Public Act 103-0727

HB3763 Enrolled LRB103 30532 DTM 56965 b

AN ACT concerning employment.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Personnel Record Review Act is amended by

changing Sections 2, 9, 10 and 12 as follows:

(820 ILCS 40/2) (from Ch. 48, par. 2002)

Sec. 2. Open records.

(a) Upon request in writing to their employer, every

employee has a right under this Act to inspect, copy, and

receive copies of the following documents: Every employer

shall, upon an employee's request which the employer may

require be in writing on a form supplied by the employer,

permit the employee to inspect

(1) any personnel documents which are, have been or

are intended to be used in determining that employee's

qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer,

additional compensation, benefits, discharge, or other

disciplinary action, except as provided in Section 10;

(2) any employment-related contracts or agreements

that the employer maintains are legally binding on the

employee;

(3) any employee handbooks that the employer made

available to the employee or that the employee

acknowledged receiving; and

(4) any written employer policies or procedures that

the employer contends the employee was subject to and that

concern qualifications for employment, promotion,

transfer, compensation, benefits, discharge, or other

disciplinary action.

The inspection right encompasses personnel documents in

the possession of a person, corporation, partnership, or other

association having a contractual agreement with the employer

to keep or supply a personnel record. An employee does not have

a right under this Act to the documents categorized may

request all or any part of his or her records, except as

provided in Section 10.

(b) The employer, upon an employee's written request,

shall grant at least 2 inspection requests by an employee in a

calendar year to inspect, copy, and receive copies of records

to which that employee has a right under this Act. Requests

shall be: when requests are

(1) made at reasonable intervals, unless otherwise

provided in a collective bargaining agreement; and .

(2) made to a person responsible for maintaining the

employer's personnel records, including the employer's

human resources department, payroll department, the

employee's supervisor or department manager, or to an

individual as provided in the employer's written policy.

(c) A written request shall:

(1) identify what personnel records the employee is

requesting or if the employee is requesting all of the

records allowed to be requested under this Section;

(2) specify if the employee is requesting to inspect,

copy, or receive copies of the records;

(3) specify whether records be provided in hardcopy or

in a reasonable and commercially available electronic

format;

(4) specify whether inspection, copying, or receipt of

copies will be performed by that employee's

representative, including family members, lawyers, union

stewards, other union officials, or translators; and

(5) if the records being requested include medical

information and medical records, include a signed waiver

to release medical information and medical records to that

employee's specific representative.

(d) The employer shall comply with the employee's request

provide the employee with the inspection opportunity within 7

working days after the receipt of employee makes the request,

or, if the employer can reasonably show that such deadline

cannot be met, the employer shall have an additional 7

calendar days to comply. If an employer does not maintain

records in one or more of the categories requested, the

employer may respond in writing notifying the employee that

the employer does not maintain records in the category, but

must still permit inspection, copying, and receipt of copies

as required by subsection (b) of any other category requested

as to which the employer does maintain records. If the records

are maintained in a manner and fashion that is already

accessible by the employee, the employer may instead provide

the employee with instructions on how to access that

information. Any in-person The inspection shall take place at

a location reasonably near the employee's place of employment

and during normal working hours. The employer may allow the

inspection to take place at a time other than working hours or

at a place other than where the records are maintained if that

time or place would be more convenient for the employee.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a requirement that an

employee be permitted to remove any part of such personnel

records or any part of such records from the place on the

employer's premises where it is made available for inspection.

Each employer shall retain the right to protect his records

from loss, damage, or alteration to ensure insure the

integrity of the records. The employer shall, upon the

employee's written request, email or mail a copy of the

requested record to the employee by the email address or

mailing address identified by the employee for the purpose of

receiving the copy of requested record. An employer may charge

a fee for providing a copy of the requested record. The fee

shall be limited to the actual cost of duplicating the

requested record and may not include the imputed costs of time

spent duplicating the information, the purchase or rental of

copying machines, the purchase or rental of computer

equipment, the purchase, rental, or licensing of software, or

any other similar expenses.

(e) As used in this Section, "written request" includes

any electronic communications, such as email or text messages.

(Source: P.A. 103-201, eff. 1-1-24.)

(820 ILCS 40/9) (from Ch. 48, par. 2009)

Sec. 9. An employer shall not gather or keep a record of an

employee's associations, political activities, publications,

communications or nonemployment activities, unless the

employee submits the information in writing or gives

authorizes the employer express, written consent when the

employer keeps or gathers in writing to keep or gather the

information. This prohibition shall not apply to (i)

activities or associations with individuals or groups involved

in the physical, sexual, or other exploitation of a minor or

(ii) the activities that occur on the employer's premises or

during the employee's working hours with that employer which

interfere with the performance of the employee's duties or the

duties of other employees or activities, regardless of when

and where occurring, which constitute criminal conduct or may

reasonably be expected to harm the employer's property,

operations or business, or could by the employee's action

cause the employer financial liability. A record which is kept

by the employer as permitted under this Section shall be part

of the personnel record.

(Source: P.A. 101-531, eff. 8-23-19.)

(820 ILCS 40/10) (from Ch. 48, par. 2010)

Sec. 10. Exceptions. The right of the employee or the

employee's designated representative to inspect his or her

personnel records does not apply to:

(a) Letters of reference for that employee or external

peer review documents for academic employees of institutions

of higher education.

(b) Any portion of a test document, except that the

employee may see a cumulative total test score for either a

section of or the entire test document.

(c) Materials relating to the employer's staff planning,

such as matters relating to the business' development,

expansion, closing or operational goals, where the materials

relate to or affect more than one employee, provided, however,

that this exception does not apply if such materials are, have

been or are intended to be used by the employer in determining

an individual employee's qualifications for employment,

promotion, transfer, or additional compensation, or benefits,

or in determining an individual employee's discharge or

discipline.

(d) Information of a personal nature about a person other

than the employee if disclosure of the information would

constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of the other

person's privacy.

(e) An employer who does not maintain any personnel

records.

(f) Records relevant to any other pending claim between

the employer and employee which may be discovered in a

judicial proceeding.

(g) Investigatory or security records maintained by an

employer to investigate criminal conduct by an employee or

other activity by the employee which could reasonably be

expected to harm the employer's property, operations, or

business or could by the employee's activity cause the

employer financial liability, unless and until the employer

takes adverse personnel action based on information in such

records.

(h) An employer's trade secrets, client lists, sales

projections, and financial data.

(Source: P.A. 85-1440.)