Bill Text: IL SB0173 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Provides that an employer who engages in any type of electronic monitoring of its employees shall give each employee who may be affected prior written notice of the types of electronic monitoring that may be used by the employer. Requires written notice to be given to an employee upon hiring or before an employer uses electronic monitoring equipment on the employer's premises. Requires the written notice to be acknowledged by the employee either in writing or electronically. Provides that when an employer has reasonable grounds to believe that an employee is engaged in conduct that either violates the law, violates the legal rights of the employer or the employer's other employees, or creates a hostile workplace environment, and electronic monitoring may produce evidence of this misconduct, the employer may conduct electronic monitoring without giving the required notice. Provides that the amendatory Act shall not apply to processes that are designed to manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage that are not designed or intended to monitor or intercept the electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage of a particular employee and that are performed solely for the purpose of computer system maintenance or protection.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-15 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB0173 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB0173-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB0173 Introduced 1/31/2023, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
820 ILCS 55/11 new
Amends the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Provides that an employer who engages in any type of electronic monitoring of its employees shall give each employee who may be affected prior written notice of the types of electronic monitoring that may be used by the employer. Requires written notice to be given to an employee upon hiring or before an employer uses electronic monitoring equipment on the employer's premises. Requires the written notice to be acknowledged by the employee either in writing or electronically. Provides that when an employer has reasonable grounds to believe that an employee is engaged in conduct that either violates the law, violates the legal rights of the employer or the employer's other employees, or creates a hostile workplace environment, and electronic monitoring may produce evidence of this misconduct, the employer may conduct electronic monitoring without giving the required notice. Provides that the amendatory Act shall not apply to processes that are designed to manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage that are not designed or intended to monitor or intercept the electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or Internet usage of a particular employee and that are performed solely for the purpose of computer system maintenance or protection.
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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 5. The Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act is
amended by adding Section 11 as follows:
(820 ILCS 55/11 new)
Sec. 11. Use of electronic monitoring.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Electronic monitoring" means the collection of
information on an employer's premises concerning employees'
activities or communications by any means other than direct
observation, including the use of a computer, telephone, wire,
or radio, or an electromagnetic, photo electronic, or photo
optical system. "Electronic monitoring" does not include the
collection of information for security purposes in common
areas of the employer's premises which are held out for use by
the public or any act that is prohibited under State or federal
law.
"Employee" means any individual permitted to work by an
employer in an occupation.
"Employer" has the meaning set forth in subsection (c) of
Section 3 of the Minimum Wage Law.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), an employer who

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engages in any type of electronic monitoring of its employees
shall give each employee who may be affected prior written
notice of the types of electronic monitoring that may be used
by the employer. The written notice must be given to an
employee upon hiring or before an employer uses electronic
monitoring equipment on the employer's premises. The written
notice shall be acknowledged by the employee either in writing
or electronically.
(c) When an employer has reasonable grounds to believe
that an employee is engaged in conduct that either violates
the law, violates the legal rights of the employer or the
employer's other employees, or creates a hostile workplace
environment, and electronic monitoring may produce evidence of
this misconduct, the employer may conduct electronic
monitoring without giving the notice required in subsection
(b).
(d) Every employer shall post and keep posted, in one or
more conspicuous places on the premises of the employer where
notices to employees are customarily posted, a notice
concerning the types of electronic monitoring that may be
utilized by the employer. An employer with employees who do
not regularly report to a physical workplace, and instead work
remotely or travel for work, shall also provide the notice by
email to its employees or on a website, regularly used by the
employer to communicate work-related information, that all
employees are able to regularly access, freely and without

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interference.
(e) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to
processes that are designed to manage the type or volume of
incoming or outgoing electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or
Internet usage that are not designed or intended to monitor or
intercept the electronic mail, telephone voicemail, or
Internet usage of a particular employee and that are performed
solely for the purpose of computer system maintenance or
protection.