have been provided if the employee had not taken the
leave.
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring
financial or other reimbursement to an employee from an
employer upon the employee's termination, resignation,
retirement, or other separation from employment for accrued
paid sick days that have not been used.
Section 20. Related employer responsibilities.
(a) An employer subject to any provision of this Act shall
make and preserve records documenting hours worked by employees
and the amount of paid sick days taken by employees, for a
period of not less than 3 years and shall make reports from the
records as prescribed by rule or order of the Director of the
Department.

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(b) An agreement by an employee to waive his or her rights
under this Act is void as against public policy. The benefits
provided to employees under this Act may not be diminished by a
collective bargaining agreement or an employment benefit
program or plan entered into or renewed after the effective
date of this Act.
(c) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage
employers from adopting or retaining paid sick day policies
more generous than policies that comply with the requirements
of this Act and nothing in this Act shall be construed to
diminish the obligation of an employer to comply with any
contract, collective bargaining agreement, or any employment
benefit program or plan that provides greater paid sick day
rights to employees than the rights established under this Act.
(d) Employers who have a paid time off policy that complies
with at least the minimum requirements of this Act shall not be
required to modify such a policy if such policy offers an
employee the option, at the employee's discretion, to take paid
sick days that are at least equivalent to the paid sick days
described in this Act.
(e) Every employer covered by this Act shall post and keep
posted, in conspicuous places on the premises of the employer
where notices to employees are customarily posted, a notice, to
be prepared or approved by the Director of the Department,
summarizing the requirements of this Act and information
pertaining to the filing of a charge. If an employer's

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workforce is comprised of a significant portion of workers who
are not literate in English, the employer is responsible for
providing the notice in a language in which the employees are
literate. The Director shall furnish copies of summaries and
rules to employers upon request without charge.
Section 25. Unlawful employer practices. It shall be
unlawful for any employer to take any adverse action against an
employee because the employee (1) exercises rights or attempts
to exercise rights under this Act, (2) opposes practices which
such employee believes to be in violation of this Act, or (3)
supports the exercise of rights of another under this Act.
Exercising rights under this Act shall include but not be
limited to filing an action, or instituting or causing to be
instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act;
providing or about to provide any information in connection
with any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided
under this Act; or testifying to, or about to testify in any
inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under this
Act.
Section 30. Department responsibilities.
(a) The Department shall administer and enforce this Act.
An employee or employee representative who believes his or her
rights under this Act have been violated may, within one year
after the alleged violation occurs, file a complaint with the

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Department requesting a review of the alleged violation.
(b) The Director of the Department shall adopt rules
necessary to administer and enforce this Act in accordance with
the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The Director shall
have the powers and the parties shall have the rights provided
in the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for contested
cases, including but not limited to, provisions for
depositions, subpoena power and procedures, and discovery.
(c) The Director of the Department is authorized to
supervise the payment of the unpaid wages owing to the employee
or employees under this Act and may bring any legal action
necessary to recover the amount of unpaid wages and penalties
and the employer shall be required to pay the costs. Any sums
recovered by the Department on behalf of an employee under this
Act shall be paid to the employee or employees affected.
(d) The Department shall develop and implement a
multilingual outreach program to inform employees, parents,
and persons who are under the care of a healthcare provider
about the availability of paid sick days under this Act.
(e) The Department shall, subject to appropriation,
annually compile information on the following and issue an
annual report on:
(1) The number of employees who used paid sick days;
(2) The number of hours of paid sick days used and the
reasons for the use;
(3) The demographic characteristics of employees

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(including by gender, race, age, marital status, job
industry and job classification, and full or part-time
status) who were eligible for and who used paid sick days
(including the number of hours used and the reasons for the
use);
(4) The cost and benefits to employers and employees of
implementing the paid sick days policies.
Section 35. Violations and liability. Any employer that
violates this Act is liable in a civil action in circuit court
to any affected individuals for actual, compensatory, and
punitive damages with interest at the prevailing rate and for
such equitable relief as may be appropriate. Such action may be
brought without first filing an administrative complaint. The
court in such an action shall, in addition to any judgment
awarded to the plaintiff, allow a reasonable attorney's fee,
reasonable expert witness fees, and other costs of the action
to be paid by the defendant. Necessary legal action may be
brought by the employee or the Department to collect the
judgment, and the employer shall be required to pay the costs
incurred in collecting the judgment. An action may be brought
under this Act no more than 3 years after the date of the last
event constituting the alleged violation for which the action
is brought. An employer that violates any provision of this Act
or any rule adopted under this Act is subject to a civil money
penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each separate offense.

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Section 40. Severability. If any provision of this Act or
the application of such provision to any person or circumstance
is preempted by or held to be in violation of Illinois or
federal law or regulation, the remainder of the provisions of
this Act and the application of those provisions to any person
or circumstance shall not be affected.